Hong Kong & Macau - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 131

CENTRAL'S ELEVATED WALKWAYS
Inland from the shore, the main west-east roads are Connaught Road, Des Voeux Road and
Queen's Road respectively. However, it's not possible to cross many of the roads at street level,
so pedestrians are better off concentrating on the extensive system of elevated walkways .
Coming off the Star Ferry upper deck will lead you straight into the walkways. First off to your
right is the entrance to the IFC Mall , while carrying straight on takes you inland. Hong Kong
MTR Station is under the IFC Mall; Central Station is reached by heading in a straight line
then dropping down to Pedder Street just before Worldwide Plaza, while Exchange Square 's
three marble-and-tinted-glass towers sit atop the Bus Station . A further branch of the
elevated walkway runs northwest from here, parallel with the shore and along the northern
edge of Connaught Road all the way to the Macau Ferry Terminal and Sheung Wan MTR.

quintessential Hong Kong experience,
the stands packed with cheering, eating
and drinking punters and a charged
atmosphere. HK$10 will buy you
standing room only at the race track
level, but you can also opt for a seat
higher up (HK$20) to get a better view.
Across Wong Nai Ching Road from the
racecourse is the Hong Kong Cemetery
(daily 7am-6pm), which gives you an
insight into the city's colourful history.
Dating back to the mid-nineteenth
century, it features the gravestones of
colonialists, film stars and naval o cers.
St Michael's Catholic cemetery, with its
tainted stone angels, is next door, and
Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Parsee graves
are also found nearby.

shops extend into the small alley,
Upper Lascar Row, commonly known as
Cat Street , where you'll find stalls selling
posters of Chairman Mao, the “little red
book”, carvings, jewellery, “ancient”
coins and brass door knockers. Nearby
Ladder Street which runs north-south
across Hollywood Road, is a relic from
the nineteenth century when a number
of such stepped streets existed to help
sedan-chair carriers get their loads up the
steep hillsides.
On Hollywood Road, adjacent to
Ladder Street, the 150-year-old Man Mo
Temple (daily 8am-6pm) is one of Hong
Kong's most atmospheric, with twisting
coils of smouldering incense hanging
from the rafters and worshippers waving
fragrant clumps of incense sticks.
Branching off northwards from
Hollywood Road is Possession Street ,
where Commodore Gordon Bremmer,

3

Western District
Almost entirely Chinese-inhabited,
Western District's crowded residential
streets and traditional shops form a
striking contrast to Central. Sheung Wan
spreads south up the hill from the
seafront at the modern Shun Tak Centre,
a fifteen-minute walk along the elevated
walkway from Exchange Square in
Central, though you'll get more flavour of
the district by hopping on a “ding ding”
along Des Voeux Road. Head south to
the area around Bonham Strand East for
an intriguing range of specialist shops
selling traditional Chinese medicine,
all manner of dried creatures from the
sea and personalized stone seals (along
Man Wa Lane).
Running from partway up the
Mid-Levels escalator to the Western
District is Hollywood Road , lined with
antique and curio shops. he antique

THE LAST JUNK IN HONG KONG
Most travellers hold romantic images of
Victoria Harbour filled with traditional
Chinese wooden junks rigged with
scarlet sails - the old workhorses of the
waves - but these have long been
decommissioned. Today just a single one
remains: the lovingly restored Duk Ling
( T 2508 1234, W dukling.com.hk), typical
of junks built 150 years ago, which now
offers trips around the harbour. You can
choose to sail from either Kowloon's
public pier or Tsim Sha Tsui (Thurs 2 &
4pm, Sat 10am & noon), or Central Pier 9
on Hong Kong Island (Thurs 3 & 5pm,
Sat 11am & 1pm; HK$100); book your spot
in advance.