Mid-Week Beach'ing & Being Mobbed By A Chinese Flag Tour

Repulse Bay in the Southern Part of Hong Kong Island

It's Wednesday, mid-week and the weather is still roasting. When the weather is like this all I can think of is being by the sea. So why not? I texted a few friends and fixed up a beach date at Repulse Bay.

My last and only visit to Repulse Bay was on a random night out, with some crazy people, drunk and tumbling about looking for a BBQ site to have a late night feast. So I was definitely interested in spending some time at this beach during the day. 

No one knows exactly how the bay got its name, as there is no circumstantial evidence to prove which story tells the true events of the bay. One popular belief is that in 1841, the area was being used by pirates as a base to disrupt trading between foreign trader ships and China. Due to the damaging consequences of the pirates positioning, they were 'repulsed' away from Hong Kong by the British Naval Fleet. The beach was artificially extended under the British administration in the 1910-20's. Today it's a popular golden sand wonder visited by tourists from all around the world.

My friend and I arrived just after midday to a relatively quiet beach. We found a spot of sand that took our liking, and headed straight for the water to get some relief from the beating sun. After a few hours of swimming, chatting and laying out, my friend felt sleepy so she closed her eyes for a quick nap. And so I sat up to breathe in the enchanting beginnings of sunset upon the horizon. Then, the strangest thing happened. Have you ever noticed how you always know when some one is staring at you? How you feel their eyes boring into your skin? I looked up just in time to make eye contact with a lady who was standing on the beach, about 100 metres away from us. Having been caught in the act, she burst into a smile, and within a few minutes had started a slow run towards me. Behind her a group of people huddled together all gleefully watching as she started running a little faster. When the running lady got closer I stood up a little confused, but also curiously amused at what was happening. She stopped abruptly in front of me and shyly asked if she could take a photo with me, and when I said ok, she yelled over to the rest of the group to come over and do the same. With the aid of my friend translating we learnt that the group were all staff of a factory located in the depths of the Jiangxi province in mainland China. They were amazed to have this chance encounter with a person who had darker skin, having only seen people of different races – and specifically dark skinned people – through the news on TV and peoples tales of experiences abroad. They were mesmerised, holding my arms in examination, and touching my hair, saying it was like theirs. When they started trying to touch my bare mid rift and legs, I took a few steps back and politely said that that was enough for the day. And just like that, they said their thank you's, hugged me and left. 

My new friends at Repulse Bay, Hong Kong – Photograph by minalism

The world is slowly but surely changing, and although it's sometimes a daily struggle, I'm glad that I'm a part of that change! ᐂ