Pearl of the Orient : Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the two commercial city-countries of Asia, the other being Singapore. Both of them have become big commercial centres of Asia, and frankly, both of them don't even look like they are in Asia! Also, you get visa on arrival in Hong Kong, which really makes it an easy place to visit.

Hong Kong is located sort of on an island in China and partially on the mainland China. It retains some of its English heritage still, given that it was under their rule for 99 years, but its now slowly and gradually turning more Chinese. As of now though it's quite an interesting mix of the two. Also, even though its just a city with limited area, it has a lot to do, whether its sightseeing, adventure sports, trekking or loads of shopping! There is enough number and variety of things to do there to pass a couple of days there!

Hong Kong is composed of a couple of islands, the major ones being the Hong Kong island, Lantau island (on which the airport is located) and Kowloon. Hong Kong city is composed of three major areas where most of the people stay: central, midlands and the peak region. Central is where all the offices of Hong Kong as well as the malls and LKF are located. The midlands is located around Central, and then the peak area leading up to The Peak! In the Hong Kong island itself, there is the green and forested area you will encounter when you drive to Stanley. This is the sparsely inhabited region of Hong Kong.

Kowloon is not really an island, its in the northern part of the city and linked to mainland China. Its developing a lot recently and has a number of malls, residential complexes as well as the ICC tower being built there, which will be the tallest building in Hong Kong. To reach Kowloon from Central, you can either take the ferry or the metro, or just the road tunnel which goes from under the sea!! The Chinese are really way ahead in their technology than the rest of the world, you will see that a lot here.

Located between Kowloon and Hong Kong is the famous Hong Kong harbour and the harbour skyline. This is one of the most popular and famous sights of Hong Kong, where you can see most of the famous buildings of the skyline. One of them is the HSBC building which looks like it was built by a kid playing with blocks!!

There are many touristy things to do when in Hong Kong, Am just listing some of the main ones:

The Peak:

The Peak is the name given to this huge mountain facing the Hong Kong city (very innovative name, isn't it:)) ). You can go up the Peak in a tram which goes up a very steep incline and is a scary ride. The view from the Peak is amazing, of the sea and Kowloon beyond during the day and the lights in the city below at night. There are a couple of shopping stops and eating places on top of the peak too. Good for an evening out.

Lantau Island :
It is one of the closeby islands of Hong Kong and is mostly famous for the airport located on this island (on fully reclaimed land) as well as the grand Buddha statue which is located here.

You can go to the Buddha statue either by train and then by cable car or take a ferry and then a bus. The cable car runs over high mountains and is quite scary too. Also, there is a mountain track on these mountains too for trekking, in case you want to take the tougher route to the Buddha. If you take the ferry and then the bus ride, the bus ride is through very awesome and green areas of the island, all green and forested and with lots of fresh air.
Once you get off the cable car, you will reach a small Chinese village which has been created for tourists. You just walk through this village to get to the Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue is huge and very impressive too. There is a museum there to spend some time reading about the history of the statue, as well as to learn about the Buddhas's life. Just next to the statue, there is a Buddhist monastery where you can interact with the monks and eat some traditional vegetarian food. The temple in the monastery is also a good place to visit.



LKF :
This is the party place of Hong Kong and a very famous one at that!! Its a small L shaped street, with pubs and restaurants on both sides and is lively till late hours in the morning. The street is full of expats most of the time and a good place to spend a weekend evening partying. Anyone and everyone you know would be there during the weekend for sure! There are lot of small and big events held here from time to time. My favorite place here was a Mexican restaurant, it has awesome food. Also, during lunch hours, there is a small restaurant here which provides vegetarian thali. Its yum, have forgotten the name of the place though!

Harbour, Ferry and Laser Show :
From Hong Kong Central you can take the Star ferry which charges just 2 HKD to cross the harbour and reach Kowloon. It gives a lighted view of both sides of the harbour, especially during the evenings. Also, if you time your ferry well, in the evening at about 8 pm or so, you would be able to catch the laser show which happens every evening on the harbour. The view from the ferry is the best view you can get, and you should definitely try it. Its about 10-15 mins of the laser. with the famous buildings on the harbour lighting up in various colours and patterns. You can also take a ride in the dragon boats in the evening along the harbour, which offer touristy tours every evening.

Just on the Kowloon side of the harbour is the Promenade, a pathway next to the sea where tons of people descend in the evening for taking in the cool breeze of the sea. Its a nice walk with artists and photographers on the street providing entertainment to the people taking a walk there. You can also see Jackie Chan's statue on the promenade as well as the hall of fame of famous Hollywood stars etc. There are also a couple of theatres or galleries there to spend some time.

Tsim Sha Tsui :
It is an Indian area in Kowloon, where you can eat Indian food if you feel nostalgic. An area around here which is worth visiting is the CKM (Cheung King Mansion). The market here seems a bit shady though! It has small shops and a lot of them selling cheap electronics, smuggled stuff etc. Also in this area itself is the only theatre in Hong Kong which plays Hindi movies on Friday evenings.

Stanley :
It is an area slightly away from the Central Hong Kong and the drive till the Stanley beach is long. There are beaches on the way where you can stop, hills for trekking and beautiful scenes with houses scattered here and there. There are a couple of good treks out here too. At Stanley, there is a famous street market too where you can shop for cheap Chinese goods. Its another good day out option.

There are many other islands near Hong Kong, where you can go for a day out.
One such island that I went to was a lesser know island, Po Toi. We went to Stanley and then took a ferry from there to this island. It was completely uninhabited except the tasty sea food restaurant they had there. It looked completely shabby but had really tasty food. We trekked a bit there, went into the water for sometime and then were back. Quite an interesting trip!!

Macau :
The Macau island which is treated like Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) is located close to Hong Kong about 1 hour by ferry, or 15 mins by helicopter which is also available as an option. Like Hong Kong, you can get a visa on arrival in Macau, so that is helpful.

Macau was was also not under China but was ruled by the Portuguese for many years. It is again similar to Hong Kong in that respect that it still retains some of the architectural style of those times as well as the look and feel of place feels very international.

Macau is called the Vegas of the East, and is mostly famous for its many casinos. At night it seems like a mini Vegas and is popular among the Chinese. Its been built very grandly and you can see that in everything around the island.






The major hotels/casinos in Macau are the Venetian, Wynn, Grand etc. The Venetian was inaugurated recently and is a pleasure to visit. The theme of the hotel is Venice and it has been built on a grand scale in the Venetian style. On the outside a complete replica of the entire Piazza San Marco has been constructed.

Inside, the ambience is like the city of Venice. Grand staircases, huge paintings on the ceilings, and there is a Grand Canal within the hotel on both sides of which you have multiple shopping areas. The Canals have flowing water with gondolas and people singing in the gondolas as they do in Venice. Its just a treat to walk around the hotel and take in the beauty of the place.

The casino in the Venetian is a bit expensive though, minimum of 200 HKD per bet. Its better to play at the Wynn or Lisboa, which have a smaller bet size. Almost all the hotels in Macau have a casino, you can just walk into any of those. Play all you want, win/lose all you want and just have a good time. One point to note is that all the casinos offer free alcohol. Guess if you are losing a lot of money, you can try to make up for it from alcohol:).
Another thing to do in Macau would be to visit the Macau centre, which offers a chance to bungee jump or skywalk around the tower.

The Bungee jump is a bit expensive though.
Also, at the top of the Macau Centre, is the platform which has glass on the ground. Its quite an effort to even walk there, its soo scary!









Two other places on Hong Kong which I have not gone to but have heard good reviews about are Disneyland and Waterpark. Give them a visit if you want to.

Getting Around :
Travel around Hong Kong is easy. The transfer from the airport to the city is easy, as you will directly land-up in Central or Kowloon in less than half an hour by the airport express. Once in the city, just buy the Octopus card, and it works in the buses, the trams and the metros as well as shops! The cabs are cheap too, so they are always an option. Ferries to nearby islands make for a good ride. Also you can use the escalators everywhere in the Central and Midland areas if you want to walk around a bit in the city. This is something very unique to Hong Kong that I have seen. Also most of the buildings in Central are all interconnected, so you can walk from one end to another without ever coming out in the sun! That also really helps getting around during summer.

Just try not to walk around too much around Central on a Sunday afternoon!! There are too many crowds everywhere on that day. Its the day when all the maids around the city get a day Sunday off, and they all spend their time sitting in the open and chatting and gossiping!

Shopping :

Shopping is the national pastime of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is well endowed to cater to this hobby :). The Shenzhen area about an hour away from Hong Kong is the centre of all kind of shopping you would want to do, have heard the deals and bargains there are unheard of anywhere else. Buying clothes, shoes, bags, CDs, watches etc: everything made in China at throwaway prices. Earlier you could get a visa for Shenzhen from Hong Kong itself, but now you need to take a Chinese visa beforehand.

The famous malls of Hong Kong include the Elements in Kowloon which is a new high-end mall, recently opened. It has a lot of good brand there, as well as an ice skating rink:).

 
The IFC Mall in Central is another huge mall, where you can get lot of stuff to buy. Nearby only in Queens road etc, there are lot of options too.Harbour City in the Kowloon side is another good option, its one of the biggest malls in Hong Kong.

 
For slightly cheaper shopping, there are lot of shops near Times Square. You need to bargain a lot there though but then you can get really good deals.

In fact anywhere in Hong Kong you go, you will find a mall or some shops at least! And brands are there everywhere. In fact like most of South Asia, Hong Kong is very brand conscious, you will even notice that in the way everyone around there dresses up. Should warn you though, one problem you will face while shopping in Hong Kong is of course the size availability! Since Asian women are so petite, not getting your size can always deflate your ego:(.


General Info :

As far as weather goes, summer gets too humid in Hong Kong and its tough to go out in the afternoon. During winter it gets a bit cold and windy, but most of the times its pleasant and the best time to visit Hong Kong. Also, there is a lot of smog over Hong Kong for most of the year, which gets a bit painful and unhealthy.

Food is available in good variety across the city. If you love sea food, then Hong Kong is a haven. There are countless places offering tasty Chinese non-vegetarian food across town. Popular eating places are located mostly in Soho, LKF, Wan Chai as well as in the malls. Indian food is available at Tsim Tsha Tshui area as well as the Princes (?) street in Central.

A good place to visit would be the Aqua pub in Kowloon, it is located near the Harbour City mall. It has glass all around and gives a great view of the harbour, great ambience. Have heard it plays Bollywood music on Thursdays, not sure if it does, but you can check it out if you want. Also definitely try the French restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. Very expensive though but it is simply superb food!!

The best hotels to stay in Hong Kong would be the Four Seasons and the W. The W is a new and very stylish hotel recently opened close to the ICC tower in Kowloon. Its an interesting stay. Also the Four Seasons is located in Central and is quite a luxury hotel. It has one of the best views of the harbour and if you can get a harbour view room, you are quite lucky. Another positive about the Four Seasons is that the swimming pool there also has a great view of the harbour. Its quite fun to spend some time there, swimming and appreciating the scenes around.

There are many cultural events also which keep happening there regularly, like the fireworks on Hong Kong's handover day, Rugby and Cricket Sixes, Dragon Boat races etc. There are lot of exhibitions held regularly, water sports like wake boarding etc, so enough to keep you busy if you spend a longer time there. All in all, a city with a lot to offer for a short or a longer trip traveller.