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City of Life
"When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, few imagined that the Chinese government would keep its promise that nothing would change. However, Hong Kong is still a world apart from Mainland China. It has its own currency, its own mobile phone networks, its own banks, and you have to go through immigration to enter it from Mainland China. There's an enormous amount of things for tourists to do, and an amazing number of shops. I'm pleased to say that Hong Kong has joined the list of places in the world that I would be happy to live in (the others being London and New York).
CONTENTS
- HISTORY
- ACCOMMODATION
- FOOD
- SHOPPING
- TRANSPORTATION
- FILM INDUSTRY
- KOWLOON
- HONG KONG ISLAND
- LANTAU ISLAND
- CONCLUSIONS
HISTORY
The city of Hong Kong has been a major trade centre for several hundred years, originally trading tea and silk with European traders, and later becoming the centre of the opium trade. The Chinese rulers became incensed with this trade in opium, which was steadily becoming the mainstay of the city's economy, and attempted to throw out the Western traders. This led to the first Opium war, which ended in 1841, with the British claiming Hong Kong Island. The second Opium war ended in 1860, with Britain occupying the Kowloon peninsula of Mainland China. In 1898, a 99-year lease was granted for the New Territories (an area inland of Kowloon, which was also occupied by the British in the second Opium war), after which control of this land would return to China. Although this lease only applied to the New Territories, and not to Kowloon, nor to Hong Kong Island, it was evident that if the New Territories were handed back, China would want the rest of the British-occupied territory. So, in 1984 an agreement was reached that the whole of the British territory would be handed over to the Chinese in 1997. But it was agreed that for at least 50 years after 1997, the city should be permitted to maintain its free enterprise economy. Certainly, China seems to have honoured this agreement, and has done remarkably little to affect the financial success of the city.
ACCOMMODATION
The hotels that I visited in Hong Kong (BP International House on Kowloon, and the South Pacific Hotel on Hong Kong Island) were both absolutely superb. Both were considerably more expensive than those in Mainland China, but both had a selection of restaurants within the hotel, and offered excellent breakfasts. Both hotels were very clean and pleasant, with very friendly and helpful staff.
Hotels in general in Hong Kong are considerably better than in Mainland China, and are well maintained. Certainly, there is little evidence of the ""decay, demolish and rebuild"" mentality typical in hotels in Mainland China.
BP International House overlooks Kowloon Park in the Tsimshatsui region of Kowloon. The hotel is owned by the Scout movement (BP stands for Baden Powell, founder of the Scout movement), and consequently Scout logos appear throughout the hotel. Breakfast was a huge buffet affair, which cost about £6 per head, but set you up for the day nicely. Most rooms have superb views out over the harbour, as the building is much taller than those in the surrounding area.
The South Pacific Hotel is located just behind the Times Square shopping centre in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong Island. The top floor bar offers excellent views out over Hong Kong Island, and of the racetrack at Happy Valley. There are several restaurants in the hotel, but they were prohibitively expensive, so I didn't try them!
As far as cheaper accommodation goes, Hong Kong has several options. The most notorious option being Chungking Mansions, on Nathan Road in Kowloon. Just turning up in the lobby of the building is enough to get approached by numerous touts working for the guesthouses in the building. Room costs are comparable with in youth hostels in the UK. The Lonely Planet Guide suggests that you can ""avoid the stigma"" of staying at Chungking Mansions by staying at the nearby Mirador Arcade – supposedly somewhat cleaner and less crowded.
FOOD
As far as food goes, you can eat just about any nationality in Hong Kong. However, if you've just travelled through China, you'll be shocked by the price of eating out. Typically, the cost of eating out in Hong Kong is comparable with the price of eating out in the UK.
Apart, that is, from Chinese food. Chinese restaurants are surpisingly dear, often even more so than in the UK. Smaller restaurants offering bowls of rice or noodles with chicken or duck (which hangs in the window by the door, so you know what you'll be getting) are much more reasonable, but still seem dear after Mainland China!
Japanese restaurants of the noodle bar variety are a reasonably priced option, and can be found throughout the city. The excellent 'Ajisen Ramen' chain is definitely worth a try. Sushi restaurants, however, are as stunningly expensive as you might imagine. Vietnamese, Malaysian and Thai cuisine are all quite common and not badly priced.
For Indian food, probably the best curries in Hong Kong (if not China) are available in the restaurants upstairs in Chungking Mansions. Prices are very reasonable too, with a set meal generally coming in at under £5.
McDonalds and KFC dominate the city, however, and are both cheaper than the UK. Typically, a value meal in McDonalds costs less than £2, so keeping body and soul together needn't break the bank.
SHOPPING
Hong Kong is very well known as a place to pick up cheap electronic goods, but having explored Kowloon pretty extensively, I really don't think you'd save too much. I was looking out for a cheap MP3 player, so I started by looking in the main electronics shops along Nathan Road. These stores mainly rely on the tourist trade, and so on the rare occasions that they actually displayed a price, they were vastly higher than they should be. If you've got the time and inclination to haggle, then do, but otherwise, head further inland in Kowloon to Mong Kok. The electronic stores in this area all display prices, so browsing is much easier. MP3 players were typically only about 5-10% cheaper than in the UK, and there were similar reductions for camcorders and CD players. Probably had I been prepared to spend time haggling, I might have been able to get the price reduced further, but consumer electronics definitely didn’t seem as cheap as I'd expected.
However, computer components definitely seemed considerably cheaper, and exploration of the computer shopping centres in the Mong Kok region is definitely highly recommended if you're looking to upgrade your machine.
Probably the best buy for me, however, was DVDs and VCDs. If you've got a multi-region DVD player capable of playing VCDs, then Hong Kong is a buyers' paradise. Anti-piracy laws on VCDs in Hong Kong are vastly more strictly enforced than in Mainland China, and so all the stores only sell legitimate VCDs, which range in price from HK$15 to HK$60 (£1.30 - £5.50). One of the first things you'll need to check though, if like me you don't speak Chinese, is how to recognise whether the disc has English subtitles – once you've learned the kanji for that, and where to look for it – you're off! DVDs almost all have English subtitles, and cost between HK$40 and HK$120 (£3.70 - £11), but it's worth checking before buying. There are lots of shops selling Video CDs and DVDs on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, as well as three branches of HMV.
Clothing is also pretty cheap in Hong Kong, but it's worth checking whether the clothes actually fit before buying - size labels are seemingly stitched in at random.
It’s worth mentioning that our tour leader warned us to ensure, before leaving the store, that the goods in the box you've just bought match what the box claims to contain!
Also, as a sideline, unlike Mainland China, cashpoints in Hong Kong will quite happily accept almost any British bank card or credit card, and most retailers will cheerfully accept any plastic you offer them. As far as changing currency goes, the best exchange rates are offered by money changers in Chungking Mansions – the deeper into the complex you go, the better the rates. If you're changing a lot of money, however, banks probably offer a better rate.
TRANSPORTATION
Getting to Hong Kong is really easy. You can fly into the new Chep Lap Kok airport, take a train in from Guangzhou, a bus over the border from other cities in Guangdong province, or a boat from several cities around China. I arrived in Hong Kong by catamaran from Guangzhou, which took about three hours. The journey was pretty enjoyable, especially arriving in Hong Kong harbour as dusk approached, and the city's lights came on.
Chek Lap Kok airport, built on reclaimed land next to Lantau Island is Hong Kong's main airport, and has been operating since July 1998. Frankly, the array of duty free and gift shops in the airport was pretty disappointing, so don't leave your gift shopping until you get to the airport! The airport is very impressive, however, and the Airport Express train line connecting it to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island is really quick and convenient, and reasonably cheap.
Travelling around the city is very cheap and easy, thanks to the superb public transport system. The Star Ferry operates between the Central district of Hong Kong Island and Tsimshatsui, and between Wanchai and East Tsimshatsui, every few minutes throughout the day. Sitting downstairs in second class, costs HK$1.70 (or about 15p), and upstairs in upper class, costs HK$2.20 (about 20p).
There is a system of trams running from Central to Causeway Bay in Hong Kong Island. Getting to the tram stops can sometimes be quite perilous, and often involves walking along walkways over the city's roads. The tram fare is only HK$1.20 (about 10p) however far you go, which is a real bargain. Getting a seat is sometimes quite tricky though.
The city's underground system – the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) – is also very efficient, and trains are very clean and comfortable. Generally they're very crowded, however, so don't expect to get a seat until you get near the ends of the lines. Announcements are made in both Chinese and English, and even tell you which side of the train the next station will be on. It's probably easier for tourists to buy individual tickets for journeys, which cost between HK$3 and HK$12 depending on how far you go. If you don't want to buy individual tickets, a new system, the Octopus card, has been recently introduced which can be used to pay for travel on the MTR and buses throughout the province.
FILM INDUSTRY
The film industry of Hong Kong is still booming, and it's well worth going to the cinema while you're in the city. However, most of the Hong Kong films are shown without English subtitles. Japanese films are generally shown with Cantonese and English subtitles, so these are worth looking into. As a warning, though, I have never heard so many mobile phones go off in a cinema as I did in Hong Kong!
If you fancy picking up some Hong Kong movies while you''re over there, then a good introduction would be to check out films featuring Jackie Chan or Jet Li, most of which are available very cheaply out there. Also, films directed by Wong Kar-Wei ('Chungking Express', 'Fallen Angels' and 'In The Mood For Love') are well worth picking up. Be warned though, that many of the Category III (the most severe rating a film can get in Hong Kong) are illegal to import into the UK, so be careful what you buy! If you do have a VCD player, it is worth picking up a few films that you know nothing about, just out of curiosity. I bought 'Tokyo Raiders' and 'Double Tap' on VCD for about £3 each, neither of which I had heard of before, but both turned out to be great films.
KOWLOON
Kowloon's main attraction for tourists is almost certainly the spectacular collection of shops. The Mong Kok district offers probably the best collection of consumer electronics stores, and the large 'Ladies' market selling clothing. Nathan Road is the main shopping street, comparable with London's Oxford Street or New York's Fifth Avenue. The Night Market in Temple Street is also well worth a look.
The Waterfront Promenade on the south edge of the Kowloon peninsula, stretching from the Clock Tower outside the Star Ferry concourse round to Hung Hom offers superb views out over the harbour, and gives incredible views of the Hong Kong Island skyline. Along the promenade can be found the Hong Kong Space Museum, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Museum of Art. The Space Museum is pretty disappointing, to be honest, with a series of displays that seem to have been out of order for quite some time.
The Museum of Art is much better, consisting of several galleries. When I was there, there was an excellent temporary collection of contemporary art by Hong Kong artists. Common themes in contemporary Hong Kong and Chinese art include examining how the country has changed since the Cultural Revolution, and bastardisations of Chinese calligraphy. One gallery is devoted to art by artists from Hong Kong over the last hundred years, showing how much of an influence the British occupation had on the city's art. The Xubaizhai Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy is particularly popular, and boasts examples of calligraphy from the 14th century. The content of the galleries is continually changing, and leaflets are available in English in every gallery explaining the significance of its exhibits.
The bar at the Peninsula Hotel overlooking Hong Kong harbour is also well worth a visit. Even though at HK$70 per pint it's stunningly expensive, it's worth it to use the jade urinals!
HONG KONG ISLAND
Hong Kong Island also has a lot of attractions for tourists. The Peak Tram funicular railway which goes to the top of Victoria Peak is a must-do for tourists visiting Hong Kong. The best seats on the way up are on the right hand side of the tram, so try to get them quickly! The Peak Tram costs HK$20 per single journey (about £1.80), or HK$30 for a return journey. At the top of the peak, the Peak Tower offers some spectacular viewing terraces, a Ripley's Believe It Or Not..., and some souvenir shops. Just across the road from the Peak Tower is the Peak Galleria Shopping Centre. The shopping centre is pretty unremarkable, but its McDonalds has probably the best view of the south side of Hong Kong Island.
The Wanchai district boasts the impressive Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which opened in 1988, and was the site of the ceremony when Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese. HKCEC really doesn't have much to interest most tourists, but the library in the basement has computers connected to the internet which are available to use free of charge. Central Plaza, the tallest building in Hong Kong, is also worth a visit. Although it's not open to the public, you can still take a lift up to the 46th floor sky lobby, and get some spectacular views out over the rest of the city.
The Central district has the most impressive buildings, including the Bank of China tower, with its triangular glass façade. The Bank of China tower is supposed to have the worst feng shui in the whole of Hong Kong Island, because of its position relative to Victoria Peak. The neighbouring tower block elected to have two floors removed to compensate for its proximity to the Bank of China tower, which are visible as a thick dark line halfway up the tower block. You can also find the Hillside Escalator in the Central district, which leads from the commercial centre up the hill to the residential areas. It's an enormous covered external escalator which runs down the hill between 6.30 and 10.30am, and up the hill the rest of the day. It's become something of a tourist attraction thanks, in part, to Wong Kar-Wei's 'Chungking Express'.
Causeway Bay is the most vibrant area of Hong Kong Island, and is home to several large Japanese department stores. On race days, however, the main focus of attention is the nearby Happy Valley Racecourse. I was lucky enough to be in Hong Kong on a race day, and visited the night races at Happy Valley. Admission was only HK$10 (under £1), and betting was easy – just consisting of filling in slips similar to those we fill out to play the National Lottery, and then taking them to tellers. Leaflets are available in English explaining all the statistics that are on display, and electronic boards tell you exactly how much money has been wagered on each race. Typically, over 100 million Hong Kong dollars (£10 million) were placed on each race, most of which came in the last two or three minutes. The atmosphere was truly electrifying, and this was definitely the most fun I had in Hong Kong. Tours are available for tourists, which allow you admission to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but it's far more fun to go into the public enclosure.
The South Side of the Island is also quite interesting, and easy to visit by bus. The town of Stanley has a lot of ex-pats, but really doesn't have a great deal for tourists to do. Repulse Bay is a very attractive beach resort, and Aberdeen Harbour is packed with junks. Just walking along the harbour edge at Aberdeen will lead to your being hassled to take a sampan ride around the harbour. The floating restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour is supposed to be very good, but is also unbelievably expensive!
LANTAU ISLAND
Lantau Island is located to the west of Kowloon, and can be visited by taking the MTR Tung Chung line as far west as it goes. The city of Tung Chung itself doesn't have a lot of interest for tourists, but from here you can take the number 23 bus to Po Lin Monastery. This monastery is deservedly the island's most popular attraction, as it possesses an enormous 26-metre high seated, bronze Buddha. For just HK$60 (about £5.50), you get admission to the monastery and the Buddha, as well as an excellent vegetarian meal.
CONCLUSIONS
Hong Kong is an absolutely fascinating place to visit, and makes an intriguing contrast against Mainland China. I will definitely return to Hong Kong in the future!
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