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IT IS bristling with skyscrapers and bursting with investment bankers, but Hong Kong is much more than a business hub – and you don’t have to be a cocktail-sipping Manolo Blahnik to get the best out of it. Every street corner here struggles for its own piece of the action. Shifty street-side astrologers vie with gleaming multi-storey malls, and busy beaches compete with cut-price electronic stores. Fairy-tale turrets and green hiking trails beckon you out of town, while steaming dim sum carts and harbour-view sundowners tug you back. Whatever you need, Hong Kong has the goods. Here’s our A-to-Z Hong Kong guide.
Getting Around Hongkong
Hong Kong International Airport (www.hongkongairport.com) is large and modern. Situated on Lantau Island, it connects to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island by bridge and snaking arteries of concrete and highways. Recently opened at the airport, to distract you a smidgen, is the large and spiffy Sky Plaza mall. A taxi to town from the airport will set you back around 300 Hong Kong dollars (US$1 = HK$7.8) but the fast and convenient Airport Express train will whip you into town in 23 minutes for just HK$100. Catch it right outside the arrivals hall and get off in Kowloon or on Hong Kong Island. Hotel shuttles and taxis will jostle for your custom. On your way out, you can check-in for most flights at the Central and Kowloon Airport Express stations.
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| Art deco old Bank of China |
Taxis in Hong Kong are inexpensive, and drivers tend to know their stuff. English skills do seem to be on the decline, but your concierge or even a passer-by can help with any difficulties. Flagfall is HK$16 and the meter rarely goes far above HK$60, even if you use one of the cross-harbour tunnels (which levy tolls). Few travellers consider renting cars, since parking spaces are such a pain to find – not to mention expensive. Trams, buses and the shiny, user-friendly MTR (Mass Transit Railway) all take change or a quick swipe of the city’s rechargeable electronic-payment Octopus smart cards (used to pay for virtually all public transport as well as convenience-store purchases). Pick up one of these at the Airport Express counter when you arrive or from MTR counters.
Pay at entry when you get on a bus. Fares are clearly marked on flip-cards on electronic displays. There’s no change returned – so do carry lots of coins. Trams are boarded from the rear and you pay at the front (by the driver) when you alight. For an introduction to the real Hong Kong there really is no better way than to trundle the length of the tram line, from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan for just HK$2. Sit up top, at the front. It’ll take you an hour or two, but there’ll be little you haven’t seen by the end of it. Or hop on the bobbing Star Ferry to do the famous shuttle from Hong Kong to Kowloon for HK$2.20. On with our Hong Kong guide.
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Hong Kong Guide to Oddities, Gold Toilets, Tailors, Horses
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| Morning tai chi, Chater Garden |
But first, some offbeat – and some downright bizarre – detours. How about ogling a gold toilet? Visit the world’s most expensive bathroom decked out in 24-carat gold (including a solid gold toilet). The place is run by a local Hongkong jewellery house (3D Gold, 28 Man Lok Street, Kowloon). Be sure to wear your shades: the gold is startling enough but the countless digi-cam flashes going off can be like hitting a rave at 2am. You probably won’t want to use the facility unless you have a real exhibitionist’s streak.
On the other hand, if your deep and buried mean streak needs a stroke, you can always slap a curse on your mortal enemies, or the boss. No, we’ve not been reading too much Harry Potter. We’ve just been to Causeway Bay, where, under the Canal Road flyover (or Ngo Keng Kiu) on Hennessy Road, you will find a number of angry-looking old women thrashing bits of paper with shoes and stamping on the pavement. They are performing a brand of folk-sorcery known as “villain-hitting”. Pay a small fee to choose whose name goes on the paper, and under the shoe. Take that, scumbags!
As many Hong Kong guide books recommend, why not rent a tram (www.hktramways.com) especially if you’re with a large group? Adorned with party lights, the special open-topped double-decker can be seen rumbling through the city most evenings packed with unsteady revellers. Better still, test out your sea legs and rent a junk for the day. These are large, wooden, two-tiered pleasure boats, and can come with catering (www.jaspasjunk.com) or without (www.jubilee.com.hk). Have your coxswain head to one of the outlying islands so you can lunch at a local outdoor seafood restaurant and then spend the rest of the day swimming and lazing about.
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| Cube art at the IFC |
For a memorable – and free – panoramic sweep, make for the Hopewell Centre at 183 Queen’s Road East in Wanchai, where you can soar up and down 40 storeys in a glass “bubble lift”, at least until the building staff ask you to leave. Catch it on the 17th floor. Be warned, the revolving Chinese restaurant up top is only so-so.
One of Hongkong’s great institutions is Sam's Tailor (tel: [852] 2367-9423, www.samstailor.com) which occupies a tiny shop in scruffy Burlington Arcade, just off Nathan Road, on Kowloon's “Golden Mile”. It looks unprepossessing – until you see the photos of satisfied customers on the wall. Sam's outfits have been worn by royalty, pop stars, movie stars and several US presidents. Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Michael Jackson, Margaret Thatcher, John Travolta and Pavarotti have all come here to be measured by Manu Melwani. Good woollen suits start at around HK$2,500 (though lighter material can drop to HK$1,000) and, famously, can be made in 24 hours. It is wise, however, to allow time for a second fitting.
Punters with an eye on heaving horseflesh should head to the Happy Valley Racecourse (www.happyvalleyracecourse.com). The night races have an almost beer-fest feel to them, although Hongkongers betting their life’s savings on horses with names such as “King of Fish” would probably disagree. The racing season runs from September to July.
Hong Kong Guide for Families
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| Ocean Park cable car/ photo: Ocean Park |
Hongkong has a well-earned reputation for boorishness but it is becoming more family-friendly of late. Since Hong Kong Disneyland (park.hongkongdisneyland.com) opened in 2005 the city has become a magnet for kid-toting couples. Those familiar with the US versions might not be easily won over by this pocket-sized model, but a good few thousand visitors a day go Mickey-mad for its themed environs and perky rides. The Disney-owned hotels close by are two of just a few great family-resort stays in Hong Kong. Find it all at Sunny Bay near the end of the Tung Chung MTR line on Lantau Island.
The only real rival for the theme-park crown here is homegrown Ocean Park (www.oceanpark.com.hk), which is undergoing a splashy 12-phase upgrade. Its attractions appeal to a wider age range, with lunch-threatening rides, aquariums and animal shows – including two very popular and tech-savvy pandas. They actually have their own blog. You can’t really beat the views here. The two parts of the park (the Lowland and the Headland) are connected by an exhilarating cableway, and views from the cars offer some of the most stunning scenery Hong Kong has to offer.
The Big Buddha towers atop a breezy promontory on Lantau Island. The statue looks very cool in silhouette on the hillside but it has shaken things up for the reclusive monks at the adjacent Po Lin Monastery who have got sucked willy-nilly into the commercial hullabaloo. The statue is a good focus point for getting out of the city, and you get nice green views all around. No need to buy a ticket here – it’s free. You can also elbow your way into the monastery’s popular vegetarian restaurant, enjoy some old temple architecture and light a few incense sticks. A short walk from the Buddha is Ngong Ping 360, a complex of newly built family attractions (mostly twee gift shops and restaurants). The place was marooned somewhat with the closure of its dramatic cable car link to Tung Chung (near the airport) after a mishap but it has opened again under a new operator. An alternative route to get here – as well as to the Big Buddha – is by taking the ferry from Central to Mui Wo on Lantau, followed by a 45-minute bus ride. However, give it a miss at the weekend if you dislike crowds.
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| Cruising Wanchai Market |
Hong Kong also has a number of good urban parks, including Hong Kong Park in Admiralty (above the Pacific Place mall) and Kowloon Park, a few minutes from the harbour. Both have space for running around, small playgrounds, fishponds and fountains, as well as aviaries. Kowloon Park is big on recreational facilities, with one indoor and three outdoor public pools. The Zoological and Botanical Gardens (www.lcsd.gov.hk/parks/hkzbg/en) on Albany Road, overlooking Central, are within walking distance of Hong Kong Park and the Peak Tram area and have more of a natural, overgrown feel. The gardens are the closest thing Hong Kong has to a zoo, including aviaries, a jaguar enclosure and an area housing various mammals and reptiles.
When the temperature hits the thirties at the height of summer, air-conditioned diversions beckon. The Hong Kong Science Museum (http://hk.science.museum) in Tsim Sha Tsui or simply TST, offers a range of hands-on learning activities. Some members of the family might get excited about the Museum of Coastal Defense (www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Coastal) or the Museum of Medical Sciences (www.hkmms.org.hk) in Mid-Levels, which is one of the few, incidentally, to explore the overlap of Chinese and Western medicine. The Space Museum (www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space) along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront isn’t bad – and it puts on some great shows in its Planetarium cinema. Hong Kong’s first IMAX theatre recently arrived at the new 19-storey Megabox Mall in Kowloon Bay. Jumpin Gym USA (www.jumpingym.com) offers a series of mall-based amusement areas with small rides and arcade games. Try the one in Taikoo Shing’s Cityplaza mall, and then take the kids ice-skating afterwards (www.icepalace.com.hk).
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| View from Victoria Peak |
Victoria Peak (also known as simply The Peak), crops up on every traveller’s itinerary, and rightly so. This is the centre point of any Hong Kong guide. The views from here on a clear day are quite lovely. Being hauled uphill in the remodelled Peak Tram is also a thrill, though queues get long on weekends. Families might want to drop by the small Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (tel: 2849-0698) “odditorium” with its strange and unusual items and bizarre facts or the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong wax-work museum (www.madame-tussauds.com.hk). There’s a natural bias towards Asian celebrities in the latter, but you’ll also find your Monroes and Madonnas. Afterwards, opt for the pleasant Lugard Road walk that encircles the Peak offering a 360-degree view of Hong Kong. This is a favourite with joggers and dog-walkers. Find it either side of the chalet-style Peak Lookout restaurant (tel: 2849-1000, www.thepeaklookout.com.hk) with its great outdoor seating area. Another good dinner bet is the nearby Café Deco (tel: 2849-5111, www.hkeats.com/english/cafedeco.htm) with some fine views over the harbour. The Peak Tower is a space age monument housing, among other things, Bubba Gump (tel: 2849-2867, www.bubbagump.com) that serves up beer-batter fried shrimp by the bucket, Pearl on the Peak (tel: 2849-5123), and the Chinese Tien Yi restaurant (tel: 2907-3888). All have some seats with great views.
Hong Kong Heritage Attractions
The Hong Kong tourism bureau has designed a number of walks to take in the remaining heritage spots here, many of which struggle against the government’s zealous attempts to modernise. Pick up a brochure at one of the bureau offices (there’s one at the Kowloon Star Ferry pier).
You’ll find tiny knee-high shrines set into the walls of many buildings around town, but it is old Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road (just above Central) that draws the most pilgrims, sightseers and stressed mid-exam students. The place has big looping incense coils suspended from the ceiling. The Sheung Wan-end of Hollywood Road is also good for antique shopping, and if you explore a little further you’ll find the fancy, Edwardian-style Western Market building, along with a lot of little bakeries and Chinese medicine shops.
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| Tram passing Legco Building, Central |
In Central, the old Bank of China building is one of the few remaining business structures left over from colonial times. The two-storey Flagstaff House in Hong Kong Park was once home to the Commander off the British Forces in Hong Kong, and now houses the Museum of Tea Ware, while the red brick former French Mission building behind the spacious HSBC headquarters was built in 1917 and is now the Court of Final Appeal. Just up the hill from here, St John’s Cathedral is a little oasis amid the corporate melee, and is still very active, often with free lunchtime choral performances.
Old icons are fewer and farther between in Tsim Sha Tsui. You could survey the foundations of the Kowloon Walled City, a 19th-century garrison town torn down in the 1980s, and its Chinese-style administrative office. The truly ambitious history buff, though, should head towards the border with mainland China. A group of centuries-old walled villages still stand at Lung Yeuk Tau, Fanling (accessed by the MTR's East Rail Iine - formerly under the KCR, the Kowloon Canton Railway), and Ping Shan in Yuen Long has an established historical walking trail. Find out more, including transport details, from the government’s Antiquities and Monuments Office website (www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/main.php). Both areas will take over an hour to get to.
The tourism bureau has a pretty impressive line-up of edifying cultural experiences, and some are even free. Call (tel: 2508-1234) for details on the morning Tai Chi exercises along the TST (Tsimshatsui) promenade, tea appreciation or Feng Shui lessons. My own two favourite cultural excursions involve either an early-morning stroll through Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park (tai chi and kung fu aplenty) or a nighttime visit to Jordan Road’s bric-a-brac Temple Street Market, where ear-splitting Chinese opera is still sung with gusto.
Hong Kong Bars, Views, and Dining
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| SOHO by night/ photo: Ji-Hae Han |
Hong Kong is the belle of the Asian ball at night. At 8pm, the “Festival of Light” plays around the waterfront buildings during a nightly laser display. Both sides of the harbour get good views, but it’s always nice to take a stroll along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade around this time. Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars is here (rather tackily modelled on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame) with a larger-than-life-sized Bruce Lee statue for added excitement.
If martinis sound more appealing, catch the show with a drink in hand. Aqua Spirit (tel: 3427-2288) is one of the more lauded bars-with-a-view on the Kowloon side of the harbour; a sleek combination of Italian and Japanese restaurant with cocktail lounge. Hutong (tel: 3428-8342) is just one floor down, with dramatic Asian décor and modern Chinese grub on the menu. They are at One Peking Road. Both set the kind of prices that make you watch the waiters for slip-ups. The Philippe Starck-designed interiors of Felix (tel: 2366-6251) in The Peninsula Hong Kong, the city’s grande dame of hotels, is another popular spot. Most of the hotels along Salisbury and Mody Road have good top-floor lounges, but many charge fairly high prices for a quick gulp, often with a two-drink minimum. The drinks at the Sheraton’s Sky Lounge, for example are titchy. For sundowners in true style, nothing can beat the atmosphere of the InterContinental Hong Kong’s Lobby Lounge, famous for its spectacular harbour views and excellent service. You’ll need to dress decent for this one.
But no Hong Kong guide would be complete with a down-at-heel detour. For an affordable alternative try the almost-chic Salisbury Dining Room (tel: 2268-7818) at the Tsimshatsui YMCA. It’s only four floors up and peeks over the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, but you still get great views for a fraction of the price. For dining in this area, many head to the lively Knutsford Terrace or Ashley Road, where a large variety of cheaper bars and eateries await, from pizza parlours to steakhouses. Try the hip but cheap Red Ant (tel: 2375-9698) for an extensive menu that mixes authentic Asian dishes with Asian versions of Western dishes.
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| Star Ferry docking |
Over in Central, bars and restaurants rub shoulders in rowdy, pedestrian Lan Kwai Fong (www.lankwaifong.com), and drinkers spill out into the streets most nights after work. Things are a little more genteel up on Soho’s Staunton and Elgin Streets, and bars line the one-way string of escalators leading up to Mid-Levels. It’s almost like picking your restaurant off a conveyor belt… or having it pick you. Everything from Nepalese (Yak cheese salad anyone?) to Spanish tapas can be found here, and plenty of wine bars. A great open-front restaurant and hang-out is Cru (tel: 2803-2083, GF 44-46 Staunton Street). Service is sharp and friendly. Pick a streetside table for two or head to the cosy indoors or upstairs to munch on excellent steaks, pizza, starter nibbles, or a big breakfast that will make your eyes pop at the serving sizes.
Bilingual stand-up is on offer at Take Out Comedy (www.takeoutcomedy.com) on Elgin Street. Live jazz is often to be found at the cosy, bohemian Gecko (LG/F, Ezra Lane, tucked under the escalator, tel: 2537-4680) during the week. Its sister restaurant Les Rideau Theatre Café (49 Hollywood Rd, tel: 2850-8833) is the only place in town for a unique dinner-theatre experience. Think red velvet, exposed brick wall and artistic monologues. Both host DJs at weekends. For a bigger dance floor, join the hopeful hoards waiting outside the painfully hip Dragon-I (tel: 3110-1222) on Wyndham Street. The early-twenties crowd heads to Pi Club (28/F, 8 Wyndham St, Central, tel: 2868-1162) at the top of a corporate building: great views but be prepared to leave your handbag with the bouncers.
In more sedate surrounds, Azure (tel: 3518-9330) in Hotel LKF is deliciously decked out. In the same building, the cool, Scandinavian menu at FINDS (tel: 2522-9318) keeps the pinstripers happy. The International Finance Centre (IFC) also harbours a vast number of expensive offerings with front-row harbour seats. Acclaimed Isola Bar + Grill (tel: 2383-8765, www.isolabarandgrill.com) offers highly recommended and authentic Italian, and there are a number of top-end Japanese and California-style restaurants like Harlan’s (tel: 2805-0566) run by creative New Yorker Harlan G. At the other end of IFC, joined at the hip, is the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong (tel: 3196-8888) and its swish Blue Bar at the lobby level. Pick from champagne, wine, or one of its signature blue cocktails. There are 88 of them. Still in Central, over at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental (tel: 2132-0188), there’s the secluded street-level MO Bar, hip, stylish, and cosy. Check out the catwalk bar. Central’s most elegant returnee, the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong (tel: 2522-0111) offers skyline views from its M Bar on the 25th floor and sibling The Excelsior in Causeway Bay serves up breathtaking harbour and city views from its renovated top-floor TOTT’s – Talk of The Town (tel: 2894-8888).
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| Fast-changing skyline/ Wanchai |
Two interesting spots for fine cuisine, each distinct yet splendidly diverse at opposite ends of the dining spectrum, are the new SEVVA (25/F Princes Building, Central, tel: 2537-1388) by Bonnie Gokson, a well known Hong Kong celeb, and Babek (G/F, 9 Elgin Street, Central, tel: 2975-9332), a smart and trendy hole-in-the-wall serving some of the most scrumptious kebabs this side of the Suez. At SEVVA, enjoy harbour views and sophistication while munching on noodles, sandwiches, pasta, steak, or Bento; at Babek, roll up your sleeves for mouth-watering courses of bite-size kebabs (veggie too) drawing upon the myriad flavours of India while sipping on sweet yoghurt fruit drinks served in test tubes.
Tasty local nosh abounds, but sorting the wheat from the chaff can be tricky. One 3am favourite is Tsui Wah (tel: 2525-6338), a cheap and cheerful local spot on Wellington Street, open 24 hours with a cult following. Celebs turn up here at odd hours and the newly designed menu is on offer for a staggering HK$500. Just up the road is the place to go for roast goose, 60-year-old Hong Kong institution Yung Kee Restaurant (tel: 2522-1624). Maxim’s Palace (tel: 2521-1303) in the City Hall still does a popular dim sum – steamed offerings wheeled around on carts – though the sea view is less pretty with the land reclamation going on outside.
Those in the know head to the IFC’s Lumiere (tel: 2393-3933) instead, which is also by far the “coolest” Szechuanese place in Hong Kong, according to cognoscenti. If all this is too itty-bitty and you really want to make a meal of it in smarter environs, head to the groaning buffet tables of café TOO at the Island Shangri-La (tel: 2820-8571) in Pacific Place. There’s room to swing a horse by the tail at the new Zuma Hong Kong (tel: 3657-6388), which occupies 10,000sq ft on two levels of The Landmark mall in Central. Zuma does a contemporary take on the informal roll-up-the-sleeves Japanese izakaya, serving up authentic confections in a "non-traditional” manner. From the Robata Grill, sample the signature gyuhire sumibiyaki karami zuke (spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chili and sweet soy).
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| Wanchai: The Pawn/ fun pub-style dining |
Wanchai’s Lockhart Road features everything from drunken yobs and sashaying mini-skirted women of commercial bent beckoning from neon girlie bars, to decent Indian and Chinese food and even Irish pub-grub. American Peking Restaurant (20 Lockhart Rd, tel: 2527-1000) is an accessible Beijing-style veteran offering tasty fare. Nearby is Sabah (98 Jaffe Road, tel: 2143-6626), a basic restaurant favoured by Malaysians who fancy a taste of home. It’s always fun to request the teh tarik (pulled tea) for the ritual that goes along with it. Grungy rocker dance places like Fenwick and Neptune get going after 10pm with lively Filipino bands. Not far away on newly gentrified Johnston Road is The Pawn (62 Johnston Rd, tel: 2866-3444, www.thepawn.com.hk), a renovated three-floor affair including a funky timber-floor bar-lounge with verandahs overlooking trundling trams and wooden railway-sleeper walls, and a dining room serving the best of British - yes, fish 'n' chips and more.
An old tourist icon awaits on the southern side of Hong Kong Island, in the somewhat polluted harbour of Aberdeen. The floating Jumbo Kingdom (www.jumbo.com.hk/eng/main.php) has been a Hongkong dining mainstay since the late 1970s. Its Chinese Imperial-style seafood restaurant has gone through good and bad times, but for the less adventurous the new Top Deck (tel: 2552-3331) is a modern, international alfresco spot.
For something atmospheric, laid-back and Sixties – complete with disco ball, zebra-stripe chairs, candles, and even a small dance place – head to Shek O village and the Black Sheep (tel: [852] 2809-2021) for lasagna, excellent thin-crust pizzas, salads, steaks and grilled fish. Or head way out to Silvermine Bay, Lantau to the China Beach Club (tel: 2983-8931) and down gallons of sangria with homemade moussaka. And already listed at the beginning of this article are the various outlets around The Peak.
Hong Kong Hotel Spas and Day Spas
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| China Beach Club, Lantau/ photo: Ji-Hae Han |
Burnout is never far in this frantic-paced city. Staving off mass hysteria are numerous city spas that offer escape and relief – at a price. Hongkong hotel spas guarantee a memorable experience. Two of the best Hong Kong hotel spas can be found at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental (tel: [852] 2132-0188) and Four Seasons Hotel (tel: 3196-8888), both of which sink you into soothing heat suites with Turkish hammams and rain showers.
The Peninsula recently introduced its chic Asian-themed ESPA (tel: 2920-2888), which feels smaller and more intimate and also offers impressive harbour views from the sauna. Both Plateau (tel: 2588-1234) at the Grand Hyatt and Chuan Spa at Mongkok’s chic Langham Place Hotel (tel: 3552-3388) lay on the sophisticated luxury experience, and offer full spa suites for the night. On hotel spa menus you’ll find everything from Japanese sand baths (Chuan Spa) and Chinese balancing wraps (ESPA) to hot stone therapies (Plateau).
There are many good, independent options around, however, most of them in Central. Try Elemis Day Spa (www.elemisdayspa.com.hk), Aso Spa (www.asospa.com) or Paua Spa by Frederique (www.pauaspa.com) for chic interiors and soothing scents. Another recommendable option is Sense of Touch (www.senseoftouch.com.hk) with branches on Hollywood and Arbuthnot Roads. Expect to pay anywhere between HK$500 and HK$1,200 for a 99-minute massage at the higher end. Or you can save money and do some good at the simple, somewhat clinical Acupressure and Foot Reflexology Care Centre of the Blind (705 Dragon Seed Building, 39 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2810-6666), which charges as little as HK$200 for a therapeutic pummel.
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| Mandarin Oriental spa/ photo: hotel |
For something New Age, pop into Zama (tel: [852] 2850-6400, www.zamaint.com). The establishment on the ground floor of Garley Building at 48-52 Peel Street offers a broad range of holistic healing and therapies from naturopathy and detox programmes to chakra and crystal work, iridology, flower remedies, and psychics and clairvoyants. Take your pick.
If you’d like to try a few local yet hassle-free treatments, you could seek out acupuncture, Chinese herbal remedies and massage at the Gaia Therapy Centre (www.gaiatherapy.com.hk). The Health & Joy Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic (www.health2joy.com) does traditional acupuncture and thermal needle moxibustion (with heated mugwort). The Quality Chinese Medical Centre (www.qcmchk.com) uses acupuncture to get you to quit smoking (yes, we are all terrified of needles) and Oriental Healing Art at Hong Kong’s airport deals mostly in foot reflexology (tel: 2261-0785).
Many of the above will also do beauty treatments, but The Feel Good Factor (tel: 2530-0610, www.feelgoodfactor.com.hk) on Lyndhurst does top-to-toe beautification. For a bit of budget buffing, you can always place yourself in the brusque but capable hands of May Mui (tel: 2524-8456), who works from her home in Wanchai. Men can get a good old-fashioned shave at the Mandarin Oriental’s Barber Shop (tel: 2825-4800) or at Homme Holistic Skincare for Men in Wan Chai (tel: 2833-6271).
The Hong Kong Guide to the Arts Scene
Hong Kong comes under fire for being artistically lacklustre but it does have a small and passionate arts community. Corporate buildings and malls are starting to support the scene by adorning themselves with local pieces, and galleries (albeit rather commercial ones) are popping up like mushrooms in the Central-Soho area. It’s still a good gateway to the modern Chinese art world.
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| Chuan Spa, Langham Place Hotel / photo: hotel |
For a pleasant day or evening spent browsing (most galleries stay open until around 7pm), try the route that leads along Wyndham Street and Hollywood Road, exploring the side streets as you go. You can even take a bottle of wine with you – the galleries tend not to mind. Start or finish at the Fringe Club’s gallery (www.hkfringeclub.com), taking advantage of its bar or rooftop café. This old colonial building is also your best bet for community theatre, live music or dance.
On the main strip you’ll find contemporary Chinese fine art in the white, innovative Connoisseur Art Gallery (tel: 2868-538, www.connoisseur-art.com) and Plum Blossoms (tel: 2521-2189, www.plumblossoms.com), and a more mixed-media bag at Grotto Fine Art (tel: 2121-2270, www.grottofineart.com). Walking uphill on Old Bailey Street, next to the old Central Police Station, you’ll pass a couple of bars to 10 Chancery Lane Gallery (tel: 2810-0065), which feels more like a cross between an artist’s studio and a shop. Peel Street is another branch-off, where a few galleries mix and merge with boutiques and design stores. Take a break here and stop for a chat at Joyce is Not Here Artists’ Bar & Café (tel: 2851-2999), a quirky neighbourhood joint with great sangria. If Joyce really isn’t there you can always talk to her husband, Rob.
Archangel Art (tel: 2851-6882) on Hollywood Road is a large space, covered in Vietnamese and Indo-European paintings. There are other spots of interest to explore down this road towards Sheung Wan, with the farthest probably being Para/Site Art Space (tel: 2517-4620, www.para-site.org.hk), on Po Yan Street. This one is the most radical of the Central-based galleries, and Tobias, its German director, enjoys scandalising Hong Kong sensibilities, which are surprisingly conservative. One other interesting option is Habitus (tel: 9040-3877) in Sheung Wan’s Western Market building. The gallery operates a small shop stocked mostly by independent local designers and runs exhibitions across town. There’s a useful gallery map at www.hongkonggalleries.org.
TST’s Hong Kong Museum of Art (tel: 2721-0116, www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkma) along the harbour promenade promotes art with a mainly local focus, with collections of ancient Chinese art, calligraphy and antiques and special exhibition galleries.
Outlying Islands, Pink Dolphins, and Hiking Trails
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| Peak Lookout, cosy and, colonial |
Grab your water flask and knot that camouflage bandana… Hong Kong has 23 protected country parks and over 200 islands, and a fair number are within easy reach of the city. Ferries to the more populated islands leave from the Central piers, giving access to a bevy of seafood restaurants, small fishing villages, beaches and hikes. If you find yourself with a spare day, just show up at the pier and leap on the next ferry to anywhere.
One safe and easy option is tiny Lamma Island, just 35 minutes from the city, with its clutch of fresh seafood options. Ferry directly to its prime strip of restaurants in Sok Kwu Wan or ride to Yung Shue Wan (the bigger of the two landing points and with more ferry sailings) for the beach and a wider variety of cuisines. If you want to combine them on one trip, it’s an hour’s fairly straightforward hike between the two. Lantau Island is the territory’s biggest, but still fairly undeveloped. Negotiate the small village paths of Mui Wo (take the ferry straight there from Central) on foot or by bicycle, or try the energetic beach-bound hiking trails. Friendly Bicycle Shop (tel: 2984-2278) behind McDonald’s at the pier is well stocked with reasonable prices.
There’s plenty of hiking information available online. Try the Hong Kong Tourism Board (www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/touring/hiking/index.jhtml) or Hong Kong Outdoors (www.hkoutdoors.com), which was set up by a local wildlife enthusiast. The famous 100km MacLehose Trail crosses much of Hong Kong’s New Territories. It runs through the Shing Mun Reservoir and the Shing Mun Redoubt, a short-lived line of defence against the Japanese during the second world war. Battle buffs will enjoy scrambling around this string of unkempt pillboxes and trench tunnels, many marked with shrapnel and engraved with London road-names. It’s relatively safe but you will come across the odd warning sign, so be careful. Liven up your hike with details of the battle from the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers (http://hksw.org/Shing%20Mun.htm), and with a foray to the nearby Kowloon Reservoir. This is where an often-intimidating troop of rhesus macaques skulk around. Our advice would be to have a big stick in hand and no bananas in your pockets.Or visit Hongkong's highest peak, windswept and rugged Tai Mo Shan.
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| Tai O Fishing Village |
A more accessible and beautiful hike on Hong Kong Island is along the Dragon’s Back trail to the little seaside village of Shek O, which can be reached by taking the MTR to Shaukeiwan and the No. 9 bus. The tricky part is finding the start of the trail, so ask around. It’s not too hard going and local tradition is to treat yourself to dinner at one of the local Chinese/Thai restaurants at the end. Shek O is also home to the east side of Hong Kong Island’s longest stretch of sand. The volunteer-led The Hong Kong Trampers (www.hktrampers.com) often head that way and welcome newcomers.
Tiny Hong Kong has more species of animals and plants than the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland combined, but in the city the most you’ll be confronted with are caged birds brandished by elderly men and the odd mosquito. Just a little way out, your wildlife-encountering chances dramatically improve. The newly spruced-up, 60-hectare Hong Kong Wetland Park (tel: 2708-8885, www.wetlandpark.com) with its exhibitions of fauna and flora and architecturally hip activity centre also offers a Wetland “ecotour” and an encounter with resident saltwater crocodile “Pui Pui”, found in the New Territories in 2003. The Mai Po Nature Reserve (www.wwf.org.hk/eng/maipo/) is a less-developed introduction to Hong Kong’s plant and animal life, run by the World Wildlife Fund, with concealed hides for bird-spotting, marshes, and workshops for kids. October to April see skies filled with migratory birds. Both of the abovementioned excursions are unfortunately underrated and under-visited. On Lantau Island, a leisurely ride by bus from Tung Chung (close by the airport), is the quaint stilted fishing village of Tai O. Worth a half day to sightsee and eat the local fare.
Hong Kong Dolphinwatch (tel: 2984-1414, www.hkdolphinwatch.com) promises a lively morning on a boat off Lantau Island for HK$360 (HK$180 for children aged 3 to 12). Trips take place every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on the trail of Chinese white dolphins – most of which are actually pink. The small, conservation-minded group’s coach will pick you up at the Kowloon Hotel lobby (just behind The Peninsula). A free re-try is offered if no dolphins are spotted.
Best Hong Kong Beaches, Golf, and Helicopter Tours
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| Tai Long Wan beach/ photo: Andrew Wan |
True, this is no Thailand, but with its crop of craggy, green mountains and many picturesque little islands, there’s a great deal of seashore to explore. Popular Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay on Hong Kong Island’s south side are the most accessible, just 15 minutes from Causeway Bay by cab. Dining options are a bit limited, but both are popular for their barbeque pits and get besieged at weekends – especially on Sundays, which is a holiday for Hong Kong’s domestic workforce. A quieter and more secluded option can be found just a short taxi ride from here at South Bay, which is slightly off the beaten track. All have the full range of changing and showering amenities and at least one purveyor of snacks and beach paraphernalia.
Further up the coast, Stanley Main Beach is also popular with families and can be combined with souvenir shopping at Stanley’s famous market and a pub lunch on the waterfront for a good day out. Note that the seawater quality improves as you move further you move away from urban areas. Big Wave Bay near Shek O is popular with surfers, and you can rent water sports equipment there, but don’t expect Hawaiian swells. There are a number of snack outlets.
Further afield, more bucket-and-spade action can be had on a number of Lantau Island beaches that also offer a number of hearty Western and local restaurants. Ooh La La! (www.treasureislandhk.com) at Pui O beach on Lantau’s south side, and the South African/Mediterranean barbeque-style The Stoep (tel: 2980-2699) on Lower Cheung Sha beach (both accessed via Mui Wo) are perfect for long, lazy lunches with the sand between your toes. The best Hong Kong beaches are along the series of spectacular white-sand coves up the coast from Sai Kung in the eastern New Territories near Tai Long Wan. Reach there by minibus to the nearest village, followed by a fair hike.
And diving? Surprisingly there are a few less spoilt patches of ocean that are worth a try. Diving Adventure (tel: 2572-2138, www.divinghk.com) has the inside info. The company offers local diving packages and a range of courses (from beginners to advanced and speciality programmes) and rents out gear from its main shop in Hennessey Road on Causeway Bay (full diving kit for HK$230 for the day).
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| Stanley Bay alfresco cafes |
Golf in Hong Kong will cost an arm and a leg but there are two excellent 18-hole public golf courses on Kau Sai Chau, (tel: [852] 2791-3388, www.kscgolf.com) an island near the charming New Territories town of Sai Kung. The town is easily reached by MTR to Choi Hung and Green Minibus 1A to Sai Kung Bus Terminus. After a 15-minute ride on the ferry you'll be set for one of the most scenic rounds of golf in Asia. Gary Player designed the courses. Green fees start from HK$280 for nine holes on the South Course on weekdays or HK$355 for weekends and public holidays.
Hong Kong by night is amazing. Hong Kong by air is both amazing and expensive. And why wouldn’t it be? This is one of the greatest sights anywhere. If you still have cash to flash, Heliservices (Hong Kong) Limited (tel: [852] 2802-0200, www.heliservices.com.hk) offers charters ranging from a fifteen-minute Hong Kong island and harbour highlights scenic flight priced at HK$6,000 or around US$770 (pick-up from The Peninsula’s helipad) to a one-hour tour of Hongkong island, Lantau island (including the famous giant Buddha at Po Lin monastery) and the New Territories for HK$18,000. Those prices are what you pay to charter the twin engine AS355N helicopter, which seats five. For a view-and-dine experience, The Peninsula (tel: [852] 2920-2888) offers a 15-minute helicopter ride across the city, followed by lunch or dinner at one of the hotel’s award-winning restaurants. It’s around HK$7,000 for a group of four.
So there you have it: something for everyone. Still insisting on that one-night stopover?
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