Hong Kong territory comprises of a peninsula
of mainland China and a number of offshore islands covering over a thousand
square kilometers. Much of the peninsula is known as the New Territories
with the southern tip known as Kowloon. The island just across from
Kowloon is Hong Kong island which presently contrasts from Kowloon as
all along the water front and half way up the hillside are sky scrapers
(Kowloon is starting to change though). When you mention Hong Kong this
is what most people think the whole of Hong Kong looks like, but in
reality much of Hong Kong is lush green and mountainous, with some beautiful
beaches. The time difference is +8 Hours to GMT.
Getting around Hong Kong is extremely easy, especially if you have purchased
an Octopus card. You may need to top this up from time to time (minimum
top payment is 50HKD) but transport is very cheap, frequent, in fact
very frequent and even if you don't have one of the many free maps of
Hong Kong at hand, very easy to find your way around. Trains, Metro,
ferries and buses were all very easy to understand and use.
Eating and shopping: eating out is both cheap and usually great quality.
I usually use the numerous small restaurants which the locals use, you
can usually get a good feed with a drink for about 50HKD (approx. 14HKD
to the £). What I did find rather disappointing was the shopping,
if you are expecting to find an electrical bargain - forget it! Same
price basically as back in the UK, although you could buy legal computer
software at a massive reduction on UK prices; copies at silly prices
if you dare take the risk. Don't go expecting to buy the latest DVD
either as you will be disappointed, although you may come across someone
selling from a carrier bag at a rate of about 20HKD, avoiding police
eyes! Best buys are things like silk and clothes, but not as cheap as
other parts of Asia. I did buy a 100% silk quilt at less than half the
price of buying back in the UK. Research prices
before heading to HK and you may get a bargain.
There is much more to Hong Kong than around the sky scrapers, so make sure you travel to other parts of the territories and islands. A great white sandy beach rarely visited by tourists is at Shek O and the island of Cheung Chau (30 mins by fast ferry) is well worth a visit, so don't just stay in the vicinity of your hotel - TRAVEL! Update to this page is scheduled
Hong Kong Island
as the sun sets
Copyright © Robsons-Adventures 2007