Hong Kong is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. The modern surrounded by the past. Some of the high rise buildings are magnificent yet at the same time there are lots of street markets and food being sold all over the place. It’s an exciting mix. We arrived early in the morning after an overnight flight from the UK. I have to say the airport experience in the new Hong Kong airport is great we were through security and customs in no time. We then took a bus to our hotel which was the Langham Place hotel. This hotel is based in Mongkok on the mainland and not Hong Kong Island. This means that you got a lot more for your money and the location is well connected with a metro line based in the adjoining shopping centre. The area around the hotel is also buzzing with lots of markets, both during the day and at night.
I’m not going to do a day by day account of the trip as it was a few years ago, but I will mention some of the highlights. These include; the Peak, the Star Ferry, eating Dim Sum, exploring various markets, the Spa at the hotel, Happy Valley racecourse, afternoon tea at the Peninsula and the big Buddha statue. We also enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere and doing lots of walking.
The Peak is a must do, on your first clear day. When it is clear it provides amazing views of Hong Kong Island, the harbour and Kowloon. It is also worth going at night time as the buildings are all lit up. When we were there they were putting on a light show, think Blackpool illuminations, but on skyscrapers not trams. It is also worth walking the Circuit of the Peak, which takes about an hour.
The Star Ferry is a must do and it is ridiculously cheap at a few Hong Kong dollars each. This ferry crossing from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, or vice versa, takes about 10 minutes. It gives you a great low level view of all the skyscrapers and any boats that happen to be sailing around the harbour at the time.
We generally avoided westernized food, apart from two occasions. Once when we were hungry and in a rush to get to the Happy Valley racecourse, on that occasion we had a McDonalds as were in such a hurry. The other time was when we went for afternoon tea at the Peninsula. The rest of the time we ate out in more Asian style fast food places. The shopping centre attached to our hotel had a great food court, where we tried different styles of Asian food, almost all of which was delicious. We also ate Dim Sum twice, once was at an outlying shopping centre, we were the only westerners there and nobody spoke English. We just pointed to what we liked the look off and we must have gotten lucky as enjoyed it all. The second time was at City Hall Maxim’s Palace, which the guide books describe as the most authentic Dim Sum experience. We got there about 20 minutes before it opened and it was a good thing as there was soon a queue behind us. The experience was similar to the first one, but the restaurant was more used to tourists.
Our other great food experience was afternoon tea at the Peninsula hotel. This hotel is a colonial style building near the waterfront on Kowloon side. It was built in the 1920’s and the decoration inside was pretty special as well. The afternoon tea itself was very good as well, although it’s a good idea to book or get there early.
We went to different markets, some famous ones from the guidebooks and others that we just came across in the streets. It’s nice just to walk around and sample the atmosphere. The bird market was very interesting to walk round; although it’s unlikely you’ll buy anything. The jade market however is likely to be a magnet to you or the woman in your life, depending on your gender. They have magnificent jewellery and it’s not just jade you can get pearls there as well. The night market on Temple Street in Kowloon is very atmospheric, and sells everything from clothes, to souvenirs and electronics. Stanley market is mainly known for its clothes and we managed to get a few Pashmina style scarves from there as presents. It’s also nice to get the bus over to Stanley as you get a view of real life on Hong Kong Island. The shopping at most of these markets and little stalls is great. The must buys for us were; tea, incense and jade jewellery as they all make great presents.
Besides all the shopping and walking that we did we were also able to relax. The Cheung Spa at the hotel was amazing, we had very nice massages there and we were also daily visitors on the roof top pool. It was definitely a nice way to relax after a hard days walking.
One of the other relaxing things we did was to go to Happy Valley racecourse. The Chinese are really into their gambling and the atmosphere was great. Unfortunately luck wasn’t on our side, but we didn’t lose our shirts. An evening at the races is a nice way to relax and I would definitely recommend it.
On our final full day we left the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island for the relative peace of Lantau Island. Lantau Island is roughly twice the size of Hong Kong Island yet it has a population of just 45,000 compared to the 1.5million on Hong Kong Island. Its main tourist attraction, that is unless you want to visit Disneyland Hong Kong, (which is also on the island) is the Ngong Ping monastery and its 34 metre (including podium) high Buddha statue. You can take an impressive cable car ride up to the monastery and it provides some excellent views. It is also nice to have some traditional lunch at the monastery. The Buddha is nice to visit, but it is inundated with tourists and can get very busy. When we were in the queue to go back down it was an estimated 2 to 2 1/2 hours wait. For some reason being westerners we got preferential treatment, we were asked if we minded standing in the cable car going down and when we said we didn’t we were let straight on.
In conclusion Hong Kong is a great destination and it’s worth spending quite a few days there. There is more to do than you think. I would also recommend the Langham Place hotel as it provided excellent five star service and it is also conveniently located for the hustle and bustle. The Temple Street night market is just down the road and a metro station is also on your doorstep.
To see external reviews of the Langham Place Hotel and other Hong Kong hotels click here.
To see which budget airlines fly to Hong Kong and from which locations click here.
To book excursions and tours in Hong Kong click here.
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Tags: city break
