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10,000 Buddhas Monastery
Perched on Po Fook Hill about 500m northwest of Sha Tin KCR East Rail station, this quirky temple is well worth a visit. Built in the 1950s, the complex actually contains more than 10,000 Buddhas - some 12,800 miniature statues line the walls of the main temple. Dozens of life-sized golden statues of Buddha's followers flank the steep steps leading to the monastery complex.
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Ap Lei Chau
On the southern side of the harbour is Ap Lei Chau (Duck's Tongue Island), one of the most densely populated places in the world. It used to be a centre for building junks, but now it's covered with housing estates, including a huge one called South Horizons. There's not much to see there, but a walk across the bridge to the island affords good views. From Aberdeen Promenade you can get a boat across to Ap Lei Chau.
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Apliu Street Market
From the Sham Shui Po MTR station follow exit A1 and you'll soon fall right into this flea market, which makes a cheaper and more interesting hunting ground than the Temple Street Night Market. Everything from clothing to antique clocks and coins is on sale here, although the real speciality is second-hand electronic goods - radios, mobile phones, stereo systems, amplifiers and spare parts. The market spills over into Pei Ho St.
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Bank Of China Buildings
The old Bank of China (BOC) building (2A Des Voeux Rd), built in 1950, now houses the bank's Central branch and, on the top three (13th to 15th) floors, the exclusive China Club, which evokes the atmosphere of old Shanghai. The BOC is now headquartered in the awesome Bank of China Tower (1 Garden Rd) to the southeast, designed by Chinese-born American architect IM Pei and completed in 1990.
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Big Wave Bay
This fine and often deserted beach is located 2km to the north of Shek O. To get to Big Wave Bay follow the road north out of town, travel past the 18-hole Shek O Golf & Country Club (2809 4458; Shek O Rd), then turn east at the roundabout and keep going until the road ends.
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Cat St
Southwest of Sheung Wan MTR station and just north of (and parallel to) Hollywood Rd is Upper Lascar Row, the official name of 'Cat St', a pedestrians-only lane lined with antique and curio shops and stalls selling found objects, cheap jewellery, ornaments, carvings and newly minted ancient coins. It's a fun place to trawl through for a trinket or two but expect more rough than diamonds.
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Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter
Not so long ago the waterfront in Causeway Bay used to be a mass of junks and sampans huddling in the typhoon shelter for protection, but these days it's nearly all yachts. The land jutting out to the west is named Kellett Island, though a causeway connected it to the mainland in 1956, and further land reclamation turned it into a peninsula. It is home to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club which retains its 'Royal' moniker in English only.
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Central District Police Station
Part of this compound of four-storey buildings dates back to 1864, though other blocks were added in 1910 and 1925. The police moved out in late 2004 and, at the time of writing, the government was considering putting the buildings and the valuable chunk of land on which they sit up for commercial tender, despite a public outcry against the move.
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Central Library
This architectural monstrosity, a 12-storey neoclassical-postmodern building with Ionic columns, a Roman pediment and sandy-yellow tiles, is both a research and lending library and contains some 1.2 million volumes. It also has some 24 public-access computer terminals where you can check emails and surf the web.
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Central Plaza
At just under 374m, Central Plaza, which was completed in 1992, is just 3m shorter than the newer Two IFC. The glass skin of the tower has three different colours - gold, silver and terracotta - and the overall impression is rather garish.
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Che Kung Temple
This large Taoist temple complex, built in 1993, is on the opposite bank of the Shing Mun River channel in Tai Wai. It's dedicated to Che Kung, a Song-dynasty general credited with ridding Sha Tin of the plague; you'll see an enormous and quite powerful statue of the good general in the main temple to the left as you enter the complex. The main courtyard, flanked by eight statues of Taoist immortals, is always a hive of activity.
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Cheung Chau Typhoon Shelter
A great way to see the harbour and soak up the fishing village atmosphere is to charter a sampan for half an hour (expect to pay around HK$50 to around HK$80 depending on the day, the season and the demand). Most sampans congregate around the cargo pier, but virtually any small boat you see in the harbour can be hired as a water taxi. Just wave and two or three will come forward. Be sure to agree on the fare first.
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Cheung Chau Village
The island's main settlement lies along the narrow strip of land connecting the headlands to the north and the south. The waterfront is a bustling place and the maze of streets and alleyways that make up the village are filled with old Chinese-style houses and tumble-down shops selling everything from plastic buckets to hell money. The streets close to the waterfront are pungent with the smell of incense and fish hung out to dry in the sun.
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Cheung Po Tsai Cave
This cave, on the southwestern peninsula of the island, is said to have been the favourite hiding place of the notorious pirate Cheung Po Tsai, who once commanded a flotilla of 600 junks and had a private army of 4000 men. He surrendered to the Qing government in 1810 and became an official himself, but his treasure is said to remain hidden here.
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Chi Lin Nunnery
One of the most beautiful and arresting built environments in Hong Kong, this large Buddhist complex, originally dating from the 1930s, was rebuilt completely of wood in the style of the Tang dynasty in 1998. It is a serene place, with lotus ponds, immaculate bonsai tea plants and bougainvillea and silent nuns delivering offerings of fruit and rice to Buddha and arhats (Buddhist disciple freed from the cycle of birth and death) or chanting behind intricately carved screens.
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Chi Ma Wan
Chi Ma Wan, the large peninsula south of Mui Wo that can be reached via the inter-island ferry, is a relatively remote part of Lantau and an excellent area for hiking; just be sure to get a map as the trails are not always clearly defined or well marked.
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Chinese University Of Hong Kong Art Museum
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum is divided into two sections. The four-floor East Wing Galleries house a permanent collection of Chinese paintings, calligraphy, ceramics and other decorative arts, including 2000-year-old bronze seals and a large collection of jade flower carvings. The West Wing Galleries stage five to six special exhibitions each year.
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Ching Chung Temple
Ching Chung Koon (Green Pine Temple) is a peaceful Taoist temple complex northwest of Tuen Mun town centre. The main temple, which is on the left at the far end of the complex past rows of bonsai trees, bamboo and ponds, is dedicated to Lu Sun Young, one of the eight immortals of Taoism who lived in the 8th century. Flanking a statue of him are two of his disciples.
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Chuk Lam Sim Monastery
Chuk Lam Sim Yuen (Bamboo Forest Monastery) is one of the most impressive temple complexes in Hong Kong. The temple was completed in 1932 when an aged monk was told by Tou Tei, the earth god, to build it. Ascend the flight of steps to the first temple, walk to the back and enter the second. This second temple contains three of the largest golden Buddhas in the territory (though mere shadows of the big one on Lantau Island).
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Discovery Bay
Lying on the northeastern coast of Lantau, what locals have dubbed 'DB' is very much a world of its own, a dormitory community for professionals who commute to Central. Discovery Bay (Yue Ging Wan in Cantonese) has a fine stretch of sandy beach ringed by high-rises and more luxurious condominiums clinging to the headland to the north - but there is no pressing need to visit except to ogle at residents in their converted golf carts that cost around HK$200,000 a pop. There is a handful of decent restaurants in Discovery Bay Plaza just up from the ferry pier and the central plaza and the 27-hole Discovery Bay Golf Club perched in the hills to the southwest.
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Dr Sun Yat Sen Museum
Sun Yat Sen was an early 20th Century revolutionary, dedicated to overthrowing the Qing dynasty, and a key figure in modern Chinese history. He had many links with Hong Kong, not least of them being his education here and his formative experience of the colony's order and efficiency (standing in stark contrast to China at the time).
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Exchange Square
West of Jardine House, this complex of three elevated office towers is home to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and a number of businesses and offices. Access is via a network of overhead pedestrian walkways stretching west to Sheung Wan and linked to many of the buildings on the other side of Connaught Rd.
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Former French Mission Building
The Court of Final Appeal, the highest judicial body in Hong Kong, is now housed in the neoclassical former French Mission building, a charming structure built by an American trading firm in 1868. It served as the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong until 1915 when the French Overseas Mission bought it and added a chapel and a dome. The building was the headquarters of the provisional colonial government after WWII.
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Former KCR Clock Tower
Immediately east of Star Ferry pier, this 44m-high clock tower (1915) was once part of the southern terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR). Operations moved to the modern train station at Hung Hom to the northeast in late 1975. The station was demolished in 1978, though you can see a scale model of what it looked like if you visit the Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po in the New Territories.
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Fung Ying Sin Temple
The main attraction in the area is this huge Taoist temple complex opposite the Fanling KCR East Rail station, and connected to it by an overhead walkway and subway. It has wonderful exterior murals of Taoist immortals and the Chinese zodiac, an orchard terrace, herbal clinic and a vegetarian restaurant (ground & 1st fls, Bldg A7; - ). Most important are the dozen ancestral halls behind the main temple, where the ashes of the departed are deposited in what might be described as miniature tombs, complete with photographs.
