Things to do in Hong Kong?

simonwolf

So, because of visa issues in Japan, I've gone to Hong Kong for a week. Suffice to say, after living in a university town in Japan for about six months, I'm feeling like going and seeing/exploring some cool things in this place, especially since I've only gone once before.

I'm mostly looking for things that will keep me occupied for the majority of the day, or multiple things I could see and do in a single day. Preferably not explicitly touristy stuff, or stuff that will bleed out my wallet, if at all possible. I think I did all of that kind of stuff the last time I was here, so getting advice on some lesser-known or more interesting things would be delightful.

I'd be mostly interested in stuff relating to religion and/or media, since that's my research focus.

Oh! I'm also based out of Tai Po, if that's relevant.

Chen

The humidity is probably unbearable around this time, so you probably don't want to stay outdoors for long periods of time. Don't know about cool things to explore. The whole point of going to Hong Kong in my opinion is to go shopping and experience Cantonese cuisine.

Kowloon and the Island are obviously the main attractions for the aforementioned stuff. Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po, Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, it's all good. It's a nice way to spend a day and explore the various shopping districts and markets. Beware of rush hour though.

To escape the crowds you can visit the various Tin Hau temples. They're kind of like the temples you see in Japan, but probably not as grand. There's always the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Not many interesting conferences this time of year, but I could be wrong.

Hong Kong is a small place, really.

Ponge

The anime and games convention is on until tomorow at the Hong Kong Convention Centre (the big building that looks like a turtle on Hong Kong island harbour). It will all be obscure chinese anime with zero english, but I plan to just go to be nosey.

The hikes here are incredible (and incredibly hot/humid at this time of year) but if you think you can handle it there are loads of websites giving details. You should go up the peak (the view at night is incredible) you can get a tram up to the top if you don't want to hike. There's not a huge amount of stuff up there apart from a mall and a Madame Tussauds, but the view is great and there is a 45 minute hike around the perimeter that you can see a lot of the south island.

The beaches are nice at the moment.

I don't have much experience with Tai Po to be honest, I live on the island. Just jump on the MTR and go to Central or Admiralty, there are loads of shops to wander about.

Langham place (near Mong Kok MTR) is a pretty funky mall, go right up to the top and it has 11 floors of wierd japanese style shops selling all sorts of wierd stuff. When in Mong Kok you should then go to the ladies market and goldfish street, just to check them out.

The Science museum is awesome, I think the Louis Vutton exhibition might still be on somewhere, it was kind of fun.

You could get the cablecar from Tung Chung up to Ngong Ping and see the worlds largest bronze buddha. Very touristy but still cool. There's a really nice monastary up there, and I recommend you walk the 'wisdom trail', it's just a really nice calm part of town. Take mosquitto repellent though.