So here’s my take of the top 6 things to do for a visitor to Hong Kong:

 1.Take Star Ferry between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui to see Victoria Harbour.

I love this ferry ride. It is part of my and many Hong Kong people’s memory about Hong Kong. The current Star Ferry pier in Central is not original, though. When the original was demolished to make way for reclamation, there was a spate of protests and people flocked to the pier on the last day it was in use.

2. Go hiking.
Dragon Back on Hong Kong Island is famous, but Sai Kung has probably the territory’s most beautiful natural scenery. You will never disappoint if you hike any route in Sai Kung.

3. Visit Hong Kong Museum of Art or Hong Kong Museum of History.
I think both museums are good, especially for those wanting to inject some culture and history into their visit. This post of mine has comment on Hong Kong Museum of Art.

4. Yum Cha.
Hong Kong probably has the world’s best dim sum restaurants. Don’t miss it. The Maxim’s Palace in City Hall (2/F, Low Block), Central is a good place for dim sum. How about this route? Have dim sum in City Hall, head to the Star Ferry in Central, take the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui, and then visit Hong Kong Arts Musuem.

5. Visit one of the outlying islands – Chueng Chau, Lama Island, Mui Wo, Ping Chau, etc.
Try to go on weekdays to avoid the crowd – the locals like going to the islands during the weekend. The fares are lower too.

6. Take the tram.
The tram on Hong Kong Island is over 100-year old, the most historic and also the cheapest transportation in HK. For HK$2.3 (less than US$0.5), you can ride across the island, from east to west, or vice versa, having a glimpse of the life and landscape of the city. You can try going east, starting from Kenney Town, which is an old district, and ride through districts like Sheung Wan (where the dry seafood street is), Central, the business district, and Causeway Bay, the shopping district.

Check out here.

First, it is full of mainland tourists and the locals like me have stopped going there. That is a shame, really. It is such a nice harbourfront.

Second, it is too “artificial”. The Avenue of Stars is obviously an imitation of Hollywood’s Walk of the Fame, with local movie celebrities’ autographs and hand prints set in cement as plagues. The whole thing was set up just to promote Hong Kong’s tourism, not a natural outgrowth of the local culture. I never like visiting places like this.

I still go to Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront from time to time though, not to see the celebrity plagues, but to visit Hong Kong Museum of Art. The exhibitions put up there often give me delight surprises. The Museum has benches facing a glass wall at each of its floor (except the ground floor), allowing visitors to take in the harbour for a respite after appreciation of art works, a much better space than the noise and excitement on the Avenue of Stars. To go there, make sure that you take Star Ferry. That is something not only tourists but also locals enjoy doing.

Visiting historical monuments: Man Lun-fung ancetral hall; Tai Fu Tai

Hiking: Yuen Tseun Ancient Trail

Food: Yuen Long Restaurant

Zuji is a bit different. The booking is based on return flights. No handling fee is charged. My experience with it has been good. Its flight ticket prices are among the city’s lowest. But it comes with one disadvantage. If you want to change your outbound flight time after the e-ticket is issued, you have to pay a charge, a practice that you won’t encounter if you buy your flight ticket through an “offline” travel agency.

To see the traditional dragon boat races in the city, however, you must come on the Dragon Boat Festival day, i.e. 6 June (Monday) this year. On that day, across the city, races are held in varied districts, with the one in Stanley most famous and with the longest history. Called Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships, the race has 43 years of history and is reported in the media annually. Local companies, especially those big ones, love to send their corporate teams to the racing, as a way of team building and a part of employee welfare.

Besides the above mentioned dates, the city hosts many other dragon boat races during the summer. Here are some other dates in 2011 on which you can see dragon boat races:

29 May (Sunday)– Cheung Chau (outlying island)
5 June (Sunday) – Mei Wo, Lantau Island (outlying island)
5 June (Sunday) – Chai Wan, Hong Kong Island
5 June (Sunday) – Cheung Chau (outlying island)
26 June (Sunday)– Tai O, Lantau Island (outlying island)
26 June (Sunday) – Stanley, Hong Kong Island
1 July (Friday)– Lama Island (outlying island)
9 July (Saturday) – Shing Mun River, Shatin
10 July (Sunday) – Sai Kung
17 July (Sunday) – Shing Mun River, Shatin
7 August (Sunday) – Cheung Chau (outlying island)
21 August (Sunday) – Shing Mun River, Shatin
4 September (Sunday) – Ap Lei Chau harborfront

The Shenzhen Visa Office at Lowu is immediately upstairs after clearing the Hong Kong immigration and customs. It is open 9AM-10:30PM seven days a week and accepts RMB for payment only. The visa is a five-day visa and costs RMB160. If you are a UK passport holder, you will be charged a much higher fee at about RMB470.

A friend has just got a Shenzhen visa for RMB160 at Lowu border. According to him, the whole process took about half an hour. You will first get your queue number, and when it is your turn, you give your passport to the staff for checking, followed by making payment at another counter. You will then have to wait again for your turn  to collect your passport, this time with the visa.

It was a Sunday when my friend applied for the Shenzhen visa, and the visa office, he said, was surprisingly not crowded with foreign travelers, but with Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong and hoping to spend their only free day in a week in Shenzhen.

Note that the Lok Ma Chau border (the one connected by MTR) has no Shenzhen visa service. You can only apply for a Shenzhen visa at Lowu border or Huanggang border.

a bike shop in the park

Before you reach the park, you will also find a bike shop which offers bike rental from 9:30am to 8pm for HK$20, and sometimes HK$15. The opening hours are slightly longer.

Hong Kong’s best bike paths are located in the Tai Wai / Ma On Shan / Shatin /Taipo areas in the New Territories. In all these areas, near the MTR stations, you can probably find bike shops for bike rental. But it is sure that you won’t be able to find the rent as cheap as HK$20 for a whole day.

The bike park in Tai Shui Hang is in the Ma On Shan area, from where you can bike to Tai Mei Tuk in Taipo (a place close to Plover Cover Reservoir), passing through the Hong Kong Science Park. Be assured that the scenery along the route is beautiful. You will find yourself biking along the sea or surrounded by hills at times. Well, you will also find yourself biking in the Taipo Industrial Estate area, where some of Hong Kong’s factories are located, including the fast food chain Fairwood. You can smell curry in the air.

the section of path next to science park

If you don’t know much about Hong Kong, biking is a very pleasant way to experience the city. It is a shame that Hong Kong has a very limited number of bike path – there is none on Hong Kong Island.

How to go to Tai Shui Hang bike park

Take exit B of Tai Shui Hang MTR station. Turn right where you see a cement road leading to trees. The park is 2-minute walk away.

More information

It is about 18km from Tai Shui Hang bike park to Tai Mei Tuk. A return journey would be 36km. For a rent of HK$20, you have to return the bike to the bike shop on the same day. Or you pay a little more, to return the bike at Shatin or Taipo at a designated bike shop.

the thai restaurant I went to

It takes 1-2 hour bike ride to finish one way journey, depending on how strong you are and how good your bike is. In my case, it took me almost 4 hours to bike from the bike park to Tai Mei Duk and return, in sweltering heat.

Tai Mei Tuk is famous for Thai food. It is such a pleasure to sit down for some delicious Thai food after some hard biking.

If you want to see more of Hong Kong from the sea, or venture to new parts of Hong Kong by ferry, there is actually more choice. Hong Kong’s Transport Department maintains updated and complete information on the city’s ferry service, including information on schedule and fare. Please refer to here.

One route I recommend you take is from Sai Wan Ho to Tung Lung Island. The scene from the Tung Lung Island is spectacular.

A bike shop is located near the waterfront, next to the bike trail. It allows you to return your bike at the same bike shop in Tai Mei Tuk, Taipo, which is about one hour bike ride away, or in Shatin.

The day I was in the park (a Sunday), I saw many kites flying high. So it must be a good place for kite flying too. For more information about the park, check out here.

How to get to Taipo Waterfront Park:

Get off at Taipo MTR station of the East Rail Line. Take a taxis and it will cost you less than HK$20 and take 10 minutes to get to the park.

entrance to the HKU musuem

If you are visiting Hong Kong and look for art museums to visit, do not just visit the Hong Kong Art Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. Aslo try the University Museum and Art Gallery at Hong Kong University, Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious university. The university was recently ranked the Number One University in Asia by QS.

The University Museum often stages some wonderful exhibitions, such as the most recent one by one of the most reputable Chinese painters today CHU The-Chun (朱德群)。A French painter of Chinese origin, Chu is considered one of the masters of modern Chinese painting. The exhibition features a series of pieces of porcelain jars, painted by Chu using the famous Sevres blue highlighted with gold. The exhibition is therefore named “Of Snow, Gold and Sky Blue”. The beauty of the jars is breathtaking and the skills and emotion exhibited are superb and nuanced.

Website of University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong University
http://www.hku.hk/hkumag/main.html

How to get there:

The website contains travel direction, showing you how to get there by a variety of means. One of the most convenient ways is taking minibus No. 8 from the City Hall, Central, costing HK$6. Ask the driver to drop you off at the Caine Road entrance of the Hong Kong University. You will see the museum where you get off.

I wouldn’t say the scenery along the trail is breathtaking, but it surely is a wonderful hike testing your stamina and allowing you to take in some gorgeous mountain views and bird’s eye view overlooking Tsuen Wan. As part of the uphill road has no shade, it is advisable not to tread this trail when it is really hot.

on the trail

overlooking Tsuen Wan

How to get there:

Get off at Tsuen Wan MTR station, exit A4. Walk through the covered corridor leading to Discovery Park residential complex, all the way to Castle Peak Road. Carry forward and pass by Tsuen Tak Garden, and you will see Adventist Hospital in front. Opposite the hospital you can find a staircase with a sign indicating it is the Yuen Tsuen Ancient Trail. The starting part is hard, as it is up and up and up. But once it is over, you will have pleasant walks ahead.

the starting point opposite the Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital

You can go to Sham Tseng, which is famous for roasted goose, on the way, instead of Yueng Long, the destination of the trail. If you go to Sham Tseng, where you finish the hike is exactly where one of the famous restaurants offering roasted goose is – Chan Kee Roasted Goose.

Here you turn to Sham Tseng

It is more advisable that you start the walk from Deep Water Bay and have some relaxing time at Repulse Bay, as there is more to do and enjoy here.

At Repulse Bay, you can find a expatriates-oriented supermarket Market Place tucked away in the boutique shopping mall Repulse Bay Arcade, and some restaurants like Pizza Hut along the beach. At the eastern end of the beach is Kwun Yam Shrine, with prominent statues of goddesses Kwun Yum and Tin Hau, which often attracts tour groups after tour groups from mainland China. The sunset looking out from the Shrine area is breadth breaking. 

How to get there:

Take bus No 6, 6A or 260 from Central’s Exchange Square bus terminal. Or, if you come from the Eastern part of the Hong Kong island, take bus No. 65.

high junk peak trail

Clear Water Bay

It takes about 3 hours to finish the walk. There is a bus stop at the entrance to the trail and for a start, you will have to climb some stairs.  After a short walk, you will find Tseung Kwan O development area with buildings after buildings at the right, and Clear Water Bay at the left. The view of Clear Water Bay is spectacular. And at some point, you will see the High Junk Peak, among Hong Kong’s most pointed peaks. People with stamina and strength will try to climb up, but not me.

After reaching Tai Miu (meaning big temple in Chinese), you can walk to Po Toi O Village Road and from there to reach Po Toi O village, which is famous for seafood. The village is actually small and there are only two restaurants, Seafood Island and Fat Kee. Personally I like the food in Fat Kee, but the seating is more comfortable in Seafood Island. You can take No.6 minibus to Po Lam Station from the village.

Po Toi O fishing village

How to get there:

Take the 103M minibus from Tsueng Kwan O Station, or the No. 6 minibus from Po Lam Station, and get off at Ng Fai Tin. Ask the bus driver to alert you if you don’t know where to get off.

This route is not very fitting for hiking in summer as there is little shade along the way. But it is perfect for now, when it is getting cool.

In the big hall of Hong Kong International Airport where you collect your luggage after the immigration passport check, there are a few phone stands where you can make local calls free of charge.

The stand says “courtesy call”. So you won’t miss it. It comes in handy for those arriving in Hong Kong without a local phone card for their handset.

Pak Sha O village

Pak Sha O, a one-time hakka village, is now populated with western families. You will pass a very beautiful private garden with vibrant colors, and some nicely restored old houses. Colorful butterflies are seen in scores in the area, and pink wild flowers in their prime.

All the way from Pak Sha O to Lai Chi Chong, you are accompanied by the sound of river flowing and bird singing, not to mention the greens that meet your eyes.

It takes only 45 minutes to walk to Lai Chi Chong, whose picturesque scenery makes the place a popular site for camping.

Private garden at Pak Sha O

wild flower field at Pak Sha O

The beach has rock formations dating back to 150 million years ago when the volcano erupted. As a result, Lai Chi Chong is among Hong Kong’s most important places for geology study and rock formation observation.

cows and meadow at Lai Chi Chong

Lai Chi Chong

rock formation at Lai Chi Chong

Lai Chi Chong pier

How to get there and get back:

Take minibus No.7 from Sai Kung town centre towards the direction of Hoi Ha (海下）； get off at Pak Sha O. (If you don’t know where to get off, ask the driver to alert you.)

Ma Liu Shui pier

There is a daily ferry departing from Lai Chi Chong at 11:40am and 6pm for Ma Liu Shui (MTR University Station). On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, an additional ferry at 2:15pm is in operation. Ferry time is about 40-50 minutes.

Please check the schedule of the ferry here. Each adult ticket is HK$28 during the weekends.

Note that after you arrive at Ma Liu Shui pier, you have to follow the road signs to walk at least 10 minutes before you can arrive at MTR University station.

This place is huge, occupying an expanse of open space, with grasslands, ponds, a ground for children electronic cars, a place for BBQ, farmlands, a children playground, etc.

The electronic cars are children’s favorite activity. You can also rent a bike for HK$15 one hour, or buy a kite (for HK$30) to fly on the grassland.

There are rabbits, squirrels, and goats raised on the land. The club’s website says there are over 100 rabbits. But it was disappointing to see only a few there when I made the visit last week.

There are some organic farms there. You can buy organic vegetables directly from an old couple farmers.

Beware that some local tours visit the club during the weekend. They usually arrive during the lunch time. So it is advisable that you arrive well before them to avoid the crowd.

No admission fee for entering the club.

How to get there:

Get off at MTR West Rail Line’s Kam Shueng Road station, take a taxi from the taxi stand outside the station. It costs only HK$17 and takes five minutes to get to the club.

When you leave the club, ask for a taxi call number from the staff, so that you can book a taxi to take you back to the MTR station, or wherever you want.

Website:  http://yl.com.hk/ktcc/index.htm (only in Chinese, but the pictures on the website give you an overall view of the environment there)

The College is situated atop a mountain, and so is the Pavilion. Visitors can see the Tolo Harbour from the pavilion and the pond in front shows the reflection of the sky and sea in the same colour. The whole set up makes you feel like being an integral part of the nature. “The Theory of the Union of Man and Nature” by Dr. Ch’ien Mu, the founder of the College, also a prominent philosopher of contemporary China, is inscribed on the wall.

Among all the colleges in Chinese University, a reputed university in Hong Kong, New Asia College is famous for its education in Chinese philosophy and Chinese culture. The existence of such a pavilion to represent the spirit of the college is not a coincidence. Because the effect created is so harmonious and special, the Pavilion has gained fame in the local community and is becoming a tourist attraction. It has been drawing visitors, particularly during the weekend.

Anyway, Chinese University, surrounded by Tolo Harbour, has the most beautiful university campus in Hong Kong. It is worth a visit.

How to get there:

Take the MTR East Rail line, and get off at University Station.

Outside the station, you will see queues for shuttle buses bringing you uphill.  Or you can visit the Chung Ki College, which is at the bottom of the mountain, before boarding the shuttle bus. All the restaurants on campus are open to visitors. If you are brave enough, just walk up. It would be a 15-20 minute uphill walk before you can reach the Central Campus, and another 1o minute walk before you reach New Asia College.

Here’s the schedule for shuttle bus:

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/transport_unit/

Here’s the map of the University:

http://mmlab.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/CMT/CM.aspx?lang=e

Aslo read:

Touring Chinese University

The Fire Dragon Dance draws a large crowd each year. So do expect that it will be packed.

According to the legend, Tai Hang, once a village, was struck by a plague. The plague disappeared after a fire dragon dance was performed. Since then, Fire Dragon Dance has become a tradition, not only in Tai Hang, but also of Hong Kong.

The “Dragon” will be covered by burning incense, making it like a fire dragon, thereby the name Fire Dragon Dance.

Here’s the detail:

Date: 2-4 October 2009

Time: 8:15pm

Place: Tai Hang, Causeway Bay

Direction: Tin Hau MTR Exit A1

Here’s the map showing how to get there.

First, if you want to go from Tsim Sha Tsui station to East Tsim Sha Tsui station, or vice versa, you have to buy a new ticket (meaning you have to leave the gate of one station before entering the gate of another), though the two stations are connected by a long subway and a long walk of at least 5-10 minutes.

Second, Hung Hom station, one of the busiest stations, is the only station of the whole MTR system where electronic information is displayed to show which train to depart from which platform, and at what time. The station is busy because it is the starting point and the final stop for two MTR lines (the West Rail Line and the East Rail Line that goes to Lowu or Lok Ma Chau). There are four platforms in the station so look out for the electronic information before going to any of the platforms.

Kowloon Tong is another busy station because here the East Rail Line and the Kwun Tong Line intersects. Previously, to transfer from one line to another, you had to buy a new ticket, just like the situation mentioned above regarding Tsim Sha Tsui station and East Tsim Sha Tsui station. But it is no longer the case. The walk from one line to another is long though, taking approximately five minutes. So be prepared. If you come from Lowu, Kowloon Tong is usually the transit point for going to the city.