Sights in Hong Kong
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Tian Tan Buddha
On a hill above the Po Lin Monastery sits the Tian Tan Buddha, a seated representation of Lord Gautama some 23m high (or 26.4m with the lotus), or just under 34m if you include the podium. There are bigger Buddha statues elsewhere – notably the 71m-high Grand Buddha at Leshan in China’s Sichuan province – but apparently these are not seated, outdoors or made of bronze. It weighs 202 tonnes, by the way. The large bell within the Buddha is controlled by computer and rings 108 times during the day to symbolise escape from what Buddhism terms the ‘108 troubles of mankind’. The podium is composed of separate chambers on three different levels. On the first level are six statue…
reviewed
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Ocean Park
Despite the arrival of its shiny, new Disneyland competitor on Lantau, Ocean Park remains the best theme park in Hong Kong and continues to add rides, attractions, infrastructure, hotels and square footage. The investment in revamping its rides and attractions is already working. Visitor numbers have been soaring, thanks in part to the presence of four giant pandas and four very rare and very cute red pandas, all gifts from the mainland.
As well as excellent animal attractions and enclosures with some worthwhile educational content, the park also offers plenty of white-knuckle thrill rides, such as the celebrated roller coaster called the Dragon and the Abyss ‘turbo drop’…
reviewed
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Jade Market
The Jade Market, near the Gascoigne Rd overpass just west of Nathan Rd and split into two parts by the loop formed by Battery St, has some 400 stalls selling all varieties and grades of jade from inside two covered markets. Unless you really know your nephrite from your jadeite, or your quality stone from your dyed tat, it’s probably not wise to buy any expensive pieces here, but there are plenty of cheap and cheerful trinkets on offer as well. You can reach the market easily on foot from either the Jordan (exit A) or Yau Ma Tei (exit C) MTR stations. Bus 9 from the Star Ferry bus station will drop you off at the Kowloon Central Post Office at 405 Nathan Rd, which is just…
reviewed
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Peak Tower
The anvil-shaped Peak Tower, with its attractions, shops and restaurants, is a good place to bring the kids and makes a good grandstand for many of the best views of the city and harbour. On Level 4 there’s an outpost of Madame Tussauds, with eerie (and often creepy) wax likenesses of international stars, as well as local celebrities such as Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Michelle Yeoh and Kelly Chen. There is an open-air viewing terrace with coin-operated binoculars on Level 5.
reviewed
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Chi Lin Nunnery
One of the most beautiful and arrestingly built environments in Hong Kong, this large Buddhist complex, originally dating from the 1930s, was rebuilt completely of wood (and not a single nail) 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 disciples freed from the cycle of birth and death) or chanting behind intricately carved screens. The design (involving intricately interlocking sections of wood joined without a single nail) is intended to demonstrate the harmony of humans with nature. It’s pretty convi…
reviewed
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Hong Kong Disneyland
One of America’s most famous cultural exports, Hong Kong Disneyland is divided into four main areas – Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland – but don’t expect too much. This is a very small-scale Disney franchise (although there are plans to expand it) with a solitary real adrenaline-inducing roller coaster ride (Space Mountain), while the rest of the park is made up of tamer attractions and of course is rammed with outlets selling Disney merchandise and fast food. There’s plenty for younger children to enjoy, including the full complement of Disney characters patrolling the park and the odd show re-creating great Disney moments from films such as …
reviewed
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Apliu Street Market
From the Sham Shui Po MTR station, take 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 to the south. Everything from clothing to antique clocks and coins is on sale here, although the real speciality is secondhand electronic goods – radios, mobile phones, stereo systems, amplifiers and spare parts. The market spills over into Pei Ho St.
reviewed
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Avenue of the Stars
One of the finest city skylines in the world has to be that of Hong Kong Island, and the promenade here is one of the best ways to get an uninterrupted view. It’s a lovely place to stroll around during the day, but it really comes into its own in the evening, during the nightly Symphony of the Stars, a spectacular sound-and-light show involving 20 buildings on the Hong Kong Island skyline, which runs from 8pm to 8.20pm. Along the first part of the promenade is the Avenue of the Stars, which pays homage to the Hong Kong film industry and its stars, with handprints, sculptures and information boards, a brave but ultimately lacklustre effort to celebrate Hong Kong’s film a…
reviewed
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Central Escalator
The world’s longest covered outdoor people-mover is part commuter travelator, part sightseeing ride and part pick-up procession. It consists of elevated escalators, moving walkways and linking stairs on the 800m hill from Central’s offices to the bedroom communities of the Mid-Levels. The best part is gliding by the Shelley St bars; there’s just enough time to make flirtatious eye contact with the denizens within.
reviewed
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Ngong Ping Plateau
Perched 500m up in the western hills of Lantau is the Ngong Ping Plateau, a major drawcard for Hong Kong day-trippers and foreign visitors alike, especially since 1993, when one of the world’s largest statues of Buddha was unveiled here. Po Lin Monastery is a huge Buddhist monastery and temple complex that was built in 1924. Today it seems more of a tourist honeypot than a religious retreat, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and still being expanded. Most of the buildings you’ll see on arrival are new, with the older, simpler ones tucked away behind them. Bringing the masses in ever greater numbers to Po Lin is the 5.7km Ngong Ping 360, a cable car l…
reviewed
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Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple
An explosion of colourful pillars, roofs, lattice work, flowers and incense, this busy temple is a destination for all walks of Hong Kong society, from pensioners and businesspeople to parents and young professionals. Some come simply to pray, others to divine the future with chìm – bamboo ‘fortune sticks’ that are shaken out of a box on to the ground and then read by a fortune-teller (they’re available free from the left of the main temple). The complex, adjacent to the Wong Tai Sin housing estate, was built in 1973 and is dedicated to the god of that name, who began his life as a humble shepherd in Zhejiang province. When he was 15 an immortal taught Wong Tai Sin how t…
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Hong Kong Museum of Art
Southeast of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the excellent Hong Kong Museum of Art is a must for lovers of the fine as well as the applied arts. It has seven galleries spread over six floors, exhibiting Chinese antiquities, Chinese fine art, historical pictures and contemporary Hong Kong art; it also hosts temporary international exhibitions. The seventh gallery houses the Xubaizhi collection of painting and calligraphy. Highlights include some exquisite ceramics in the Chinese Antiques Gallery; the Historical Pictures Gallery, with its 18th- and 19th-century Western-style paintings of Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou; and the Gallery of Chinese Fine Art, which combines cont…
reviewed
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Tung Wan Beach
Tung Wan Beach, Cheung Chau's longest and most popular (though not its prettiest) beach lies at the end of Tung Wan Rd, due east of the ferry pier. The best part of Tung Wan is the far southern end, which is a great area for windsurfing. Just south of Tung Wan Beach, Kwun Yam Wan Beach is known to English speakers as Afternoon Beach and is a great spot for windsurfing.
Windsurfing has always been an extremely popular pastime on Cheung Chau, and Hong Kong's only Olympic gold medal winner to date, Lee Lai-shan, who took the top prize in windsurfing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, grew up here. At the northern end of Afternoon Beach, the Cheung Chau Windsurfing Water Sports…
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Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade
One of the finest city skylines in the world has to be that of Hong Kong Island, and the promenade here is one of the best ways to get an uninterrupted view. It’s a lovely place to stroll around during the day, but it really comes into its own in the evening, during the nightly Symphony of the Stars, a spectacular sound-and-light show involving 20 buildings on the Hong Kong Island skyline, which runs from 8pm to 8.20pm. The new Deck ‘n Beer bar located here is a great spot to have an alfresco, waterside drink (weather permitting). Along the first part of the promenade is the Avenue of the Stars, which pays homage to the Hong Kong film industry and its stars, with hand…
reviewed
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Hong Kong Maritime Museum
This small but interesting museum, occupying the ground floor of Murray House, consists of ancient and modern galleries charting the shipping history of Hong Kong. It’s well worth a visit if you’ve already come to see Murray House. The modern gallery includes some fun interactive displays where you can test your skills at Morse code or even pilot a tanker through Hong Kong waters.
reviewed
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Lantau Link Viewing Platform
The Lantau Link Visitors Centre and its viewing platform is where you can take in the enormity of Tsing Yi Bridge and the Lantau Link, the combined road and rail transport connection between the New Territories and Lantau. The centre contains models, photographs and videos of the construction process – very much a crowd-pleaser for trainspotters and the hard-hat brigade.
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Mai Po Nature Reserve
The 270-hectare nature reserve includes the Mai Po Visitor Centre(2471 8272) at the northeastern end, where you must register; the Mai Po Education Centre (2482 0369) to the south, with displays on the history and ecology of the wetland and Deep Bay; floating boardwalks and trails through the mangroves and mud flats; and a dozen hides (towers or huts from where you can watch birds up close without being observed). Disconcertingly, the cityscape of Shenzhen looms to the north. Visitors are advised to bring binoculars (they may be available for rent at the visitor centre for $20) and cameras, and to wear comfortable walking shoes or boots but not bright clothing. It is best…
reviewed
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Tai O
A century ago this mostly Tanka village on the west coast of Lantau was an important trading and fishing port, exporting salt and fish to China. Today Tai O is in decline, except perhaps as a tourist destination offering an intriguing glimpse of the life of a traditional fishing village. A few of the saltpans still exist, but most have been filled in to build high-rise housing. Older people still make their living from duck farming, fishing, making the village’s celebrated shrimp paste and processing salt fish, which you’ll see (and smell) everywhere. It remains a popular place for locals to buy seafood – both fresh and dried. As recently as the 1980s Tai O also traded in…
reviewed
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South Lantau Rd
Just under 5km southwest of Mui Wo, Pui O is the first of several coastal villages along South Lantau Rd. Pui O has a decent beach, but as it’s the closest one to Mui Wo it can get very crowded. The village has several restaurants, holiday flats galore and, in season, stalls renting bicycles. Cheung Sha (Long Sand), at over 3km Hong Kong’s longest beach, is divided into ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ sections; a trail over a hillock links the two. Upper Cheung Sha, with occasional good surf, is the prettier and longer stretch and boasts a modern complex with changing rooms, toilets, showers and a snack bar. Lower Cheung Sha villagehas a beachfront restaurant, Stoep Resta…
reviewed
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Beaches
Tung Wan beach, Cheung Chau’s longest and most popular beach (though not its prettiest), lies at the end of Tung Wan Rd, due east of the ferry pier. The best part of Tung Wan is the far southern end, which is a great area for windsurfing. Just south of Tung Wan beach, Kwun Yam Wan beach is known to English speakers as AfternoonBeach and is a great spot for windsurfing. Windsurfing has always been an extremely popular pastime on Cheung Chau, and Hong Kong’s only Olympic gold-medal winner to date, Lee Lai-shan, who took the top prize in windsurfing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, grew up here. At the northern end of Afternoon Beach, the Cheung Chau Windsurfing Water Sp…
reviewed
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Hong Kong Heritage Museum
Located southwest of Sha Tin town centre, this worthwhile museum is housed in a three-storey, purpose-built structure that is reminiscent of an ancestral hall. It has both rich permanent collections and innovative temporary exhibits in a dozen galleries. The ground floor contains a book and gift shop, the wonderful Children’s Discovery Gallery, with eight learning and play zones (including ‘Life in a Village’, ‘Undersea Garden’ and ‘Mai Po Marsh’) for kids aged four to 10, a Hong Kong Toy Story hands-on area for tots and an Orientation Theatre, with a 12-minute introductory video in English on the hour. There’s also a lovely teahouse. Along with five thema…
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Noonday Gun
Noel Coward made the so-called Noonday Gun famous with his satirical song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ (1924), about colonials who braved the fierce heat of the midday sun while the local people sensibly remained indoors: ‘In Hong Kong/they strike a gong/And fire off a noonday gun/To reprimand each inmate/Who’s in late.’ Apparently when Coward was invited to pull the lanyard, he was late and it didn’t go off until 12.03pm. Built in 1901 by Hotchkiss of Portsmouth, this recoil-mounted 3lb cannon is one of the few vestiges of the colonial past in Causeway Bay and is its best-known landmark. The original six-pounder was lost during WWII; its replacement was deemed too noisy and…
reviewed
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Tung Chung
Change has come to Tung Chung, on Lantau’s northern coast, at a pace that can only happen in Hong Kong. This previously all-but-inaccessible farming region, with the small village of Tung Chung at its centre, has seen Chek Lap Kok, the mountain across Tung Chung Bay, flattened to build Hong Kong’s international airport and a New Town rise up, served by the MTR. As part of the territory’s plans to solve its housing crisis, Tung Chung New Town has now become a 760-hectare residential estate. The expected population of Tung Chung and the neighbouring New Town of Tai Ho is 330,000 by 2012. These developments and transport improvements have put an end to Tung Chung as a peacef…
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Mui Wo
Mui Wo (Plum Nest), Lantau’s main settlement ‘capital’, is on Silvermine Bay, which is named for the silver mines that were once worked to the northwest along the Silver River. In fact, many foreign residents refer to Mui Wo as Silvermine Bay. About a third of Lantau’s population lives in the township of Mui Wo and its surrounding hamlets. There are several decent places to stay here and, though the options for eating and drinking are few, they are fine. Silvermine Bay beach, to the northwest of Mui Wo, has been cleaned up and rebuilt in recent years and is now an attractive place, with scenic views and opportunities for walking in the hills above. There’s a compl…
reviewed
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Shui Tau Tsuen
This 17th-century village, a 15-minute walk north of Kam Tin Rd, is famous for its prow-shaped roofs decorated with dragons and fish along the ridges. Tiny traditional houses huddle inside Shui Tau Tsuen’s walls. The Tang Kwong U Ancestral Hall and the nearby Tang Ching Lok Ancestral Hall were built in the early 19th century for ancestor worship. The ancestors’ names are listed on the altar in the inner hall and on the long boards down the side. The sculpted fish, on the roof of the entrance hall, symbolise luck; in Cantonese, the word for ‘fish’ (yéw) sounds similar to the word for ‘plenty’ or ‘surplus’. Between these two buildings is the small Hung Shin…
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