The west entrance of Kowloon Park is located at the teeming end of Nathan Road, a seemingly never-ending strip of hotels, mid-range fashion stores, restaurants, cafes, bars, jewelry stores aronics shops selling Japanese and ese imports at grossly inflated prices. Despite the long tradition of bargaining in many of the neon-bathed retail establishments lining the pavements, it was a rare punter indeed who came away with a real bargain. However, prices were cheaper than anywhere in the Western world so every gadget or item bought on Nathan Road was still sidered a bargain by a mostly tourist tele.
The atmosphere at this end of Nathan Road is distinctly touristy, traced with hints of illegal immigration, visitors from less affluent tries in Asia and Africa who have out-stayed their three-month visas. There』s a strong Muslim element on Nathan Road, especially at prayer time when a sizeable k of Hong Kong』s Muslim residents and tourists head towards the white marble dome of Kowloon Mosque with its four mis defiantly proclaiming the faith in a land where Taoism, Buddhism, fuism and a dwindling Christianity are the key mediums through which Hong Kong citizens fulfill their need fion.
There』s a certain anything-goes quality to Tsimshatsui, the area straddling this end of Nathan Road, which stands in stark trast to prim and proper Hong Kong Island just across Victoria Harbor. If Hong Kong was the older son of a wealthy mert who excelled at school and was hand picked to run his father』s empire, then Kowloon as viewed from Tsimshatsui was the younger brother that never graduated from high school, 』t hold down a job but sure knows how to have a good time.
In the 1830s, Kowloon Park used to be a British military base overlooking the vessels anchored in Victoria Harbor. The overzealous land reclamation policies of successive Hong Kong governors and govers had since resulted in the harbor shrinking over the years like a reg hairline. Yet, no matter how much more land was reclaimed or how many new skyscrapers emerged from the sidewalks, Kowloon』s thirst for erd the fast buck remained unquenchable.
Li Jin』s slow train from Beijing arrived at the East Rail Station, known as the Kowloon-ton Railway Station in pre-unification times, at approximately two o』clo the afternoon. It had been a mere ten-hour trip from Beijing, yet the journey had felt like it had taken forever. It had taken him a scary half an hour to emerge from the s checkpoint. Nobody had checked his bags. The immigration officers, sated from lunch, did not seem to have the energy. Li Jin bought himself a ticket to Xian fht o』clock that same night and headed towards nearby Tsimshatsui.
The tedium of the journey had had some bes though. It had afforded Li Jin some mueeded time to fiune his hastily structed plans. Why use a radio when he could have instruct the Russian to pick up a disposable mobile pho one of the many Sunday phone shops dotted around Hong Kong. You could order the phone online, choose a number and prepay for a specifiumber of minutes in plete anonymity.
There was a dirty sole irain partment. Part of the monitor had been discolored with some unknown liquid, probably the result of motion siess, but it was definitely useable. Li Jin waited until the other passengers in his four-person partment, a young man with a buzz cut and his over-painted girlfriend and a middle-aged academic type, were asleep and logged on to Sunday』s Hong Kong site. He