Hong Kong Travel Blog: Table of Contents
Where, How?
Hong Kong on C&C
Best Time To Visit Hong Kong
Personal Notes
Where to Sleep
Let’s Eat!
Let’s Go For a Drink
What to See and Do
Tipping in Hong Kong
Common Scams & What to Avoid
C&C’s Google Map of the City
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Where, How?
Hong Kong, China, Eastern Asia, Asia
Population: 7,374,900 (2016)
Currency: Hong Kong dollar ($, HKD)
Airport(s)
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
Airport Notes: This is a major hub airport in Eastern Asia. It is safe and modern. It’s important to note that this airport is usually busy. There are two terminals, but the second is for check-in only. Your flight will leave from the first terminal. Major airlines include: Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Airlines, and Hong Kong Express.
The airport has an on-site post office in case you would rather mail items home than pay to check them for the flight. Hint: it’s sometimes easier to mail them. It also has free Wi-Fi, which is always a plus.
Weather is one thing to keep in mind. Delays can occur during the typhoon seasons due to strong winds.
Transportation to-and-from the airport: The Airport Express train system is the fastest way, but it can get pricey. Trains leave from the airport 10 minutes. Taking the bus is your cheapest route. Two lines run to-and-from the airport directly: Citybus and Long Win. The S1 bus is also an option, but you will have to make a transfer at the station to get on one of the main routes. There are taxis provided by the airport but keep in mind that they are metered and include fees for tolls if the route includes them. Taxis are color-coded by where they can go. They will be red, blue, or green. Be wary of privately-owned taxis.
Intra-City Transportation
A good thing to do to get around a lot easier is to get an Octopus Card. It can save you a lot of hassle. It’s a prepaid debit card that can used for many different things in Hong Kong.
The quickest way to get around would be the Mass Transit Railway. Important thing to note for visitors: do not eat, drink, or smoke in stations or in trains! A cheap way for tourists to see the sights and get from one place to another is by tram.
There are many different lines of buses used to get around the city. Your Octopus Card can be used on most of them. If you’re going to be hopping between the islands of Hong Kong, the ferries might be a good bet, such as Star Ferry.
Taxis are easy to find. Stick to the official taxis, as stated before. Avoid the private taxis and vans. Renting a car is possible, but streets are usually busy and there are quite a few rules of the road that carry heavy fines if not followed. Bicycles and motor bikes can be rented, but they also come with a stiff set of rules.
A popular way to get around downtown is to walk. Another eccentric way to get around would be the outdoor escalator. Yes, you read that right. Hong Kong is home to the world’s longest outdoor escalator.
A Note on Taxis:
Taxis are easy to find and a safe option. Stick to the official taxis, as stated before. Avoid the private taxis and vans, though this will probably not be an issue in this modern, safe, state-of-the-art metropolis.
Hong Kong Travel Blog – Neighborhoods
Hong Kong has four main sections: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories, and the Outlying Islands. Notable neighborhoods on Hong Kong Island would be Victoria Peak, Central (the hub of the city), and many others. On Kowloon, Mongkok is good for shopping while Yaumatei has more traditional sights. Shatin in the New Territories offers the most sights. Lantau is the place to go in the Outlying Islands, it is home the Big Buddha and Disneyland.
Navigation tips: Navigation in Hong Kong can be quite difficult since a lot of the city is built on different islands with different street orientations. Generally, south is the ocean, but it’s quite useless in a lot of the city. Use your GPS!
More About Hong Kong on C&C
- HONG KONG SUCKLING PIG: THE BEST MEAL
- IN HONG KONG, GET THESE 8 CANTONESE FOOD DISHES; YOU WON’T REGRET IT!
- WORLD’S WORST TOURISTS: WHICH NATIONALITY CAUSES THE MOST TROUBLE ABROAD?
- HOUSING IN ALL ITS FORMS: THE MOST UNUSUAL HOUSING AREAS OF THE PLANET
- 9 CITIES TO VISIT FOR ARCHITECTURE LOVERS
Best Time To Visit Hong Kong
Average Monthly Minimum And Maximum Temperatures
Average Monthly Hours Of Sunshine
Average Monthly Rainfall Or Snowfall
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Personal Notes
What’s This Place About?
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. It has a lot of tall buildings, which means it has a spectacular skyline. It is one of the most luxurious places in the world, meaning that it can be expensive, especially hotels and hostels. And of course, there’s awesome food.
Hong Kong Travel Blog – What’s Great and Fun?
The food in Hong Kong could be a PhD thesis. You can spend a lifetime exploring it and still find that there is always more to discover.
Seeing the iconic Hong Kong skyline through Kowloon Bay is a must for any traveller going there. It one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.
The city itself is a city of glitz and glam but it’s also a city that can get gritty and dirty depending on what you’re looking for and where you go. It’s a never-ending exploration process.
The markets are unique in the world and spectacular and fun. Haggling over the price of a pair of shoes can be an incredible experience.
And an unexpected twist: there are the beaches that you would not expect to find among the robust, bustling metropolis. Nature has been preserved on these few islands where cars are not allowed, allowing for some beautiful untouched natural beaches.
Personal Anecdotes
One of the things I will remember forever about my visit in Hong Kong is going to the horse races. I spent the night at the horse races for the first time in my life at Happy Valley. And it was there that I met a young lady who became my girlfriend. It was a very fun night and I managed to only lose only $50 US because I was careful. There is a lot of fun to be had but it is very easy to lose everything you have if you are not careful. It is a very unique place and it reminds me that Hong Kong used to be a protectorate of England and this is a remnant of that colonial past.
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Hong Kong Itinerary
Hong Kong hotels and hostels and generally very expensive. When I went to Hong Kong, there were only a couple of hostels, one of them being the (absolutely awesome) Yesinn Causeway Bay. It’s a gigantic hostel with 21-bed dorms, stacked three-beds-high! If you want to live like a Hong-Konger, that’s the spot! Its location is unbeatable and it’s a great place to meet people as there are rooftop parties almost every night – yet it’s quiet because the rooms aren’t connected to the louder areas in any way. In fact, if I were to return to Hong Kong today, I’d do all I can to book the double room at this hostel!
All of the luxury chain hotels are represented in Hong Kong – after all, it’s one of the financial capitals of the planet!
Be aware of fake hostels. There are less and less such places, but they’re still around. They’re basically advertised as hostels on different websites, but people end up sleeping on the floor in sometimes unsanitary conditions.
Today, there are dozens of spectacular – but expensive – hostels in HK. Both Kowloon and Mong Kok are good locations for travellers.
If you prefer high end options as answer to you question on Hong Kong itinerary, you might try this.
Just like everywhere, Airbnb is a very interesting option. If you’re not already a member, you can use this Airbnb link to get $40 off your first reservation.
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Let’s Eat!
Famous Foods and Specialties
- Sui Mei – Roasted meats.
- Noodles – Wonton noodles and dumplings
- Congee – Porridge made with rice.
- Dim sum – Small portions of food that come in all variations from dumplings and egg tarts to everything in between.
- Tong Sui – A sweet
The Best Drunk Food
- Char Siu!
- Siu Mai (sometimes on a stick!)
- Anything served in dai pai dongs… Though they close very early
- The food found at 7-Eleven (that’s what the locals do…)
Our suggestions – Dishes and Restaurants
WARNING: There are too many dishes and restaurants and places to see to mention, let alone visit on a vacation there. The following is barely brushing the surface.
Hong Kong is the hub of Cantonese cuisine. It’s one of the hottest culinary destinations in the world. It is impossible to get to know all the dishes served here. Getting to taste a lot of them cheaply is the only thing you can attempt to do. Food is probably one of the only cheap things that can be had in Hong Kong.
In saying that, Hong Kong also has some of the highest end and best restaurants in the world along with spectacular and unique bars. You can visit an English pub the way it was 50 to 100 years ago when England ruled the land.
Don’t look for Hong Kong itinerary far away from a good restaurant and dining options.
Tim Ho Wan is one of the most famous restaurants in the world. It’s now a gigantic chain and is home of the best barbecued pork bun in the world.
Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese chain, has three restaurants in Hong Kong. Soup dumpling paradise. Must-stop.
Asiania Restaurant, in Wan Chai, is a one-stop-shop for everything delicious. It’s one of those gigantic Chinese banquet halls where everything is overpriced but so good!
Congee is one of the most traditional Chinese foods and there are some great versions to be had in Hong Kong. I won’t suggest one since there are so many great places!
Dai Pai Dongs are the Hong Kong equivalent of Singapore’s hawker stalls: street food stalls were moved inside for sanitary reasons. They’re all wonderlands for culinary explorers. A couple of suggestions: Cheung Sha Wan Cooked Food Market and Guangdong Dai Pai Dong.
Sing Kee is a stall in Guangdong Dai Pai Dong and it’s a remnant of the street food stalls of before 1970. Go, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.
Sing Heung Yuen is a unique place in the world that serves one dish: noodles cooked in tomato broth. Strange? Absolutely-not-Chinese-sounding? Yep!
One last suggestion: the two best dishes in the world (not just Hong Kong) are whole roasted suckling pig and whole roasted goose. Both are from Hong Kong. Both are found everywhere in the city and finding the best of the best represents some sort of crazy never-ending quest for many food bloggers. The super famous place to try is called Joy Hing Roasted Meat. It’s spectacular and has long lines in front of it at all times. The restaurant I went to and had one of the best meals of my life has since closed, unfortunately. There. You have found the meaning of life. It’s to find and eat the best suckling pig and/or goose. Now go!
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Let’s Go For a Drink
What do the locals drink?
Beer. Although tea might be even more popular.
Drinking in public rules
It is legal to drink in public, but it is frowned upon to be intoxicated in public. Legal drinking age is 18.
Our Suggestions – Bars and Pubs
There are a lot of English pubs in Hong Kong. They’re a fun place to visit at least once.
Drinking and going out is very expensive in Hong Kong.
If you want to make the best choice on Hong Kong itinerary, you need to know the location of the best bar in the city. It is always better to keep both near as much as possible.
The main neighborhoods people go to party and have fun are Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai, and Knutsford Terrace.
MyHouse (26th fl, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen’s Rd E) is a bar where you can pick your our music from a selection of vinyls!
Club71 (Basement, 67 Hollywood Rd) is more of a local jaunt to get your beer and listen to some good music.
Unfortunately, this restaurant has since closed its doors.
MO Bar (15 Queen’s Road Central) is a quiet place. More upscale than local.
Quinary (56-58 Hollywood Rd) is the place to go for a cocktail, but expect higher prices than most.
As regular readers of this column know, I don’t know anything about clubs. Sorry!
Hong Kong Travel Blog: What to See and Do
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort can be a popular place for tourists. Another popular theme park is Ocean Park for locals and tourists alike.
The street markets in Hong Kong are a must-see. Hop over to “Sneaker Street” to see all of the shoes that you could ever imagine. Stanley Market is a popular stop for tourists.
Take a hike! Seriously, go for a hike. Hong Kong has five major trails that are a great way to see the sights and a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Ride the “Ding Ding” Tram to see the sights without breaking the bank.
The Trick Eye Museum Hong Kong and Madame Tussauds Hong Kong are popular, unique museums. For the more historical museum, try the Hong Kong Museum of History. When you pick your option on Hong Kong itinerary based on what you want to do and see in the city.
Riding the Star Ferry, or any of the other ferry systems, can be a neat way to experience the views.
If you want the best view in Hong Kong, go to Victoria Peak and ride the Peak Tram to get there. It also has its own shopping mall with shops, eateries, and museums.
Chinese New Year is an important festival to keep in mind. If you want to go to experience the festival, you’re all set, but don’t expect to do much else because most shops and things will be closed during its celebration. Another fun festival is the Dragon Boat Festival, or Tuen Ng Festival. To experience Hong Kong in all of its party glory, try going to the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Tipping in Hong Kong
Just like in most of Asia, it is not expected to tip but any amount is a nice gesture. Usually a service charge is included in the bill but if you’d like to pay more, 7-10% of the total price of the bill is normal.
Hong Kong Travel Blog: Common Scams & What to Avoid
Common Scams
I have not witnessed any common scams
Pickpockets
Be very careful of pickpockets in close quarters on the subway. The subway is one of the most efficient and clean subways in the world. Regular warnings apply.
Taxis
As stated before, taxis are safe and abundant in Hong Kong.
Problematic Neighborhoods
Some people claim that the Northern Territories aren’t always safe to foreigners. I don’t know that for a fact.
Please note that Shenzhen, the city located on the Chinese mainland right across the border from Hong Kong, is Scam Heaven. Fake goods, crooks and pickpockets abound and target foreigners directly. If you can, wait until you’re out of the city if you’re looking to buy a SIM card for the mainland.
Don’t look for Hong Kong itinerary in such places.
How to Stay Safe: Tips and Tricks
Regular warnings apply.
READ MORE: Travel Canada Advisory for the China