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Hong Kong: Sights and Sounds
MisterAlex
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm going to be spending some vacation time in Hong Kong next week (5 days), and aside from crossing into Shenzen and hitting up Disney Land, everything else is still in the 'maybe' stage. I'm going to be there with three other friends (all of us guys).
What are things that we should absolutely not pass up while we're there?
Thanks in advance.
What are things that we should absolutely not pass up while we're there?
Thanks in advance.
MisterAlex on
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Lan Kwai Fong is a great bar street to hit on a weekend night.
Shopping opportunities are crazily abundant all over Kowloon peninsula, but check out the computer market in Sham Shui Po, it's so packed with all sorts of electronics and gadgets it's worth the visit. Take the metro there, actually, just take the metro to almost anywhere, it's very convenient.
Here's my rating of the various touristy things that my wife and I did while I was there:
Victoria's Peak: Taking the tram up is very touristy, but it really is a great view and the trail around the mountain is very nice. There are also some stores worth looking through up there, and the restaurants on the top, while quite pricy, are very good.
Ocean Park: This was an absolutely fantastic time. It's worth going to just as a zoo/aquarium, even ignoring all the rides they have. Plan to spend a day here, it is definitely a must see.
The Big Buddha: It takes forever to get all the way out there, and it's a giant Buddha statue. I mean, it's an impressive piece of engineering, but unless you're a devout Buddhist I'd personally pass on it.
Kowloon Park: This is a very nice park in the middle of the city. Beautiful landscaping, and it's definitely worth taking a walk through.
Stanley Market: My favorite of the outdoor markets we went to. There's a bigger variety of stuff available than a lot of the other markets.
Ladies Market: This one had clothes and purses, and that was about it.
Night Market: This one is more focused on watches and gadgets, but it had some decent clothing places as well. Also, according to the locals, it's apparently a great place to find prostitutes if you go later on in the evening.
Hong Kong Heritage Museum: I wasn't along for this one, I was working, but my wife went and said it was a great museum. Nobody there spoke a word of English, but there were signs in it.
Hong Kong Art Museum: Again, I wasn't along, but it was apparently also very nice.
I wish I could recommend the restaurants I ate at, but the best ones were all the client's treat so I don't remember any of the names or locations.
General tips:
Buy an Octopus card for each of you and take the subway everywhere. The subway system is awesome. Most of the cab drivers in the city don't speak English, and they're all insane anyway. If you do take a cab, try to have the address of where you're going in Chinese, and remember that people in Hong Kong generally don't tip cab drivers.
If you're planning on buying a watch or purse/handbag, be selective. In five days you will see approximately 3,700 of each for sale.
If you have cell phones that will work in the Hong Kong network (I can't remember what sort it is offhand), you can buy a prepaid SIM card for them in any corner electronics place.
Avoid Disneyland. Seriously, if you want to go to Disneyland go in the US.
Hong Kong was a great trip, and the wife and I would both love to go back some day. Hope you have fun!
Lantau:
The South side of Lantau Island has beautiful beaches, but it will probably be too cold for swimming, unfortunately. Quite amazing just to sit and stare at the horizon dotted with islands in the water. (End of Orange line then bus) On the same island as Big Buddha, if you are going to see it.
Shatin:
10,000 Buddha Monastery is in Shatin. Lots of Buddha statues and really cool to see. (Cyan line to Shatin) This is not far from the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, so I would recommend doing both.
"Monkey Mountain" is also in Shatin. It is a park that has free roaming Rhesus Macaque. Lots of monkeys. I would not recommend carrying food with you, least you be carried away or torn asunder. We took a bus here, so I can't give you good directions for this one.
Food:
Dim Sum in City Hall for lunch. This is smack dab in the middle of downtown. You can take in all the big buildings outside and then go into City Hall and have delicious food carted to your table. Dumplings are always good and so is the soup. Fried radish cakes reminded me of potato pancakes. This is might be slightly more expensive than most other Dim Sum places, though.
Indian food in Chungking Mansion. A gathering ground for ethnic minorities. Technically I think our food may have been Pakistanny. Either way, it was curry filled, delicious, and super cheap.
Pizza Hut. They are everywhere, and they are not what you expect. I'm not recommending it for the food, but you might consider stopping in one to see how much different it is than in the US. French Roasted Lamb Rack appetizer at Pizza Hut? Yeah. Weird.
Tips on Buying:
JHunz points out being selective, which is a really good idea. The other important point to make, when dealing with street vendors and mini-shops at least, is that the price tag you see or what they first say is not the final price. Haggle, haggle, haggle.
Show reluctance or disinterest. When they press the matter further, tell them you'd be willing pay $X, where X is much lower than the original. They'll look taken aback or hurt that you suggest another price, but don't let that phase you because they will almost immediately throw a new price at you. You just keep this going back and forth until you are satisfied they won't budge anymore. Getting 20% off seemed pretty normal, but on an item or two, I got more like 50% off the original price. The more items you buy, the more they lower the price, too.
Also, the octopus card is basically awesome. RFID, so you just put your card against the octopus symbol to buy something with it. All subways and buses, of course, but you can also use it at vending machines and 7-11's. It might save you from having a pocket full of loose change.
Go on the mid level escalators, just for the grin if you have the time.
You can catch the bus to Stanley for the market, then go further round the island to Aberdeen and eat on one of the floating restaurants - great food, but a bit pricey.
Riding up to Victoria Peak is fantastic - panoramic views, trees growing out of tower blocks, and at the top, the views are stunning.
Wear cotton/linen - its very humid.
Go on the Star Ferry if you go to the night market - amazing views of the waterfront. Oh, and the night market sells lots of sex toys, right next to the Hello Kitty stalls - a bit of an eye opener!
We asked where to go for breakfast, and were told McDonalds - nothing like UK ones!
For paintings in progress, check out canvas and paints
"The power of the weirdness compels me."
Everyone has pretty much listed a lot of the great shit to do but one I haven't seen is Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai. These places are HUGE party scenes especially LKF. I was there on new year's eve and it was the most insane thing I've ever witnessed.
One of the city's main attractions however is just the food. There is amazing food all over for great prices if you know where to look. I picked up a Frommer's book right before I left and it was handy although sometimes misguiding.
edit: for 24 hr amazing breakfast go to the Flying Pan in Lan Kwai Fong. They sell pancakes by the stack.
Shogun Streams Vidya
What dates are you coming? It is currently Chinese New Year and everything is a bit funny at the moment. It's a national holiday here from Monday to Wednesday next week and while shops will be open I'm not too sure about restaurants and Ocean Park etc. From what I've heard it's a very busy time of year for them so they probably will be open. A lot of Chinese have travelled back to China for the holiday though so it's a little quiet at the moment. There will be massive fireworks next week which will be well worth a look (if you can get near the waterfront which will be a mission), I think they're on Tuesday but I'm not too sure.
Where is your hotel?
Definatly get an Octopus card. They cost $50 and a typical journey will cost about about $7 (it depends on the length of journey). You can use them on the subway, and larger buses (there are smaller minivan buses which don't take them). You can also use them to pay for stuff in 7/11 and Circle K and most supermarkets so they're very very handy.
The high-speed train from the airport costs $100 each way but is definatly worth it. Taxi's from the airport can be pretty expensive. Generally taxi's are pretty cheap (compared to the UK) but what has been said is true, the drivers speak little english and they're all pretty crazy. Most places will have a business card with the address in Chinese so you can just give that to your driver. Round up your bill as a tip.
Generally though we don't tip very much. There will always be a 10% service charge and the most I have seen the local chinese tip when we are out is $1 or $2. A lot of places (especially cheaper places) won't have an English menu advertised but may have one in the restaurant if you ask.
The food is great here and there is something for every budget. You can get a nice meal in smaller places for $40, or in places like Central or Lan Kwai Fong expect to pay $100-200. Very nice restaurants (like the floating restaurants in Aberdeen) will be $200-400. Prices might be higher because of Chinese New Year.
Bars are very expensive. In LKF (Lan Kwai Fong) or TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) the 2 main party areas a beer will cost you $60+. Some clubs are pretty selective on who they let in (places like Dragon Eye). There will be a lot of rich snotty Gweilo (foreigner, literally 'White Ghost') kids hanging out at these places.
Wan Chai is like the red light district and if you walk down there you can expect the old women to try to literally drag you into their 'Strip Bars'. They're just brothels so be careful in that area. There are some fun clubs and bars there but you'll probably be pestered by Philipino and Thai women (which might be your thing...!).
The star ferry is amazing. Try to go over to Kowloon side for 8pm at night as there is a light show that the Skyscrapers on the island put on every night. It's kinda fun, and on the esplanade there is an awesome statue of Bruce Lee.
There are literally thousands of malls here. Try to go to Langham Place in Mong Kok. It is absolutely massive and the top 5 or 6 floors are literally all crazy cooky Japanese type shops that sell cool stuff. They have loads of those capsule machine shops too if you like those little collectables, I have some pretty awesome Mario stuff from them.
If you're on the island then the tram is a good deal to get around. It doesn't take much longer than the MTR (subway) if you're going a short distance and it's only $2.
Pizza hut is very strange here. You can get thousand island sauce on your pizza instead of tomato sauce, and its pretty tasty!
Why are you going to Shenzen? Is it just for fun or for business? I just ask because from what I've heard Shenzen is a hellish place with not a lot to do or see unless you like cheap knockoffs (which there are plenty of here anyway). Sure you can get a cheap massage but I think the Visa is like $600 anyways so I'd avoid it unless you really have your heart set on it. Speaking of massages get a (non dodgy) deep tissue massage and foot massage. Expect to pay about $125 for 45 minutes of each (back and foot) and the massuese will absolutely kick your ass! It's pretty painful but you'll feel absolutely amazing the next day, they really work out the kinks from all your muscles.
If you enjoy hiking I can recomend some great routes. Rather than take the tram up to the peak you should hike up it (its about an hour) and then there is a great 3km route along the top which has some great views. Take the tram back down. We did the 'Dragons Back' route last weekend and it's an amazing route. About 7km over the top of peaks and then you end up at Big Wave Bay, a really nice beach on the South Side of the Island.
Don't be afraid to buy food from the little hole in the wall eateries. The curry fish balls are pretty nice and most of the noodles are great. Try some Char Siu Pork (BBQ Pork) from a local place, it's amazing.
If you're into computers and want a deal check out the Wan Chai computer centre, 3 floors of computer shops.
I'll have a think and see if I can recomend anything else. You'll have a good time though, any questions feel free to ask.
The flying pan is awesome (there are a few of them). The Ranchero Eggs are amazing.
Also I would recomend getting the Ngong Ping 360 (a cablecar on Lantau island that goes to the Big Buddha). The big buddha is so-so but there is an amazing buddhist monastory beside the buddha and there are 2 or 3 short hikes to some amazing views at the top (I think one is called the wisdom path).
I know for a fact I saw the spam can.
I also advise on taking the cable car either to or from lantau, however make sure you do so on a clear day. We did it on a gray cloudy shitty day and it was a large waste of $30.
Shogun Streams Vidya
ocean park is actually worth going to. It has a bigger aquarium than most other places anywhere, and a separate shark aquarium/panda bears/aviary as well as rides that don't stack up to Six Flags but are still pretty big. It's one of the better parks I've been to. If you go to Disney you will find a fucking scarcity of rides or anything to do in general.
The best thing to do is get on a bus, and get off at a random stop and walk around. Literally every corner has something new, especially if you're into architecture. HK is the most beautiful city in the world and almost an exaggerated testament to all aspects of humanity, since so many people live packed in that close together.
I didn't know there were a bunch of PA'ers in hk though. Nice.
and try to avoid Western food for the most part. Eat at a decent sushi bar with fish flown in from Japan (there's an inexpensive one called Itamae Sushi in Causeway Bay-others of the same quality are gourmet prices) it's pretty mind blowing. Cheap local eateries are good too, if you want to play it safe go to a place with barbequeing meat in the window and get some bbq with rice. Also try one of the many Thai/Vietnamese places, where you can get real Pad Thai which isn't lumpy dry pasta like in the U.S but more of a hot soup with noodles.
Definitely try to avoid western food as much as possible- there's lots of great choices for every kind of cuisine, so you should take advantage of what you can't order at Applebee's, or the "Asian" restaurants "Orange Chicken Bowl"
For paintings in progress, check out canvas and paints
"The power of the weirdness compels me."
I'll be there from Tuesday, until Saturday, staying at a hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui (I don't really care about the quality of it, we plan on spending as much time as possible seeing new things).
Based on these recommendations, we'll probably scratch Disney Land and go for Ocean Park instead. Shenzen was pretty much to see what kind of electronics were offered when you crossed into China (that, and the coolness of actually being in China). If it's really that bad though, we'll hit up the HK markets exclusively - I guess there's no sense in wasting an entire day.
I'll use these suggestions to make what should be a pretty awesome itinerary (and we'll make sure to buy some Octopus Cards!).
Cheers!
Shogun Streams Vidya
Macau is a bit fun but the casinos only really have bacarat as its what the chinese mainly play. You'll get a very good deal for a room over there at the moment though, its dirt cheap.
The only electronics you'll get in shenzen are fake iphones. You can get anything you like at the computer centres (either wan chai which is outside MTR exit A2 i think or in Mong Kok). If you go to Kadoorie Farm (a huge botanical garden with amazing hikes) in Tai Po when you get to the top of the mountain your phone provider changes to a chinese firm and you get a text message saying welcome to china.
For cheap fast food not called McDonalds, Burger King or KFC, hit up Cafe de Coral, Fairwood or Maxim. They have both Chinese and Western dishes, all in English, so there's probably something to your liking. Also an excellent way to eat breakfast in a quick and cheap manner. Just try to hog a table before ordering.
Also, crossing the border to China is a major hassle. First off you'd need to apply for visas (Hong Kong is visa-free). Second off the lines for foreigners are terribly long and slow. Third off everyone you'll meet there is likely a scammer. I'd say pass on Shenzhen unless you're really, really fond of back rubs.
After your visa is in order your best bet is to take the light train from Tsim Sha Tsui to the end of the light blue line. This will take you to the border crossing to China. You will need to pass the border on foot, but it's pretty straightforward. Do note, that people in Hong Kong speak English much more readily than people in Shenzhen, and you will find much fever English signs or instructions on the Shenzen side. Just make sure you have a little extra time before you want to head back as the Shenzen railway station is quite large and you need to buy a ticket back and cross the border to return.
I can't really recommend any places to visit in Shenzhen though. Do make sure you look in to it beforehand. You can find a lot of cool things by just wandering around Kowloon in HK, but in Shenzen you should have a few preplanned destinations in mind.
If you were heading to Guangzhou you could take the more convenient through train, but the Shenzen border is doable.
Main attraction for most people going to Shenzen from hk is cheap everything. Cheaper restaurants, cheaper massages, haircuts, clubs, bars and yes, pirated dvd's of anything you'd want to watch. These aren't worth bothering with in the age of broadband internet and since factories that consist of one guy's laptop in a studio apartment don't have very good quality control, you more than likely will end up with some dud discs.
China nightlife...I haven't actually seen this across the border but there's a part of Tsim Sha Tsui that has a lot of China clubs, and from what I can tell that clubbing culture is extremely gaudy and tacky (with music that all follows the same basic 4/4 remix tempo beat) compared to clubs in Lan Kwai Fong.
Even better is walking up all the way. It's quite a hike, but the view makes up for it imo. You'll enjoy the burger king and Ripley's Believe it or Not museum at the top more if you walked :P
Well, we're off to HK bright and early tomorrow morning, so thanks for all the advice! I'm sure it'll be a great trip. We're going to debate Shenzen on the plane, so we'll see about that one.
Cheers.