Hong Kong
Attractions
Hong Kong is possibly the world’s busiest and most vibrant city. During the weekdays, it is buzzing with traffic and workers of all types. On the weekends, it is full of tourists and locals alike out enjoying the sun, hikes, beaches, and the food. At night, it is booming with parties, clubs, food stalls, and street markets.
Exciting Night Life
Hong Kong’s a great city for an adventurous eater. Stop at a street vendor for fish balls on a stick or stinky tofu. Bakeries offer wife cakes, pineapple buns and egg tarts. Alternatively, go for as much dim sum as you can eat. If you’re tired of local and regional Chinese specialties, check out upscale offerings from some of the world’s top chefs, like Joel Robouchon and Alain Ducasse.
Temple Street
In the heart of Kowloon, Temple Street can often be mislabeled as being just a tourist destination, with its endless amount of bits and bobs to buy from the hawkers. But it’s more than that. It’s not only a great place to go take a look around, buy small gifts and souvenirs, and barter for the best prices, but it’s also a great place to go sit on the street and enjoy some of the delicious food of all kinds. Whether you want Chinese noodles, fresh seafood, or something in between, you’ll find it there. Anyone who comes to Hong Kong has to try it out, so get out there, find a great restaurant, and be proud to bring all of your guests on one of the best cultural experiences of sensory overload available in Hong Kong.
Lan Kwai Fong
Short for Lan Kwai Fong, it is the downtown of all downtowns; a party that never stops. 7 days a week, 365 days a year, the streets are crowded from early evening until late the next morning. LKF is essentially several city blocks with nothing but clubs, bars, and restaurants. It is possibly the best place in town to mingle with other people from all walks of life, to go dancing and singing, or even to sit and have a relatively chilled out drink at one of the rooftop bars. It’s an absolute must-see for anyone who’s just passing through Hong Kong, and is in many cases the default go-to place for nearly everyone on Friday and Saturday nights.
Wan Chai
If you want to shoot some pool, sit in a pub, or go on a full out pub crawl, Wan Chai’s Lockhart Road is the place to be. Mix and mingle with people from all over the city, get caught up following a stag or hen party, and check out one of the most legendary assortments of internationally-themed bars in the world.
Theme Parks
Ocean Park: Hong Kong is home to an amazing theme park, aquarium, and zoo. When you reach the southern side of Hong Kong Island, you’ll get right into the zoo and aquarium. Navigate through the jungle area and see some of the world’s largest snakes, then pass through the aquarium to see manta rays and sharks up close, and then pop into the panda enclosure, one of only a few in all of Asia. When you’re done there, take the cable car up to the top of the next mountain and zip and zag on some adrenaline-filled rides.
Disneyland
Think about your favorite Disney movies growing up. Once you’re through the front gates of the park, you’re pretty much in your favorite movie. Shake hands with Mickey, shoot all the toys with Buzz Lightyear, watch the Disney parade and the dazzling fireworks show, which takes place nearly every night of the year.
Big Buddha
While it isn’t actually an historical site, it’s a giant Buddha statue at the top of a mountain. You can get there by making a day of the long hike across Lantau Island or you can take the 25-minute gondola journey over the terrain below. On a clear day, you will spend the entire gondola journey in plain view of the Hong Kong International Airport and will get to watch planes take off and land every 30 seconds or so. Once at the top, you’ll walk up an immense set of stairs and look directly up at the huge statue. Sitting 34 meters (112 ft) tall, it is truly a sight to behold at least once.
Getting Outdoors
Hong Kong is very mountainous and is surrounded by 41 beautiful and clean public beaches. There are innumerable hikes all over the city, from the most northern point at the Chinese border, all the way to the south where you can skirt the heart of the city while overlooking many of the 7,829 skyscrapers in Hong Kong. Most of the public beaches have lifeguards on duty all day throughout the summer months, and there are refreshments available at the little stalls which surround most of the beaches.
