Victoria Harbour
— — the city the harbour wears like a coat.
Not only on a wall.
“The water between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, narrow enough that the Star Ferry still crosses it for a few coins. At dusk the towers on both sides come on at once, then keep coming on. Junks with red sails work the foreground for the cameras. The skyline does not need help being looked at; it does the work itself.
Victoria Harbour, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Victoria Harbour is the natural deep-water channel that separates Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula, roughly 41 square kilometres of working water that shaped the city's early role as a free port under British rule from 1841. Victoria Peak rises 552 metres above the south shore; the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and the Avenue of Stars run along the north. The Star Ferry has crossed it since 1888 and still operates two routes, including the seven-minute Central to Tsim Sha Tsui sailing that National Geographic Traveler has called one of the great urban journeys.
A Symphony of Lights runs nightly at 8pm across roughly 40 towers on both shores, a synchronised show with music and beams that has run since 2004 and held a Guinness World Record as the largest permanent light and sound display. The best view is from the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade looking south toward the Two IFC and Bank of China towers on Hong Kong Island. The harbour itself stays mostly dark, which lets the buildings carry all the colour and the water do the doubling.
The Star Ferry runs between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui from 6:30am to 11:30pm; an adult upper-deck fare is a few Hong Kong dollars. Sightseeing junks such as the red-sailed Aqua Luna sail nightly from Tsim Sha Tsui Pier 1. The Avenue of Stars reopened in 2019 after a long refurbishment and runs along the Kowloon waterfront beside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Most visitors watch the Symphony of Lights from the promenade, then walk back through the Tsim Sha Tsui night market.