Hong Kong – home of Hang Seng, tall financial skyscrapers and businessmen in black suits who hurry amongst them. Luckily also home to far more…
After flying a mere 2 ½ hours from Bangkok, you descend into the modern, user-friendly Hong Kong Airport. A further 20 minutes’ smooth ride on the Airport Express train, and you find yourself on Hong Kong Island.
Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island are the main shopping areas, and street markets and gorgeous shopping malls abound (Times Square Mall is so elegant, complete with a spiral escalator), also temples, parks & gardens, museums, walking trails, streets with fascinating antique shops, exquisite Chinese and international restaurants. I even noticed a Ukrainian restaurant. There are also fantastically chic pubs and jazz bars. My week there was just getting better and better. It also helped that the hotel room was on the 47th floor, with a breath-taking view across Victoria Harbour and Kowloon on the opposite side. The gym and rooftop pool on floor 59 were inspiring too: at last, a treadmill with a view!
The jade bazaar deserves a special mention: two halls of stalls selling Burmese jade products at very reasonable prices - not only jewellery, but also Buddha statues, ornaments, coasters, wall hangings, small boxes, and a myriad of other objects. Then there is Jade Street as well for more up-market jade shopping, with shop upon shop of jade temptations.
In the bird garden on Kowloon I found it charming to see bird-owners taking their pet birds for fresh air and a “walk”. Small shops in the garden sell accessories of all sorts for birds and their cages. Porcelain water and food bowls are particularly popular.
The train system is modern, fast and efficient, but to use the ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon is of course more scenic and atmospheric. A short and cheap ride (10 minutes) will take you across while you get to admire the other vessels. The Octopus card which one can use on the whole transport network of trains, buses and ferries eliminates the constant need to buy tickets.
I ignored the famous Disneyland and headed for some of Hong Kong’s green areas instead. My time was limited, and I could only take in a few of those, but I was impressed by the trails I did, and grateful for the opportunity to enjoy mountain views, lush vegetation, birdlife, fishing villages and monasteries set on mountain plateaus.
One such trip to Lantau Island (30 minutes by ferry) was one of the highlights of my visit. I climbed what seemed like hundreds of steps to a mountaintop in the Ngong Ping Village area where a giant bronze Buddha perches – the biggest outdoor seated Buddha in Asia, 34 metres high, weighing 250 tons.
Nearby is the Po Lin monastery with its colourful temple, set amongst the lush mountain vegetation. A walk along the Wisdom Path takes you past the Dream Sutra, one of the most revered prayers in Buddhism, Taoism as well as Confucianism. The sutra is carved on wooden poles atop another mountain, and is arranged in the shape of the infinity symbol (∞). I did a 7km hike to the town of Tung Chung through the mountain forest and happily breathed in lungfuls of fresh mountain air. As I crossed moss-covered stone bridges and birds chattered noisily above, I could hardly believe I was in Hong Kong…
One can also take an old tram up to the peak of Hong Kong Island for more stunning views. At The Peak, 
as it is known, there are more self-guided leafy trails. For those interested in tacky wax images, there is even a Madame Tussauds Hong Kong to visit at The Peak.
Hong Kong is a delightful place to visit. It is full of unexpected and interesting sights, safe, entertaining, friendly and easy to negotiate. English is widely spoken, and although it is ten years since Hong Kong was handed back to China, the British influence is still very palpable. The Hong Kong Tourism Board uses the slogan: “Hong Kong. Live it. Love it.” I could add: “Simply adore it!”