Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cient sailing ships to the latest technology. If you only have time for one museum, choose
Wed-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun until 7pm; charge). It tells The Hong Kong Story in eight gal-
leries, using a variety of media to cover the natural environment, prehistoric finds and folk
culture, as well as Hong Kong's development as a metropolis over the last 170-plus years.
Painful episodes such as the Opium Wars and the Japanese occupation are covered, as is the
back story to Hong Kong's remarkable economic success. Short videos tell the story of each
gallery, in English, Cantonese and Putonghua.
Peninsula Hotel
Located just across Salisbury Road from the cultural centre is the historic hotel,
The Penin-
sula Hong Kong
, expanded and modernised by a 32-storey tower. Opened in 1928, The
Peninsula was the first hotel on Kowloon, strategically positioned for passengers arriving
overland from China and Europe by train. The lobby became a favourite rendezvous for
high society, and guests still sit beneath the restored gilt stucco ceiling to see and be seen.
High tea or cocktails to the strains of the resident string orchestra are a wonderful way to re-
capture the atmosphere of a bygone age.
Nathan Road
Alongside the hotel runs busy
Nathan Road
, Hong Kong's fabled shopping street, lined
with shops, hotels and restaurants. Kowloon's main street was created by Sir Matthew Nath-
an when he was governor of Hong Kong at the turn of the 19th century. When it was con-
structed, many thought it absurd to have a tree-lined boulevard running through what was
practically wilderness. First known as 'Nathan's Folly', later as the 'Golden Mile', Nathan
Road's retail options range from the latest fashions in iSquare mall or the Miramar Shop-
ping Centre and iconic neon-signed electronics shops to discount cosmetic stores and the in-
famous
Chungking Mansions
, famous for its cheap guesthouses and authentic Indian res-
taurants; uniquely, it is distinctly neither Western nor Chinese in character.
