I haven’t cycled through ‘ghost alley’ for quite some time, mainly because it has become something of a tourist attraction, and riding my bike through a crowd is not something I want to do. However, we passed the entrance early yesterday, and because I couldn’t see anyone, I decided to take the detour.
Although I hadn’t seen any new artwork here since 2019, I couldn’t help but notice some new additions:
Two of these additions are dated—26th March, just a week prior to our visit—and I can’t help wondering why it has taken so long to add to the gallery. It could be that the latest contributions are the work of another group, the original artists having abandoned the site once it had become popular. I base this conjecture on three observations: all the signs that proclaim this site to be ‘Ping Che Mural Village’ (it’s marked as ‘Ping Yeung Mural Village’ on Google Maps) have disappeared; the decorated picnic table that I described in Latest News from Ghost Alley #3 has been removed; and the artwork on the painted house that I described on my first visit has been vandalized by the addition of what I can only describe as spurious elements. Incidentally, Paula reached the same conclusion regarding the vandalism before I mentioned the subject.
My intention in shooting a video here was not to record the artwork but to record the exit path, which starts at 0.59 on the video and is quite tricky. We used to exit this area via the path to the right of the painted house. And here is the video:
By far the most impressive artwork here is the mural that is passed on the left between 0.18 and 0.21 on the video (photos in Latest News from Ghost Alley), although the ‘great wall’ mural, which I described in Latest News from Ghost Alley #2, does come quite a close second. Incidentally, I didn’t spot him at the time, but when examining the video, I noticed someone who was taking photos of this mural as we executed a U-turn to reach the start of the exit path.
This site is definitely well worth a visit; just don’t come on a Sunday!
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I'm an ex-geologist, an ex-Outward Bound instructor and administrator, an ex-journalist, and an ex-book editor. I still consider myself a scientist. I'm now retired and spend seven months of each year in Fanling, a town in Hong Kong's New Territories, and five months in Penrith, my home town in England.
Although many people regard graffiti as just another form of vandalism, I’m a huge fan and consider it a valid art form. The Writing on the Fence, which I recorded in Manchester in 2018, underlines my view.
it IS saddened to see any vandalism!!!
ReplyDelete…particularly on one of the earliest artworks here!
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