Shatin Racecourse

This is another touristy place you must visit in HK!

There are two racecourses in HK: one in Happy Valley (HK Island) and one in Shatin (New Territories). If I remember correctly, when there is a race, it takes place at one place or the other--never both at the same time. You will want to check the schedule before heading to the racecourse.

The MTR does not always stop by the Shatin Racecourse, so you will want to make sure you board the train that does.

People betting on horses and watching the race from inside

There's a section for English speakers/listeners...

And there's a section for Mandarin speakers/listeners

I'm assuming a lot of people watch the race inside rather than outside because they can't see really well or they need to listen to the commentary in another language...

The actual racecourse

People watching the race

More people watching the race

Scoreboard(?)

I think there's a race every half hour... My friend and I were waiting for the next race...

The race begins!

Action on a large screen

Real time action

More real time action

The actual race is really short... I don't even know if it lasts two minutes, lol.

For those of you that don't know, these horse races are set up by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

There's plenty of these HK Jockey Club places. People are always posted outside trying to figure out which horse to bet on... Basically, if you're betting and can't be at the actual racecourse, then you'd be at your nearest HK Jockey Club.

FYI: Gambling is illegal in HK. I think the only form of gambling that is legal would be betting on horses.

However, it is legal to gamble in Macau (it's like Asia's Las Vegas), which takes about an hour to go to by ferry. Some crazy gamble-holics will take the ferry to Macau right after work and take the ferry back right before work. Unfortunately, there are such people in every country--some with easier access to gambling than others... Anyway, the moral of the story is... gamble responsibly!

Jenn