I had to visit Hong Kong for business but managed to sneak out a day to do some travel. A day is probably too less for most big cities, especially one like Hong Kong but that's what I had. Hong Kong is a nice cosmopolitan city some what like London or New York. Lots of people, taxis, public transport , restaurants etc. I had one full day for this and the objective was to cover enough but not overload it as well. Other objective I had was to use public transport as much as possible. I like to see how people travel, live and work and public transport gives you a taste of that.
The quick & Dirty
Morning
The Peak, Central
Mid-Levels Escalator
Man mo Temple
* All MTR : Central
Afternoon
Chungking Mansions (MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui)
Jade Market (MTR: Yau Mei Tai)
Ladies market (MTR: Monchok)
Evening
Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Garden (MTR: Diamond Hill)
Night market (MTR: Jordan)
Central (MTR: Central)
To cover of a few things first :-
- The day I had was a Friday and in March which is a bit cold compared to other months. Other days like weekends or hot summer days may vary in terms of what you should visit.
- I am no expert in Hong Kong but I did research this before I ventured.
- For transportation, get the Octopus card. This is used everywhere and you can even pay for food in some places. Getting around in Hong Kong is fairly easy and there are several options. The metro (MTR) covers it fairly well and then there are buses and ferries as well. You can also take the Taxi if you want to avoid this. Taxis are a bit expensive but not as expensive as UK or US.
- A map or a smart phone will be handy like with any travel :-) Most places have decent road signs and so as long you know the general direction or the closest MTR you can get around.
- A language translate app, either google one or there are few others like Easy Taxi. This will help in communicating with people who are not that well versed in English or your native tongue. English is generally spoken in places like larger restaurants , hotels, tourist places etc. But in some smaller restaurants and with taxi drivers sometimes you might struggle. Use technology, we have it now :-)
- For food and if you are a vegetarian there is a bit of fight getting veg food. Overall you can survive but will require some searching. Also the restaurants are generally averse to cooking by your preference. So be prepared for that. There are several American food chains like Subway, McDonalds and Pizza joints. If you just eat to live then those are quicker and easier. If you are not a strict vegetarian then there are tons of options around.
The morning
Since I only had a one day, it was an early start. I left the hotel, which was by Quarry Bay/North Point in eastern district of Hong Kong island around 7.00 AM and took the MTR to Hong Kong Central which is the heart of the town. The first place to visit was
The Peak. It is the highest point in Hong Kong and offers a good view of the whole city. It also has funicular railway called
Peak Tram that takes you up there.
Now with the peak there are different opinions on when to go there. It is a tourist heavy spot and if you want to use the Peak Tram, there is a lot of queuing for it. If you want to use the tram then go earlier. However, earlier also means there is a higher chance of fog/mist which would impede some of the view. From what the locals told me, Hong Kong is perennially covered with this mist and there are very few days you get fully clear skies. Summer months might be better and going later in the afternoon is also a good idea. But you have to be lucky. Another time to there would be the night to see all the lights. If you ask me, it is probably worth going there twice ; morning and night.
In my case, I decided to go in the morning and it was foggy but the view was still ok (see pictured below). I decided against the tram as it not something I was keen on. I took the 15 number bus from outside the Central MTR. There are clearly marked signs for this. There is also an open top bus that takes you there but I just went with the regular bus. Note, a taxi ride to the top of the peak is about 50 HKD and bus is about 10 HKD.
Once you are at the top, enjoy the view and walk around a bit. Even with the fog it has a good view of Hong Kong and it's sky scrapers. There is a coffee shop at the top with a good view as well and so I spent some time with a cup of java. The peak also has a mall with some American/European stores and so if shopping is your thing then you can do that as well. Overall , I only spent about 60 minutes at the peak and left it around 9.00 AM. I had thought about coming there again in the afternoon if the weather cleared to get some more pictures but eventually did not do that.
I took the bus back to Central. I spent the next part of the morning walking around Hong Kong Central and the various buildings and stores near central. If you walk your way to
Queens road, you can take a trip on the worlds largest outdoor escalator know as the
Central Mid-Levels Escalators. The escalator is very interesting and it will take you up the hills of Central. On the way you have exit points for different streets and one of them is
Hollywood road which take you onwards to Cat street. Cat street has some "antique" stores but most are just cheap Chinese replicas. There are several food markets as well and there are clothing joints by Pedder street. So this is a good place to wander a bit. Another place to vist here is the
Man Mo Temple which is a nice quiet temple to visit and is the largest one in Hong Kong.
I had lunch in Central at the
Bombay Dreams which is a nice Indian retaruant at the 4th level and so you have to look for the entrance. There are several other cafes and food joints there as well.
The afternoon
I then walked from Central to the piers. The plan was to take a ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon peninsula. The
Star ferry is a quick 15 minute trip and you can use your Octopus card here as well. They are also
Star Harbour tours that give you a longer tour of the harbour. I decided against that in the interest of time. If you have more time, definitely worth it, especially on a sunny warm day or at night.
Once you get to Tsim Sha Tsui, I walked to the
Chungking Mansions. There is nothing spectacular about this but it is an interesting place. It is brimming with immigrant shops and houses close to 4000 people. The diversity in this place is amazing is an great example of globalization in action.
Next stop was
Jade market which is near the Yau Mei Tai MTR which has hawkers selling all kinds of Jade stuff. This is a good wander for about 15-30 minutes.
The next stop was Monchok MTR and
Chopsticks/Ladies market where you get all kinds of replica goods. From Jimmy Choo bags to Polo stuff to t-shirts of foot ball clubs and electronics. The quality of some of these items are quite good and at those prices it is a risk worth taking. You can bargain down to 50% of the quoted price and so be prepared to haggle. I did not haggle as much because the cost of these items was already low and I have wasted more money at a crappy coffee or slice of cake in American/European places. Speaking to some of office friends in Hong Kong, some of these places have almost accurate replicates of Rolex watches and iphones. But you have to real savvy and know the right places to go. In my purchases I avoid really expensive items like phones but did by few memorabilias and bags. The market is long , really long and you can spent lot of time especially if you looking for clothes etc.
I was getting a bit tired of walking by now and took on the offer or a 55 HKD foot massage from one of the ladies holding these banners. She escorted me down some lanes and up the stairs of an old looking building. I was beginning to question my choice here and it was looking a touch shady. But it turned of fine and it was a good massage place. They did convince me to take a shoulder and hand massage for an additional 50 HKD :-)
The evening
Massaged and vitalized , I jumped back on the MTR to Diamond Hill. About 5 minutes from the MTR are two places, the
Chi Lin Nunnery &
Nan Lian Garden. Probably the best sites I visited that day !!
The others were good in their own right but in terms of beauty and serenity these two won me over. They are also free to public (sometimes best things are for free). The nunnery is awesome place , peaceful and serene and the fact that it is surrounded by tall skyscrapers makes it that much more spectacular. There is some flowing water and I would assume this would be a even better place in summer heat. The Nan Lian Garden is equally pleasant and you can walk around the nicely sculptured gardens and fountains. For both try to be there before 6.00 PM as some places like the Rockery close before that. The Nan Lian Garden also has a wonderful
Chi Lin restaurant whose windows are hidden behind a waterfall from the roof top. And the restaurant is Vegetarian :-) I had not originally planned on having a meal there but it was inviting and so I decided on the dinner there. The dinner times are from 7.00 PM to 10.00 PM and so I had to wait for about 20 minutes but the garden is great place to wander and wait. Summer times might be even better with more activities but that also means summer times might be more crowded which might take off some of the allure. When I visited there only about 10-20 people in the whole of the garden.
After dinner and around 8.00 PM, I hopped back on the MTR to Jordan which is a few stops away for the
Temple Street Night Market. This was rated highly in the some of the reviews I read and it was a vibrant place to visit especially with all the lights after dark. However , it was a similar market to the one I visited in the afternoon in Monchok. Lots of the same stuff here but under lights. I did not hang around here for a long time as I had done enough shopping for the day.
I headed back to Central and it was around 9.30 PM now and so went to
Amazonia. There are lots of pubs and this area is an expat favourite. I had a few drinks here and there was live music and sports on TV. There are also some night clubs here but I decided to call it a day around 11.00 in order to catch an early morning flight back home.
Other stuff
Things I had considered but did not do/go :-
- Stanley Market, which is a big market by the coast. You can take a MTR to Chai Wan and then a taxi or take a taxi directly from Central (it might be the same in the price range).
- The Big(Tian Tan) Buddha which is a popular attraction for tourists but requires 3-4 hours and was ruled out as I had only one day
- There are several day trails and hikes around Hong Kong. Hong Kong is quite hilly and so you can get some nice views in these trails. There is also the coast and beaches around here and so that is a good place as well.
