Hong Kong: If you go

By ROBERT N. JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 12, 2003

GETTING THERE: I flew from Tampa to Chicago and changed planes for a direct flight to Hong Kong on United Airlines. Travel time from Tampa was about 20 hours.

Continental flies nonstop from Newark, and several carriers fly to Hong Kong from Los Angeles and San Francisco either nonstop or with one stop.

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GETTING AROUND: The northern edge of Hong Kong Island holds most of its population, its busy commercial and residential areas, and most typical tourist sights. Behind this area are several large hills; in front is Victoria Harbor. On the other side of the water is Kowloon, closer to Hong Kong than St. Petersburg is to Tampa.

To move people across the harbor, there are subway and car tunnels, but the romantic way is to take the Star Ferry, a fleet of passenger ships that makes hundreds of trips each day. The cost is 29 cents. (All prices here are listed in U.S. funds.)

Included in the Special Administrative Region (SAR), the name the mainland Chinese created for this area at the time of the hand over from the British, are Kowloon and the adjacent New Territories, on the mainland, and 234 islands in addition to Hong Kong.

Most of those islands are unpopulated. The largest, at about twice Hong Kong's 30 square miles, is nearby Lantau. Lantau is the site of the excellent 4-year-old Chep Lak Kok Airport. A Disneyland is being built on Lantau and is expected to open in 2005.

To reach downtown Hong Kong from the airport, travelers can take the airport bus or the sleek, frequent Airport Express train. Cabs also are available, but it is much cheaper ($12.80) and quicker (23 minutes) to take the train and transfer to a cab once in the city.

The easiest way to get around and between Hong Kong and Kowloon is the clean Mass Transit Railway (MTR) subway, which has four lines, including the one beneath the harbor. Maps and subway stops are in English and Chinese, as are all announcements on the subway cars.

Regulars on the subway, buses and electric trolleys buy the Octopus Card. It costs about $19.25, which includes a refundable deposit of about $6.40.

The traveler passes the card over a reader at a turnstile or when entering the bus or trolley. A sensor deducts from the card the amount of the trip. The holder can replenish the card's value at any subway station. I rode all over Hong Kong for three-plus days for a total of $5.51.

Into gadgets? You can buy an Octopus wristwatch, which keeps time and also carries the MTR chip.

Hong Kong and Kowloon are walkable, though pedestrians with mobility problems might have difficulty navigating the usually crowded sidewalks. Also, there are some steep hills.

SEEING THE SIGHTS: In addition to the places mentioned in the articles, visitors should plan on these experiences:

Ride the upper deck of the Star Ferry between Hong Kong and Kowloon, especially toward Hong Kong at night, when the skyline is lit to its best advantage.

Ride a double-decker electric tram through Hong Kong from Central through the once-notorious Wan Chai District. This is a handy way to take the pulse of Hong Kong by seeing the ebb and flow of its people, the stores and huge neon signs.

Ride the Peak Tram ($3.85 round-trip) to Victoria Peak, at 1,817 feet above the harbor the tallest of Hong Kong's hills. For the best views, sit in the rear car on the right side. Because the tram cars are tilted, at one point riders are traveling at an angle of 27 degrees.

At the peak, ignore the touristy shops (although you might want to visit the Internet cafe at Pacific Coffee to log on, free, for a few minutes). Instead, get a map of the three walks that provide great views of Hong Kong (providing the smog has lifted) and the villages on the south side of the island, Aberdeen and Stanley. You can circle the peak on paved paths in about an hour.

Man Mo Temple is at the corner of Hollywood and Ladder streets and is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Mid-Levels Escalator. Said to be the world's longest at 2,622 feet, this series of escalators with some street-level walking connections offers great views of life, and nightlife, in Hong Kong's trendy SoHo (south of Hollywood Road). The lower terminal is at the corner of Queens Road and Jubilee Street. Note: This escalator goes downhill only (taking workers to the business district) from 7 to 10:30 a.m. and uphill only until midnight. Passengers have to walk steep sidewalks or steps if they are headed in the opposite direction.

Noonday gun. Another of Hong Kong's oddities. A modest cannon is fired daily at noon, maintaining a 19th century tradition. At Gloucester Road at Causeway Bay.

Flagstaff House Museum, in Hong Kong Park, was built in 1846 and is noted for its collections of teaware and lessons on proper making of tea. Daily except Tuesday, generally from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Yuen Po Street Bird Market. On Prince Edward Road W in Kowloon; best to take the MTR and then walk a few blocks. Bird lovers take their pets, and everyone, in and out of cages, chatters and chirps. It begins about 7 a.m.

Aberdeen. Take Bus 70 at the Exchange Square bus terminal on Hong Kong's waterfront, next to the Star Ferry Terminal. The ride takes about 25 minutes to the south side of the island. The waterfront is crowded with fishing boats. Go to the Water tours dock to buy the set-price English-language tour. Then take a meal on one of the huge floating restaurants; the one named Jumbo has the most colorful decor, if not the best food.

Stanley. Take Nos. 6, 6a or 6x from Exchange Square for the 10-mile ride. Sit on the upper deck for a ride that guidebooks note offers its own thrills. The town is best-known for the sweaters, linens and factory seconds sold at decent prices in its market (opens about 10 a.m. daily). Stanley has become a bedroom community for foreigners working in Hong Kong. Ask them for restaurant recommendations.

NIGHTLIFE: Hong Kong is a town of hip folks with money and cosmopolitan tastes. The Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong have the best dance clubs and bars.

One of the best views in the region is from Felix's atop the Peninsula Hotel on the harbor in Kowloon. An American who taught in Hong Kong also described it in an e-mail as "The poshest, most-styling bar -- and definitely the most glorious restrooms ever . . . the men's room urinals face a glass-wall view of the harbor."

For a more down-to-earth drink with no view, call for a jar (a pint) of Guinness at Dublin Jack, 37 Cochrane St. This is just off the Mid-Levels Escalator, but for even better people/escalator-passenger watching, get a window table at the more upscale Staunton's Wine Bar at the corner of Staunton and Shelley streets.

STAYING THERE: I went online and bagged a relative bargain, a chance to stay at one of the world's top hotel chains, the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. Not that it was cheap; with the 14 percent tax, it came to about $245 a night. For the sake of comparison, rates at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota start at $315.

The Hong Kong staff was constantly attentive and gracious. No details were overlooked. My room was large and well-appointed. The hotel has an unbeatable location in Central (across the street from a major MTR station, one block from an ATM and a Starbucks). It was worth the room rate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Guidebooks I used include the Lonely Planet Hong Kong/Condensed, $11.99; Fodor's Pocket Hong Kong, $9.95; City Pack Hong Kong, published by the United Kingdom's Automobile Association, $11.50, and National Geographic Hong Kong, $22.95. The first three are exceedingly slim and portable.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board Information Center is on the ground floor of the Center, 99 Queen's Road Central, in the Central district. The Web site at www.hktourismboard.com is vast.

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