The REAL best things to do in Hong Kong

Posted by splat (1305 days ago)

OK, so the obvious, touristy things to do in Hong Kong can be fun (Star Ferry, Peak Tram, Stanley Market, view from Felix).

But what about the (non-shady!) stuff which rarely makes it into tourist guides but which you think really make this a great place to be? What are those little gems of places to go / things to see which you like so much, you're a little reluctant even to share them on a forum like this. Go on....spill the beans!

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Posted by dimac4 (1305 days ago)

Robins nest at Sheung Shui - right on the border overlooking Shenzhen, can only get there by car and even then you won't know where to go without knowing where to go.

Another one is Fei Ngo Shan up behind Choi Hung - again easier by car but it can be walked and on a clear day - better than any view from the peak.

Brides Pool out past Tai Po on a hot day.

These are our three favourite places to go.

Posted by cd (1305 days ago)

A day out at Millionaires Beach on the Jaspa's junk with all your friends.

Posted by carmine (1305 days ago)

how bout taking a nice stroll in the old part of wanchai (queen's rd. east), visiting the "blue house" on stone nullah's lane. This is an old chinese building built in the 1920's...the gov. is planning to preserve the area and make it a theme destination in six years. So pay it a visit before its overwelmed with tourists!

Posted by minono (1305 days ago)

1. the painted wall inside shangri la Admiralty from 39 to 51 floor (inside elevator)
2.the elevator outside Hopewell centre
3.the view from central plaza middle range floor

Posted by Ms. Pacman (1304 days ago)

Go to the viewing floors of IFC2 or Back of China.

Very cool.

Temple Street around 10PM is my favourite!

Posted by <@> (1304 days ago)

How do you go to the viewing floor at IFC. I thought there was non and that most of the biulding was closed to the public.

Posted by Geraldo (1302 days ago)

Just had two 11 year olds from Europe staying with us. The highlight [for them!]- walking along Gloucester Road from Causeway Bay to Wanchi looking at all the different car showrooms! They had never seen anything like it before!

Posted by Expat222 (1302 days ago)

The Museum of Culture or is that of History - the one in TST. Most tourists seem to go for the scenic sights which are good, and think much less of museums. The display of 24K collection (when it's on) is excellent (anyone evern seen a realy suit of armour in 24K?). My friends particularly enjoyed viewing the life and livelihoods of hk in history passed. Then, also what HK was like during WW2, and some 2000 yrs ago. Fascinating.

Posted by mayafox (1298 days ago)

Oh wow, there are so many really special things to do in HK! Here are some on the top of my list:

1) Foot massages in Soho whilst eating ice cream from XTC;
2) Discovering hidden rock pools behind the hills in Stanley;
3) Holing up at Cine Art House watching an arty film;
4) Strolling along the promenade from Repulse Bay to Deep Water Bay and grabbing lunch at one of the cafes at the end;
5)The Happy Valley Races on a Wednesday night;
6) The crazy architecture and hustle and bustle of Langham Place in Mongkok;

Posted by rift2 (1298 days ago)

If you are into shopping, Tung Choi Street (Women Street) and Fa Yuen Street in Mongkok are my fav.

Posted by dannyboy77 (1298 days ago)

seafood on the islands

Posted by oj (1298 days ago)

Taking a picnic, kites and sin cream for a leisurely day up at Ta Mo Shan.

Posted by @ (1298 days ago)

How do you go to the viewing floor at IFC???

Posted by tsuiwah (1298 days ago)

What's the best way up Ta Mo Shan? how's the view?

Posted by Expat222 (1297 days ago)

Viewing an absolutely ludicrous 24K toilet with all its 24K trimmings in the Goldsmiths home. I think that was what he did before he became a noveau riche.

He charges $20 for each photos taken. And a viewing fee. But something to show folks at home. And I don't know where it is either !

Anyone out there have an address ???

Posted by LostnShanghai (1297 days ago)

http://www.ebigchina.com/ebcps/4/pd/1401830.html

"Lam Sai-wing says he has dreamed since his youth in China about having enough wealth to build toilets of gold, which Lenin in 1921 said would serve as a useful reminder of the waste of capitalist warfare."

I can't even begin to dissect the irony of this statement, but HK is indeed one of the finest examples of capitalism, so a visit to the Golden Toilet will at the very least be interesting.

I don't know where it is exactly, but it should be in one of its Kowloon stores. Call and ask.

Personally, cool things to show tourist friends are:

1) Ditto the poster above who mentioned the Happy Valley races.

2) Taking one of the trails off the Peak to see the views of HK.

3) Jewelry/watch window-shopping.

Posted by mithai (1279 days ago)

Does anyone know a little more about IFC viewing floors??......is there one? any information will be appreciated!TIA

Posted by splat (872 days ago)

With all the 10yr anniversary reflections going on (to say nothing about the banner ads from CX asking for similar ideas), I wondered if this might be a good time to see if anyone has any other 'best things to do in HK' ideas they want to contribute to this thread?

Posted by splat (135 days ago)

Anyone got anything new to add that might revive this thread?

Posted by dipper (135 days ago)

Spend the day sitting by the river in Tai Po Kau (Hong Kong's only forested area).

Walk out to the old oyster beds in Lau Fau Shan and chat about the old days with the oyster farmers.

Go into the border zone at Mai Po Nature Reserve via the boardwalk to the observation hides.

A day's motocross in Sheung Shui.

Some of the more interesting exhibition spaces, e.g. Shanghai Street Artspace, Cattle Depot in To Kwa Wan.

Catch an arthouse movie at Broadway Cinemateque in Yau Ma Tei.

Be a movie extra for a day and appear in a HK film.

Volounteer somewhere for a day through Ho-Sum.

Posted by splat (135 days ago)

What an awesome list dipper! Many thanks for that. Anyone else?

Posted by axptguy38 (135 days ago)

- Hiking in Tai Tam Country Park. The views are amazing and it's unbelievable that you are 20 minutes drive from Central.
- Seaview promenade from Deep Water Bay to Repulse Bay. Gorgeous.
- Walking from Pacific Place to Shun Tak Center without touching a sidewalk by using walkways, building lobbies, shopping centers and parks.
- Having drinks on the Sevva terrace (top of Prince's Building) in the evening. Great views.
- HSBC main building. The banking hall is worth a visit.
- Trying tea in one of the tea shops.
- Sunday lunch buffet at Isola. Not the cheapest but definitely a bargain for what you get.
- Evening drinks at one of the bars on IFC terrace level.

Posted by aitchkay (135 days ago)

- I've always thought running/walking along Bowen Road in the early evening is pretty amazing. Skyline looks just as impressive from that side!
- The airport beats the socks off everything else
- the fact that 20mins out from the amazing hustle of the city you can be in several places where you won't see another soul
- the energy of just about everyone here: it's infectious
- the bus ride from Central to Shek O...beautiful
- the Black Sheep restaurant once you get to Shek O (especially the crazy UV lighting)
- the (now few and far between) walk-up buildings where people have made tiny spaces intpo real homes with character
- the fact that you rarely have to wait more than 60seconds for a taxi
- the cheap taxi fares once you get in one!
- the disgraceful McDonald's 24hr home delivery...embarrassingly good
- the view of the city immediately after a storm (when the air is super-clear)

Posted by Mr. H (135 days ago)

Some of mine,

- Catching the Happy Valley - Sheung Wan tram and going from one end to the other for $2
- Brides Pool near Tai Po
- Riding a rented bike from Sha Tin to Tai Mei Tuk along the Tolo Highway
- Walking along Sai Kung seafront with the Dog on a Sunday
- The Sai Kung Beach Restaurant for Dim Sum (if you're coming from Ma On Shan way, it's just before the roundabout that splits to the swimming pool or SK Town)
- Walking around the car audio/accessory shops in the deep of Mong Kok
- Getting my hair washed (x2), rinsed, cut, washed, rinsed and massaged at a barbers in Tin Hau for $70.
- The outside hotpot alley (just the best!) near Wing Hing St, Tin Hau
- Staying at the Gold Coast Hotel and pretending your not in Hong Kong
- Going for a walk through Pak Tam Chung
- Taking the $20 return sampan to Trio Beach, for swimming and BBQ
- jumping on a bus that I don't know the destination
- Bowling in Kowloon Bay (HITEC)
- Renting a kayak from Sai Sha Road Watersports
- Pretending that I've got money and walking around the Automall near the Grand Hyatt
- Set Lunches
- Driving around the Island around 6:00am

Posted by Sigourney Beaver (135 days ago)

Having gin n tonics in the lobby of the Peninsula in the early evening while the jazz band is playing. Like you are in Shanghai in September 1926.

Posted by Bryan666 (135 days ago)

No way you are going to do any of this random NT stuff.. Just go back up the Peak, down to Stanley and on the Star Ferry, people do these things over and over with visitors because they are easy & cool!

Can you seriously see yourself: Riding a rented bike from Sha Tin to Tai Mei Tuk along the Tolo Highway??

Give me a Shandy in Smugglers any day!

Posted by Mike Huntt (135 days ago)

I once had a hamburger in the canteen of the Kowloon Canton Railroad building in Tsim Sha Tsui (where now only stands the clock tower) at 2.30 AM in February 1976, while a bunch of hookers where sitting at a next table, after a long night of drinking in the Gun Bar, in the lobby of the Hong Kong Hotel.

The next day or so I took a choo-choo train from TST to Tai Po or Fanling or some such place. I can't even remember why. I did, though, visit some sort of Chinese temple near Yuen Long.

But I am digressing.

Lunch at the Peninsula Resto in Repulse Bay, and afterwards a stroll along the beach, pretending that you are in Biarritz, if you can avoid the sight of the Mainland tourists.

Posted by axptguy38 (135 days ago)

"Lunch at the Peninsula Resto in Repulse Bay, "

The Verandah is closed for renovation until at least September. The whole place is a big building site now. But the new Jason's Marketplace is done, and very swank.

Posted by Francorompt (135 days ago)

Not a secret, but it's worth repeating that HK has amazing hiking trails. There's some for everybody, easy, hard, long and short and everything in between.

I walked the McLehose stage 3 the other day and for the first time since I'm in HK I haven't seen anybody for miles around me in 4 hours. The views are amazing.

Great website:

http://www.hkwalkers.net/longtrail/eng/index.html

Btw, has anybody tried the buffet at the revolving restaurant on top of the Hopewell centre? Thinking of going there myself, but I've been told the food is not that great. Surely the view would compensate, and it's not that expensive for lunch.

Posted by jushayward (135 days ago)

Driving around the NTs at dawn on a clear summer morning.

Posted by Mr. H (134 days ago)

Dear Bryan666,

I'm sorry if my list upsets your HK Island mentality but there are expat not living on the island ...shock horror!

Just stick to the Island if that's your thing, it makes the rest of HK, esp. the NT better for the rest of us

Take care

Posted by axptguy38 (134 days ago)

"Btw, has anybody tried the buffet at the revolving restaurant on top of the Hopewell centre? Thinking of going there myself, but I've been told the food is not that great. Surely the view would compensate, and it's not that expensive for lunch."

The only good thing about that restaurant is the view. The food is blah. Even the drinks at the bar and the service are way subpar. No way I would have another meal there. Go to the bar during off hours. Have one drink and milk it for 60 minutes (the time of one revolution) so you get the view. Then leave.

Posted by Ed (134 days ago)

Shek O... nice clean beach but the best spot is out on the point on the left of the beach (past the houses) - great place to chill and read a book and listen to the waves crash against the rocks http://www.hkoutdoors.com/images/stories/hk-great-outdoors/shek-o-surf-pounding.jpg

Lamma Island - take the ferry out, have breakfast at the organic restaurant then take the short walk to the beach http://www.ibiblio.org/hkpa/Scenic/ftp/unknown22.jpg

Posted by beancurd (134 days ago)

Go to Aberdeen and take Sampan to see Aberdeen boat community.

Go to Museum, Granville Road, Chatham.

Posted by cd (133 days ago)

Totally agree Mr H.
by the way I went to Trio a couple of weeks ago and paid $10 return!

Posted by Woofetc. (132 days ago)

Go for Dim Sum at the HK University of Science and Technology - great views on a nice day and the Dim Sum is a bargain.

Rent a canoe in Sai Kung

Posted by jushayward (132 days ago)

I have just got back from a beach known as Long Kee. We hauled loads of food, stoves and tents from High Island, you can take a taxi to this point, and spent a few days there. I have to say, at times it was hard to believe that I was still in HK. What a beach-fine white sand, what an Ocean-clear clean water with large waves. I never knew that we had such places as this. I shall return. However, for those who wish to take a bit of luxury, do not not walk there, hire a boat from Wong Shek pier. I only found out that this was possible when we were there.

Posted by busybuddy99 (132 days ago)

Viewing an absolutely ludicrous 24K toilet with all its 24K trimmings in the Goldsmiths home. I think that was what he did before he became a noveau riche.

He charges $20 for each photos taken. And a viewing fee. But something to show folks at home. And I don't know where it is either !

DOES ANYONE HAVE A ADDRESS PLEASE ???

Posted by cd (131 days ago)

Yes, Long Kee is beautiful, been there a couple of times this year. And a bit further round you have Sai Wan beach, a 45 min walk from the pagoda, but it has a couple of restaurants and places to buy drinks, and a toilet, so you can carry less stuff, but can still camp on the beach, and further round again is Dai Long Wan, supposedly the bext beach in HK, although I still haven't been to the one.

Posted by Slammy (131 days ago)

Hi there,

I notice that no one has contributed any ideas relating to Hong Kong's archaoelogy...

How about:

- Hong Kong's only Han Dynasty Tomb, underneath the Lei Cheng Uk Housing Estate in Cheung Sha Wan.
It was miraculously discovered in 1955 when the housing estate was being built. Workers knocked off the top of the tomb, opening up a small hole in the ground and when they looked inside - they saw the tomb! It could have been bulldozed and lost forever!!

- Hong Kong has lots of forts. Some are very well kepted. Others, like Tung Lung Fort, are less well-kepted and only accessible by ferry twice a day!

- Tung Chung Fort

CD - you want to know where the gold toilet is? I believe it's in Hung Hom. I found this article on the internet about the toilet and it's maker...

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=14&art_id=24949&sid=9309263&con_type=1&d_str=20060814

"The golden toilet and bathroom currently reside in the Expo Global Tourist Exhibition Hall in Hung Hom..."

I believe I've seen the place, because hordes of mainland tourists get dumped there by the bus loads everyday.

Posted by joeyngai (131 days ago)

Gokart in Tuen Mun (Diamond Coast Go Kart)
Boat Trip (plus speedboat for water ski / wakeboard / banana boat)
Buffets (countless lunch/dinner/supper/dessert)

Posted by Urbent (131 days ago)

On a serious note though, whilst HK does have pretty much everything to offer, some are things aren't always on such a grand scale as you would find in other countries, so my advice would be to see and do all the that's good and great about what makes HK and leave the international bit till when you go elsewhere. HK not very good at heritage and old things, but still bits about. HK good for food, shopping and countryside with some very scenic surroundings -NT esp. Sai Kung (where I live). Food is about what's next to try? as it's so abundant and varied. I would certainly have the dim sum, noodles, buffets, roast goose (and the porks), local barbecues and hot pot!

Posted by carmine (128 days ago)

Great lists guys..I am glad I still live in the wonderful city of HK. If I have moved back to the US and reading this, I know I will be very depressed knowing my options are watering the lawn or visiting the local mall.

Posted by Sensei (122 days ago)

Tai O on Lantau Island has a Shaolin temple. The monks there perform demonstrations that you won't see in Hollywood movies. You can even receive training. This is the only real deal outside of mainland China. My Dusseldorf friends say the recent addition in Germany (the only foreign monastery) pales in comparison.

Posted by bcc100 (122 days ago)

For everyone who is asking about the IFC viewing area. Go to IFC Level 2, and continue to search for a bar called Red Bar (This is situated on IFC Level 4). Go to that bar and you are at the IFC Public viewing area. It has a nice view, but not as nice as from the top office levels in IFC.

Posted by Telemundo (35 days ago)

> Mr. H

Thanks for the Tin Hau hotpot recommendation. We went there tonight and enjoyed it.

Will be going back.

Only HK$395 for food and drinks for 7 of us! (ok... includes 2 under fives)... and the maid wasn't on the beer.

For others wanting to try, it's between Wing Hing St and Mercury St. Don't be put off if there aren't enough tables, they'll put one out for you.

Posted by Telemundo (35 days ago)

Regarding the viewing area at IFC2. Yep, by all means go up and enjoy... but don't spend HK$55+ on a beer after QUEUING at a counter outside RED. The areas outside RED, Isola etc are PUBLIC. Sit at your leisure, with or without a drink. Feel free to bring drinks from 7-11 if you like.

Posted by TTD (34 days ago)

IFC2 - 55th floor lookout

On the 55th floor of the IFC2, there is a money museum and library which you can gain access to and see great views of the city and midlevels, not so much of the harbour, but it ithe views are still great! (hopefully this is still the caes as I haven't been there for a long time!!) From memory, you need your ID card or passport, go to the main reception area and they will issue you a pass to go to the 55th floor!

Posted by markyabut (30 days ago)

i would go on a food trip:

1. delicious restaurant in cwb - great pork chops
2. guangdong restaurant in tst - between nathan and canton - tasty roasting


if you're adventurous whe it comes to food, you will never run out of options in hong kong.

Posted by RGP (30 days ago)

Join the HK Mountain Bike Association http://www.hkmba.org -get some lessons, buy/borrow a bike and head off on the country park trails with a friend.

With 99.9% of the population hitting the shopping malls in their spare time it's the ultimate great escape!

Posted by vak (30 days ago)

if you are into something unusual or visiting the countryside these are top notch options in clearwaterbay area. It all depends on the age group and who you are entertaining. Most people do not know that 80% of HK is not concrete.

a) visit the main road past the CWB Beach No 2 and see the people flying model planes . The effort and resources they put into it is amazing . SOme come over with vans full of spares.
b) Go the CWB country park to get the most amazing views of the easternmost part of Hk along with kite flying.
c) have a barbie on the rocks with waves splashing once you go past maupo in the same area. Its a dead end road but v v scenic and quiet.
d) If you love seafood but do not wish to go to touristy Lamma , visit Po Toi O besides the CWB golf club. its a v small village with a temple and just 2 family run seafood restaurants. great settings and food with excellent value for money.

Posted by DHC (25 days ago)

I agree that tourists on a limited time need to do the must see places, but no one has mentioned Ngong ping360 cable car to the Budha, then down to Tai O for a boat ride out to see the pink dolphins(only $20). Catch the bus back to Mui Wo, and try the deep fried salt and pepper calamari-its the best! The local eatry is behind the public toilets (to the left of where all the bikes are parked.I eat at the first resturant that you come to),then catch the ferry home. All up a long and full days outing. And if you want you can do a quick bit of shopping at Tung chung before going up the cable car.

Posted by jushayward (25 days ago)

The cable car is really something- incredible!

Posted by cd (25 days ago)

The cable car is great, apart from the new village at the top, it looks 'plastic' and is over priced. And the few visitors we've had have always said Tai O is their favourite place.