Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
exact details, contact the Hong Kong or
Macau tourist o
ces (
W
discoverhongkong
.com and
W
macautourism.gov.mo).
as well as plentiful opportunities for
hiking
and bathing on the
beaches
of
its southern shore. Kowloon, in particular
its southernmost tip,
Tsim Sha Tsui
, is the
budget accommodation centre of Hong
Kong, and boasts fantastic shopping,
from lofty international designers to
traditional markets. he
offshore islands
,
including
Lamma
and
Lantau
, are locally
famous for their fresh fish restaurants,
scenery and tranquillity, while the
New Territories
, north of Kowloon, is
where you find remnants of ancient
walled villages, splendid temples and
some great hiking and biking terrain.
FESTIVAL CALENDAR
Chinese New Year
(Feb 19, 2015; Feb 8, 2016). The
most important festival celebrated in Hong Kong and
Macau; the entire population participates and there are
spectacular firework displays over the harbour.
Tin Hau Festival
(May 11, 2015; April 29, 2016).
Particular to Hong Kong in honour of the Goddess of
Fishermen, large seaborne festivities take place at Joss
House Bay on Sai Kung peninsula.
Tuen Ng (Dragon Boat) Festival
(June 20, 2015; June
9, 2016). In Hong Kong, with races along the coast in
long, narrow boats.
Yu Lan (Hungry Ghost) Festival
(Aug 27, 2015;
Aug 16, 2016) Hong Kong's Chiu Chow community appease
evil spirits by burning fake money, cooking up sacrifices
and performing live Chinese operas and dramas in public
parks all around the Territory.
Mid-Autumn Festival
(Sept 27, 2015; Sept 15, 2016).
Chinese festival, almost as popular as Chinese New Year.
Celebrations are more public in Hong Kong and Macau.
Wine and Dine Festival
(Oct/Nov). A four-day
epicurean festival to kick off November's annual wine
and dine month, featuring restaurant promotions, street
carnivals and wine-tasting events.
3
HONG KONG ISLAND
As the oldest colonized part of Hong
Kong, its administrative and business
centre and site of some of the most
expensive real estate in the world,
Hong Kong Island
is, in every sense, the
heart of the whole territory. Despite its
size, just 15km from east to west and
11km from north to south, the island
encompasses the best the territory has to
offer in one heady hit: lavish temples to
consumer excess, the vivid sights and
smells of a Chinese wet market and (away
from the north shore's steel and concrete
mountains) surprising expanses of sandy
beach and forested nature reserves.
Hong Kong
he territory of
HONG KONG
, whose
name means “fragrant harbour”,
comprises an irregularly shaped peninsula
abutting the Pearl River Delta to the
west, and a number of offshore islands,
which cover more than a thousand square
kilometres in total. he southern part of
the peninsula,
Kowloon
, and the island
immediately south of it,
Hong Kong
Island
, are the principal urban areas of
Hong Kong. hey were ceded to Britain
“in perpetuity”, but were returned to
China at midnight on June 30, 1997.
Since then, it has been renamed the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR)
of the People's Republic of China.
he island of Hong Kong offers traces
of the old colony - from English place
names to ancient trams trundling along
the shore - among superb modern
architecture and futuristic cityscapes,
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
he territory's major financial and
commercial quarter, Central, lies on the
northern shore of Hong Kong Island
overlooking Victoria Harbour. East of
Central are
Wan Chai
and lively
Causeway
Bay
, while in the opposite direction is the
Western District
, rather older and more
traditional in character. Towering over
the city,
The Peak
is a highlight of any
trip to the city, offering magnificent views
and great walking opportunities.
On its south side, Hong Kong Island
straggles into the sea in a series of
dangling peninsulas and inlets. he
atmosphere is quieter here than on the
north shore. You'll find not only separate
seafront suburbs such as
Aberdeen
, its
busy bay full of boats and sampans, and
Stanley
, with its waterfront bazaar, but
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