Hong Kong’s New Territories | KAY DULAY/GETTY IMAGES ©
Huángshān, Ānhuī
Sooner or later you’ll have to hike uphill, and where better than up China’s most beautiful mountain. The steps may be punishing, but just focus on the scenery: even if the fabled mists are nowhere to be seen, the views are incredible.
Huángshān | APHOTOSTORY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Yángshuò, Guǎngxī
Yángshuò’s karst topography is truly astonishing. Base yourself in town, give yourself three or four days, and walk your socks off (or hire a bike). Adventurous types can even try rock climbing.
Rock climbing, Yángshuò | HENN PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES ©
Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yúnnán
The mother of all southwest China’s treks, this magnificently named Yúnnán hike is at its most picturesque in early summer. It’s not a walk in the park, so plan ahead and give yourself enough time.
Jīnshā River, Tiger Leaping Gorge | FENG WEI PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES ©
Ganden to Samye, Tibet
You’ll need four to five days for this glorious high-altitude hike connecting two of Tibet’s most splendid monasteries. The landscape is beautiful, but the trek requires preparation both physically and mentally, plus a Tibet travel permit.
Temples
Divided between Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian faiths, China’s temples are places of introspection, peace and absolution. Find them on mountain peaks, in caves, on side streets, hanging from cliffsides or occupying the epicentre of town, from Tibet to Běijīng and beyond.
Pǔníng Temple, Chéngdé
On a clear day this temple stands out against the hills around Chéngdé, while in the Mahayana Hall is the Guanyin statue, a 22m-high, multiarmed embodiment of Buddhist benevolence – this is perhaps China’s most astonishing statue.
Confucius Temple, Qūfù
This is China’s largest and most important Confucius Temple. The Shāndōng sage has had an immeasurable influence on the Chinese persona through the millennia – visit the town where it began and try to put his teachings in perspective.
Temple of Heaven, Běijīng
Not really a temple, but let’s not quibble. Běijīng’s Temple of Heaven was China’s graceful place of worship for the Ming and Qing emperors, encapsulating the Confucian desire for symmetry and order, and harmony between heaven and earth.
Temple of Heaven, Běijīng | ZHAO JIAN KANG/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Labrang Monastery, Xiàhé
If it’s a hassle to rustle up a Tibet travel permit, pop down to this gargantuan Tibetan monastery in the scenic southwest corner of Gānsù. Its aura of devotion is amplified by the nonstop influx of Tibetan pilgrims and worshippers.
Labrang Monastery, Xiàhé | BEIBAOKE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Jokhang Temple, Lhasa
Tibet’s holiest place of worship, the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa is a place of pilgrimage for every Tibetan Buddhist at least once in their lifetime.
Mandala, Jokhang Temple | CHENALLEN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Festivals
China is a nation of hard workers and entrepreneurs, but considerable energy is reserved for its festivals and celebrations. Festivals can be religious, fun-filled, commemorative or seasonal. Locals don their best clothes and get seriously sociable. Join in and be part of the party.
Dragon Boat Festival
Commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, the celebrated third century BC poet and statesman, dramatic dragon boat races can be seen in May or June churning up the waterways across China, including in Shànghǎi, Hong Kong and Tiānjīn.
Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin
The arctic temperatures may knock the wind from your lungs, but in January the frost-bitten capital of Hēilóngjiāng province twinkles with an iridescent collection of carved ice sculptures.
Ice & Snow Festival, Harbin | ERIC HEVESY/GETTY IMAGES ©
Third Moon Fair, Dàlǐ
One of China’s many ethnic minority festivals, and usually held in April, this Bai festival commemorates the appearance of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Mercy, to the people of the Nanzhao kingdom.
Spring Festival
China’s most commercially driven and full-on celebration takes the entire nation by storm at midnight on the first day of the first lunar month. The fuse is lit on a nationwide arsenal of fireworks.
Monlam (Great Prayer) Festival, Xiàhé
Celebrated across Tibet, the highlight of this Buddhist festival (in February or March) is easiest to witness in the monastic town of Xiàhé, where a host of celebrations include the unfurling of a huge thangka (sacred painting) on the hillside.
Hong Kong
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Hong Kong
%852 / Pop 7.18 million
Why Go?
Like a shot of adrenalin, Hong Kong quickens the pulse. Skyscrapers march up jungle-clad slopes by day and blaze neon by night across a harbour criss-crossed by freighters and motor junks. Above streets teeming with traffic, five-star hotels stand next to ageing tenement blocks.
The very acme of luxury can be yours, though enjoying the city need not cost the earth. The HK$2.50 ride across the harbour must be one of the world’s best-value cruises. A meander through a market offers similarly cheap thrills. You can also escape the crowds – just head for one of the city’s many country parks.
It’s also a city that lives to eat, offering diners the very best of China and beyond. Hong Kong, above all, rewards those who grab experience by the scruff of the neck, who’ll try that jellyfish, explore half-deserted villages or stroll beaches far from neon and steel.
When to Go
AOctober to early December is the best time to visit. June to August is hot and rainy. Beware of typhoons in September.
Best Places to Eat
A Choi's Kitchen
A Kam's Roast Goose
A Fortune Kitchen
A Aberdeen Fish Market Yee Hope Seafood Restaurant
A Atum Desserant
A Lung King Heen
Best Places to Sleep
A Peninsula Hong Kong
A TUVE
A Hotel Indigo
A Campus Hong Kong
A Upper House
A Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong Highlights
1 Ferries Crossing Victoria Harbour on the legendary Star Ferry.
2 Victoria Peak Taking the steep ascent on the Peak Tram.
3 Yum Cha Eating under whirling fans at Luk Yu Tea House.
4 Man Mo Temple Soaking up the incensed air.
5 Trams Feeling the chug of the world’s last double-decker trams.
6 Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade Indulging in the visual feast.
7 Ping Shan Heritage Trail Losing yourself in a walled village.
8 History Getting some context for it all at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
9 Temple Street Night Market Taking in the indigenous sights, sounds and smells.
a Po Lin Monastery Paying your respects to the magnificent Big Buddha.
History
Until European traders started importing opium into the country, Hong Kong was an obscure backwater in the Chinese empire. The British developed the trade aggressively and by the start of the 19th century traded this ‘foreign mud’ for Chinese tea, silk and porcelain.
China’s attempts to stamp out the opium trade gave the British the pretext they needed for military action. Gunboats were sent in. In 1841 the Union flag was hoisted on Hong Kong Island and the Treaty of Nanking, which brought an end to the so-called First Opium War, ceded the island to the British crown ‘in perpetuity’.
At the end of the Second Opium War in 1860, Britain took possession of Kowloon Peninsula, and in 1898 a 99-year lease was granted for the New Territories.
Through the 20th century Hong Kong grew in fits and starts. Waves of refugees fled China for Hong Kong during times of turmoil. Trade flourished, as did British expat social life, until the Japanese army crashed the party in 1941.
By the end of WWII Hong Kong’s population had fallen from 1.6 million to 610,000. But trouble in China soon swelled the numbers again as refugees (including industrialists) from the communist victory in 1949 increased the population beyond two million. This, together with a UN trade embargo on China during the Korean War and China’s isolation in the next three decades, enabled Hong Kong to reinvent itself as one of the world’s most dynamic ports and manufacturing and financial-service centres.
In 1984 Britain agreed to return what would become the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong to China in 1997, on condition it would retain its free-market economy and its social and legal systems for 50 years. China called it ‘One country, two systems’. On 1 July 1997, in pouring rain, outside the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, the British era ended.
In the years that followed, Hong Kong weathered major storms – an economic downturn, the outbreak of the SARS virus and a nagging mistrust of the government.
In March 2012, Leung Chun-ying, a former property surveyor, became Hong Kong’s fourth chief executive. Though a seemingly more decisive man than his predecessors, Leung’s unsubstantiated ‘red’ connections have many Hong Kongers worried, something not helped by spiralling living costs and China’s treatment of its dissidents.
Pro-democracy protesters took over the streets of downtown Hong Kong in September 2014, demanding free elections. Demonstrations continued until mid-December, with Běijīng refusing to budge.
What is certain is that, two decades on from the handover, Hong Kong people are asking questions about their identity more intensely than ever as Hong Kong and mainland China, for better or worse, increasingly intertwine.
1Sights
Hong Kong is quite an eyeful offering architecture, museums and some of the world's most iconic sights. And if you head out to the countryside, green and blue imprint themselves on your retina.
Central District
Whatever time of the day you plan on visiting Hong Kong’s CBD, it’s worth remembering that shops here close relatively early (6pm or 7pm), and that by mid-evening the dust has settled. It’s also advisable to have lunch outside the noon-to-2pm insanity when hordes of hungry suits descend on every table in sight.
Travelling on the MTR, take the Statue Sq exit and spend an hour looking around the Former Legislative Council Building and other memorials to Hong Kong’s past. In the next couple of hours, check out the architecture in the vicinity – glass-and-steel modernity like the HSBC Building and colonial-era survivors like the Gothic St John’s Cathedral.
Head over to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens for some hobnobbing with the rhesus monkeys. Recharged after an hour, make a beeline for the harbour for some retail therapy at the IFC Mall. Take as long as you like, then hop on the Star Ferry to Kowloon.
oPeak TramFUNICULAR
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %852 2522 0922; www.thepeak.com.hk; Lower Terminus, 33 Garden Rd, Central; one way/return adult HK$28/40, child 3-11yr & seniors over 65yr HK$11/18; h7am-midnight; mCentral, exit J2)
The Peak Tram is not really a tram but a cable-hauled funicular railway that has been scaling the 396m ascent to the highest point on Hong Kong Island since 1888. A ride on the tram is a classic Hong Kong experience, with vertiginous views over the city as you ascend up the steep mountainside.
The Peak Tram runs every 10 to 15 minutes from 7am to midnight. Octopus cards can be used. On clear days, expect long lines.
oHSBC BuildingNOTABLE BUILDING
(滙豐銀行總行大廈 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/about/home/unique-headquarters; 1 Queen’s Rd, Central; hescalator 9am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-12.30pm Sat; mCentral, exit K)F
This stunning building, designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster in 1985, is a masterpiece of precision and innovation. And so it should be; on completion it was the world’s most expensive building. Don't miss the pair of bronze lions guarding the harbour-side entrance of the building. Called Stephen (left) and Stitt (right), they're named after HSBC managers from the 1920s. Both bear shrapnel scars from the Battle of Hong Kong. Rub their paws for luck.
oHong Kong Maritime MuseumMUSEUM
(香港海事博物館 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %852 3713 2500; www.hkmaritimemuseum.org; Central Ferry Pier 8, Central; adult/child & senior HK$30/15; h9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat & Sun; c; mHong Kong, exit A2)
Relocation and expansion have turned this into one of the city’s strongest museums, with 15 well-curated galleries detailing over 2000 years of Chinese maritime history and the development of the Port of Hong Kong. Exhibits include ceramics from China’s ancient sea trade, shipwreck treasures and old nautical instruments. A painted scroll depicting piracy in China in the early 19th century is one of Hong Kong's most important historical artefacts, and, like the rest of the museum, a real eye-opener.
oSt John’s CathedralCHURCH
(聖約翰座堂 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %852 2523 4157; www.stjohnscathedral.org.hk; 4-8 Garden Rd, Central; h7am-6pm; g12A, 40, 40M, mCentral, exit K)F
Services have been held at this Anglican cathedral since it opened in 1849, with the exception of 1944, when the Japanese army used it as a social club. It suffered heavy damage during WWII, and the front doors were subsequently remade using timber salvaged from HMS Tamar, a British warship that guarded Victoria Harbour. You walk on sacred ground in more ways than one here: it is the only piece of freehold land in Hong Kong. Enter from Battery Path.
Two International Finance CentreNOTABLE BUILDING
(國際金融中心; Two IFC MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 8 Finance St, Central; mHong Kong, exit A2 or F)
A pearl-coloured colossus resembling an electric shaver, this is the tallest building on Hong Kong Island. You can't get to the top, but you can get pretty high by visiting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre. The building sits atop IFC Mall, which stretches to the lower levels of its sister building, the much-shorter One IFC (國際金融中心; One IFC MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 1 Harbour View St, Central; mHong Kong, exit A2 or F).
Bank of China TowerNOTABLE BUILDING
(中銀大廈; BOC Tower GOOGLE MAP ; 1 Garden Rd, Central; mCentral, exit K)
The awesome 70-storey Bank of China Tower, designed by IM Pei, rises from the ground like a cube, and is then successively reduced, quarter by quarter, until the south-facing side is left to rise on its own. Some geomancers believe the four prisms are negative symbols; being the opposite of circles, these triangles contradict what circles suggest – money, union and perfection.
The lobby of the BOC Tower features the Prehistoric Story Room (open 9am to 6pm, closed Tuesday), a small exhibition depicting Earth's life history through fossil displays.
STAR FERRY
oStar FerryBOATING
(天星小輪 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %852 2367 7065; www.starferry.com.hk; adult HK$2.50-3.40, child HK$1.50-2.10; hevery 6-12min, 6.30am-11.30pm; mHong Kong, exit A2)
You can’t say you’ve ‘done’ Hong Kong until you’ve taken a ride on a Star Ferry, that wonderful fleet of electric-diesel vessels with names like Morning Star, Celestial Star and Twinkling Star. Try to take your first trip on a clear night from Kowloon to Central. It’s not half as dramatic in the opposite direction.
At any time of the day, the journey, with its riveting views of skyscrapers and jungle-clad hills, must be one of the world’s best-value cruises. At the end of the 10-minute journey, a hemp rope is cast and caught with a billhook, the way it was in 1888 when the first boat docked.
Star Ferry also runs a 60-minute Harbour Tour (HK$80 to HK$200) covering calling points at Tsim Sha Tsui, Central and Wan Chai. Get tickets at the piers.
The Star Ferry was founded by Dorabjee Nowrojee, a Parsee from Bombay. Parsees believe in Zoroastrianism, and the five-pointed star on the S
tar Ferry logo is an ancient Zoroastrian symbol – in fact the same as the one followed by the Three Magi (who may have been Zoroastrian pilgrims) to Bethlehem in the Christmas tale.
Zoroastrians consider fire a medium through which spiritual wisdom is gained, and water is considered the source of that wisdom. No wonder that on an overcast day, the only stars you’ll see over Victoria Harbour are those of the Star Ferry.
The Peak & Northwest Hong Kong Island
You'll find many of Hong Kong's most intriguing sights around the Peak and in the neighbourhoods below it, from quirky museums and historic buildings to fragrant temples.
Sheung Wan, Central & Admiralty
1Top Sights
1Hong Kong Maritime MuseumG2
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