Hong Kong (47)

A weekend in the city


For a ringside view of one of the world’s most impressive natural harbours head straight for the briny on day one and board one of the city’s much-loved Star Ferries. The white boats have been ferrying commuters across the ‘fragrant harbour’ between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui since 1898, and the journey remains one of the city’s top cheap thrills.

Board at Central and alight in Tsim Sha Tsui – Kowloon’s shopping, dining and entertainment hub. Along the waterfront are some of the city’s key museums including the Cultural Centre, Space Museum and Museum of Art, as well as Hong Kong’s answer to Hollywood – the Avenue of Stars. If you have kids in tow check out the lifesize statue of legendary kung fu hero, Bruce Lee, and take in one of the Space Museum’s Omnimax or Sky Show screenings.

For reminders of the city’s colonial past don’t miss the red brick 1915 Clock Tower and take morning tea in the lobby of the renowned Peninsula Hotel.

Nathan Road (dubbed Hong Kong’s Golden Mile) is not the bargain-basement strip it once was but if you can’t find the latest gadget in the electronic shops that line Kowloon’s neon-filled backbone, it probably doesn’t exist. The good value boutiques that fan out east from Golden Mile along Ashley, Granville and Kimberly roads sell good-value silk items and leather goods and bargain hunters should visit the factory outlets along Granville Road.

Flagging? Take a breather in Kowloon Park. With its bird aviary, lake, maze, Chinese garden and swimming pool it’s a mighty fine urban park. TST is stuffed with eating options – for lunch try one of the QTS-accredited dim sum restaurants (look for the QTS window sticker or pick up a guide at the airport) or head to cosy Knutsford Terrace just off Observatory Road for a good choice of western and Pan-Asian restaurants.

There’s local culture in spades in Kowloon’s Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kong districts. Take in a slew of sights and lively markets including the Flower Market, Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, Fa Yuen street market and the Ladies and Jade markets and don’t miss the atmospheric Tin Hau Temple complex, where locals play chess in the shade of surrounding banyan trees.

In the evening head for one of Hong Kong’s neighbourhoods – drinkers and diners throng the pedestrianised Lan Kwai Fong and the trendier Soho (both Island side), and Suzy Wong’s old haunt of Wan Chai (Island side) is a safe bet for late-night supping and clubbing. Kowloon’s Knutsford Terrace cranks things up a gear at night but for a spoonful of glamour and dramatic harbour views sip a martini at the 39th-floor Aqua (One Peking Road) before dinner at Nobu (InterContinental hotel, Kowloon). If you can’t bag a table try the small sushi bar with its nine non-bookable stools. Alternatively, if it’s the season, catch the spectacular floodlit Saturday-night races at Happy Valley.

Next morning try one of Hong Kong’s other legendary journeys - a loop circuit on the double-decker trams that clatter between Sheung Wan and Happy Valley (Island side) or head up to Victoria Peak on the mountain-hugging funicular, the Peak Tram, for superlative city views. Leave the afternoon free for either a shopping and long-lunching trip to laid-back seaside Stanley – alfresco restaurants and sprawling clothes market (Island side) – or take a ferry (Central Ferry Piers) to one of the outlying islands. Traffic-free Lamma is known for its cross-island walk and seafood restaurants and Lantau is home to some fine beaches, hikes and the huge seated Big Buddha.




24 hours in the city

Make straight for the enigmatic Victoria Habour and join the Star Ferry Harbour Tour (Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai). This one-hour circuit is a great way to get your bearings while cramming in a number of must-see sights along the way.

Alight at Central and meander through the jaw-dropping glass-and-steel jungle that is the CBD, where architectural highs include an escalator ride into the ‘guts’ of Norman Foster’s Hong Kong & Shanghai bank building – famously under ‘feng-shui attack’ from IM Pei’s neighbouring Bank of China building.

Central is also known as label land, both the Princess Building and the swish IFC mall are packed with designer gear and the original branch of Shanghai Tang is on Pedder Street.

Head east along Queen’s Road Central towards the Central-Mid-Levels escalator. The world’s longest covered outdoor escalator is an attraction in itself – ride it as far as Hollywood Road where you can amble away a couple of hours in the antiques shops, galleries, quirky boutiques, and at the market stalls on Graham Street and the Cat Street Bazaar (Ladder Row). A more spiritual must-see on Hollywood Road is the highly atmospheric Man Mo Temple. Dripping with incense coils, the interior is usually thick with eye-watering clouds of incense.

Stop for lunch at one of Soho’s (South of Hollywood Road) myriad cafes and restaurants before weaving your way back down to Central Des Voeux Road and boarding one of the double-decker trams bound for Happy Valley. Watch the city unfold from the top deck like a high-action Bruce Lee film, as the tram rattles its way through Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

Alight at Happy Valley, home to one of Hong Kong’s major passions – the racetrack. If you can’t catch one of the twice-weekly race meets that hold the city to ransom between September and early July, the Racing Museum is a good second best, not least for its stunning views of the famous track and the cityscape that has grown up around it.

Head up to Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram funicular (Central) just before dusk – this way you’ll get both the daytime and night-time views. Dine here, at the sophisticated Pearl on the Peak with its sweeping 270-degree city view or head back to Central by bus or tram.

Nothing quite beats the sight of Hong Kong’s twinkling vertiginous piles at night and you can take in the show from the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade (Kowloon) or alternatively enjoy the full panoramic extravaganza with a cocktail in hand from on board the chic batwing AquaLuna junk. Both are ideal locations for the 8pm Symphony of Lights multimedia show. Alternatively, board the Star Ferry just before 8pm and you’ll enjoy the same theatre for around 40p.

Families might want to try the Jumbo Kingdom, which houses the Tai Pak Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour (Island side), for dinner – otherwise, you’re spoilt for choice on either side of the harbour. For a restaurant alternative and shopping trip combined take the MTR (underground) to Jordan station in Kowloon, where you can finish off your whirlwind visit at Hong Kong’s famous Temple Street night market. All the world’s fakes can be found here, along with fortune tellers, warbling Chinese opera singers and some tasty local and cheap and cheerful food options. Don’t forget to haggle.

One hour in the city

Get lucky on the day and you may never see a more thrilling cityscape vista anywhere in the world as the one from Victoria Peak. On a clear day there should be a view all the way to mainland China. For some, the glittering night-time view of Hong Kong’s beating commercial heart spread before you like a carpet of electric light – is even more spectacular.

Whatever your preference, the view over Victoria Harbour is the backdrop for a trillion postcards – and if you only do one thing in Hong Kong this should be it. With more time the trick is to head up pre-dusk (around 4pm) to capture both the daytime and night-time views. In the summer the heat of the day will also have subsided.

Part of the peak’s appeal lies in the getting there and, for more than a century, the most exhilarating approach has been from on board the vertiginous Peak Tram funicular. Pulled by steel cables the tram climbs 1,200 feet at a dizzying 45-degree angle.

At the top, the recently re-vamped Peak Tower now houses scores of shops and dining outlets as well as a new-look interactive Madame Tussauds, a Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium and a 360-degree rooftop observation deck where t’ai chi master William Ng runs a free t’ai chi class on Saturday mornings. Retail therapy aside there are also a number of superb walks from the peak. The well-signposted 45-minute Peak Circle Walk follows Lugard and Harlech roads, affording views across the harbour and Kowloon to the north; Cheung Chau and Lantau to the west; and Aberdeen Harbour to the south.