Hong Kong: Guide: Part Two

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Lan Kwai Fong/Hollywood Road 

Western and Chinese trendiest gather in the tiny Lan Kwai Fong precinct of Western-style restaurants, discos, delis and bars, where beautiful people flout the latest in Asian styles and experts put on their dancing gear. Above it is Hollywood Road, a long snaking street that meanders from Central to Sheung Wan in the west, where you'll find more bars, and, more importantly, antique shops selling everything from copies of Mao Zedong's little red book to artifacts from all over Asia. More affordable items can be found at the western end, in what is popularly known as Cat Street Market. 

Location: Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Central MTR/bus 23/minibus 31. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Lei Yun Mun 

This village, which was partly built on harbor-side stilts, was formerly a lair of pirates and smugglers but is now a seafood-lover's paradise. Visitors can buy their own live seafood from the many market stalls and take it into nearby restaurants to be cooked. 

Location: Kowloon
How to Get There: Lam Tin MTR/bus 14 or 62X. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: The famous Nathan Road 

Dubbed the `Golden Mile', this wide thoroughfare, which was named after the British governor who designed it, offers the quintessential nighttime view of Hong Kong - it's a dark greasy street jammed with shoppers, overhung by a thick canopy of neon-illuminated shop signs. By no means grand, it houses some spectacularly expensive clothes and jewelry stores beside back street tailors and illegal curry houses and sweatshops. 

Location: Kowloon
How to Get There: Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan or Yau Ma Tei MTR/Kowloon Star Ferry/cross-harbor bus 100 or 110. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Ocean Park 

South-east Asia's largest entertainment and theme park sits on a hill between Aberdeen and Deep Water Bay. Features include roller coasters, a giant aquarium, pandas, waterslides and Chinese cultural displays. At once tacky and fun, it's as close as you'll get to Disneyworld outside of Japan. 

Location: Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Shuttle-bus from Admiralty MTR or Central Star Ferry pier. Open 10am-6pm daily. Admission adult HK$140; child (aged 3-11) HK$70.
 
Hong Kong Sightseeing: Happy
Po Lin Monastery and Giant Buddha 
Buses from Mui Wo (Silvermine Bay), reached from the Outlying Island Ferry Terminal in Central (2985 5113), then bus 2. 

Built on the 250-m-high plateau of Ngong Ping in the New Territories, this was founded in 1921 as a monastic retreat. It still offers accommodation to lowly travelers but as a major tourist attraction has also been decorated with brightly colored temples and floral gardens. The highlight is the 26-m-high, 202-tonne statue of Buddha, the world's largest seated, outdoor bronze statue of the deity. 

Location: New Territories
How to Get There: Buses from Mui Wo (Silvermine Bay), reached from the Outlying Island Ferry Terminal in Central (2985 5113), then bus 2. 
 
Hong Kong Sightseeing: South Hong Kong Island 

Venture through the Aberdeen Tunnel and you could be forgiven for thinking you'd entered a Mediterranean seaside town. Whitewashed villas dot green hills that slope down into cool blue seas, and country parks and hillsides are criss-crossed by walking tracks that lead to the many beaches and coves. Aberdeen is the main center of population this side of the island, and its typhoon shelter teems with junks, sampans and fishing boats. Further east is a string of pretty but polluted beaches, some of which are positively dangerous to swim off. Repulse Bay is a popular spot for sunbathers and its bars and restaurants attract the moneyed residents who live nearby. Middle Bay and South Bay are secluded nooks popularly referred to as Gay Bay because of their popularity among Hong Kong's young gay community. 

Location: South Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Buses from Exchange Square terminal in Central/ bus 9 to Shek O from Shau Kei Wan MTR bus depot. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Temple Street Night Market 

By day a typically dull and litter-strewn Kowloon street, by night one of the most vibrant parts of Hong Kong. All sorts of bargains and cons can be had in this kilometer-long bazaar: clothes, toys and footwear are the most popular of sale items, but there are also a number of food stalls, seafood dai pai dongs and restaurants. You will also run into fortune-tellers, street performers and prostitutes. If you can't find anything to buy, just sit on a café stool with a beer and take in the frenetic spectacle. 

Location: Kowloon
How to Get There: Yau Ma Tei or Mong Kok MTR/all buses from Tsim Sha Tsui. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: The Peak 

With some of the world's highest property prices, The Peak is strictly for the super-rich and politicians. Visitors can gawp at the mansions and luxury apartments after a trip to the Peak Tower, an anvil-shaped monstrosity that houses a number of tourist attractions and restaurants. Alternatively, there's the Peak Galleria, with its shops selling a mixture of tacky tat and overpriced baubles. The views, however, are spectacular and there are a number of delightful cafés and bars. 

Location: Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Peak Tram from Cotton Tree Drive terminal in Central (2522 0922)/bus 15 from Central. Tickets HK$18 single, HK$28 return. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: The Wishing Tree 

Situated in Lam Tsuen, near Tai Po in the New Territories, the Wishing Tree is covered in deep crimson flowers and laden with wishes written on bright red paper. Tradition says that wish makers may scribble their dreams on specially designed red paper plates, then toss them in the air; if a plate catches on the tree, the wish will be granted. 

Location: New Territories 
How to Get There: Tai Po KCR station then Lam Tsuen minibus. 

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Tiger Balm Gardens 

One of the more curious attractions in Hong Kong, these gardens and their plastic animals, pagodas and grottoes, based on Chinese myths, were built in 1935 by the Aw family, who invented and prospered on the proceeds of the popular Tiger Balm embrocation. 

Location: Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Taxi from Causeway Bay MTR/ bus 11 from Central. Admission free. 

Hong Kong Hotels

Hong Kong Sightseeing: Wan Chai 

Often termed the Suzy Wong district after the fabled character of the best-selling novel, this is the old red-light district. Until the handover, sailors poured off ships from all over the world to do what sailors know how to do so well on shore leave. A mixture of tatty semi-slums and towering shiny skyscrapers, Wan Chai is home to the island's less salubrious bars and clubs but also to some of its finest restaurants. There are great views from the revolving restaurant of the Hopewell Centre, on Queens Road East, and from Central Plaza on Harbor Road. The bar strips and strip clubs are centered on the junction of Luard Road and Lockhart Road. 

Location: Hong Kong Island
How to Get There: Wan Chai MTR. Buses along Queens Road East, Hennesy Road and Johnson Road from Central/trams along Johnson Road/minibuses marked Wan Chai/Causeway Bay buses from Central.