Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[Caro!]

Hi everybody,

I have never been to Hong Kong, but while doing some research I found out it is suppost to be the NY of Asia.

Have anybody been there???Is it true??

Tell us about it, and feel free to share some pics with us.


Caro!

[joanna_2006]

Hi,
I'm from HK. If you are interested to travel to HK, and have any specific questions, I'm happy to help.

[Caro!]

Thanks,

I won't be traveling there soon, but you could share with us some facts about Honk Kong, like museums, parks, night life, people, customes etc...


Hope to hear from you soon

Caro!

[whereshegoes]

I would like to know how good the public transportation system is. Can you advise?

[mrjoe]

I visited Hong Kong in January and it is an incredible city. Very busy, very modern and yet strangely different. Public transport is efficient and easy to use. The underground usually being the best way to get around though you can walk to a lot of places. The ferry across the harbour is frequent and very cheap but you pay a bit more for trips to the other islands (still well worth it though).
As for museums, i bought a pass for all the main places which made it a bit cheaper (I think all the museums are free on one day a week but you'd have to check this). The Hong Kong art gallery and museums of science and history are all excellent. When I was there a number of free events for tourists were put on which were great experiences but check their tourist website and book in advance if possible. For free I had a Tai Chi class by the harbour, watched a Kung Fu display in Kowloon park and saw the amazing light show on Hong Kong island at night.




My Hong Kong entry

[samhoso]

hi caro!

i lived in new york city from 99 - 06, and think it's the best place on earth. hong kong definitely is the asian version of it! an amazing twist of modern and tradition with open-minded, sophisticated, super-cool people, clubs, parties... cool restaurants, architecture is stunning, and to get around in hk is super-easy. the only thing that annoyed me a little bit were the hords of expats filling up the pubs to watch premier league and rugby games.

take care,
sam

[siscri]

I grew up in Hong Kong and as a kid it was brilliant. I've been back for a holiday and I still loved it. There's loads to do. The public transport is excellent. The people are great. I can't rave about it enough.

[wakingdream]

Was in H.K. a couple of years back for just over a week. Had a blast.
Visited some friends, galleries, museums, and just walked around. I remember the harbour being really lovely. Transport was great. I'd go back in a heartbeat! Good photo ops, very interesting people.
persoanlly, I like it alot better then NY. Almost went back a few weks ago for a freinds birthday, but sadly, it didn't work out.

I grew up in Hong Kong and as a kid it was brilliant

Now that would be brilliant! Do you still have alot of friends there?

[siscri]

Yeh there are still a good few. So many people leave school, go to university elsewhere and then end up returning to HK. There's something about the place that draws you back.

[rbisset]

I heard the Star Ferry terminal was shut down or moved a few months back. A sad day for HK The subway is really good though and funny as all the place names are very English. I liked HK Island better than the Tsim Tsa Tsui area. I'd go back but I'd recommend that everyone go over to Macau for a day as it is a beautiful place!

[rbisset]

I grew up in Hong Kong and as a kid it was brilliant. I've been back for a holiday and I still loved it. There's loads to do. The public transport is excellent. The people are great. I can't rave about it enough.

HK must have been a great place to grow up! Can you speak Cantonese?

[siscri]

Just the basics - greetings, numbers, directions, swear words. We only had to do it in school for a year, one hour a week. Looking back I wish I'd put more effort in and even continued doing it instead of French. But I was a kid and couldn't be bothered. You never really needed it.

[wakingdream]

swear words.

Always the swear words, huh? Seems those are some of the first most people learn! At least a few.
I really enjoyed eating in H.K. All the noodle shops and tempting delights in the shop windows. Mmm. It's so much more enjoyable then eating here.

Pretty much every five feet there was someone who trying to sell us a "copy rolex" or a handmade suit!

[rbisset]

I had some great food in some side street in HK. Places with no English and random pointing at the menu are always good fun

[cado]

I've just gotten back from Hong Kong after spending nearly a week there trying to secure a Chinese Working Visa.

Amazing place - unlike anywhere i've ever been before. Great scenery, heaps of things to do and I too thought the public transport was excellent and relatively cheap. Other things though such as food, drinks and accomodation were ridiculously expensive, which soured things a little or me.

I stayed at the infamous Chungking Mansions which, if your willing to put up with a extremely slow lifts, cold showers and and the odd cockroach or two, is not too bad. If your on your own, on a tight budget and not too fussy, it's definately the place to stay. It's loads cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

If found the nightlife to be a bit disappointing though. Heaps of expat bars which were okay, but no live music venues or at least none that I could find. Cover bands and kareoke aren't my idea of live music. I'm sure decent venues exist i'll just have to make sure I found out where they are before I arrive next time.

Other than that, a fantastic place.

[wakingdream]

I stayed at the infamous Chungking Mansions which, if your willing to put up with a extremely slow lifts, cold showers and and the odd cockroach or two, is not too bad. If your on your own, on a tight budget and not too fussy, it's definately the place to stay. It's loads cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

We stayed there too. Good bang for our buck. I forget which floor, but a very nice older couple had a few rooms to let. A bit wee but really clean with a decent bathroom and a great view of everyone's laundry blowin' in the wind! Colourful anyway. I was dreaming of people trying to sell me rolex's...seems they're everywhere!.

[rbisset]

I stayed there the first night as I got to HK at midnight and was glad to get out of there first thing next morning. Honestly there are far better places to stay and I'll always try to stay in Causeway Bay whenever I go back. HK Island was far nicer than Kowloon.

[wakingdream]

I stayed there the first night as I got to HK at midnight and was glad to get out of there first thing next morning.

Was your room a dirthole? That place is huge so i guess there's all different types of places in it. Maybe we got lucky. I felt it was adequate. Nothing over the top, but I didn't find it noisy in the least. I normally don't care where I am as long as there's a roof over my head, a clean room and little noise. I can deal with some but prefer not to! We'd never been to H.K. before. That was back about 8 years ago now.

[rbisset]

Yeah it was a dirt hole. Crappy wooden beds with about 5mm padding and filthy. I normally don't care where I sleep as long as I have a bed but the whole atmosphere of that place put me off HK.

I was just exhausted after flying from Japan (the long way via Singapore) and had 20mins sleep the night before after partying hard in Tokyo. I didn't care and needed a bed and paid far more than I should have.

Gimme Causeway Bay any time

[cado]

Yeah it was a dirt hole. Crappy wooden beds with about 5mm padding and filthy. I normally don't care where I sleep as long as I have a bed but the whole atmosphere of that place put me off HK.

I was just exhausted after flying from Japan (the long way via Singapore) and had 20mins sleep the night before after partying hard in Tokyo. I didn't care and needed a bed and paid far more than I should have.

Gimme Causeway Bay any time

It depends on which guesthouse you stay in within the whole building. There's so many and they do vary quite a lot.

I was lucky to find an okay place with a toilet and shower (sans hot water but because of the humidity I didn't care) for about $80HK a night which was the cheapest I could find. Anything above that was a bit out of my range. Even the basic hotels were charging about $3-400Hk a night which was just way out of my league. When I go back I'll probably stay there or one of the other various 'Mansions' around T.S.T.

Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central were nice, but Kowloon seemed to cater more for backpackers and travellers on a budget, which is why I stayed there. If I had a family with me or a bit more money I certainly wouldn't bother with Chungking or Kowloon for that matter, but if you're by yourself and want to save, then it's pretty hard to pass up.