Going to Hong Kong for Biz

I went to HK and China for two weeks in Sept and had a fantastic time. Its worth picking up a guide book to give you an idea of whats around.

If you plan to go into mainland only for a weekend I would really suggest flying to somewhere like Yangshuo which is truely amazing. The cities around HK are pretty....well like huge overcrowded cities with not alot to see.

In HK itself there is tons of shopping, of course Victoria Peak. I took a day out Lantau for some cycling which was a nice chill out after the city chaos.

Two great places to eat were Spring Deer in TST, v.famous for its duck and Maxim's on HK Island in the Theatre (near the Star Ferry - inside the theatre and upstairs, a pain to find first time) overlooking the Bay - great Dim Sum and fantastic atmosphere and views. (Maxim's is a chain of fast food restaurants - but the mentioned one is the same group but not fast food style).

PM me if you want any more info.

Hi David,
You could try the Excelsior hotel on the island for the dickens bar, or the restaurant on the top floor (the name escapes me). A lot of expats meet/eat/drink there. Good curry lunch there.
An area called "lang kwai fong" sorry if thats not exactly the right spelling for night life good food, bars etc.
There are several small islands which are worth a trip out to see a different side of life, as well as good fish restaurants.
I would steer clear of eating on the floating restaurants in the Aberdeen channel area. Not so good at food hygiene, iirc.
There are some good walks over fairly steep hills which are waymarked if you want to get away from the hustle & bustle, or loads of shops & markets in areas such as tsim sha choi, temple street. There is a very well known market in Stanley, but it is a bit of a tourist trap, & overpriced.
Horse racing in the evenings is a spectacle at two race courses, & the rugby 7's is coming fairly soon, & well worth a look if you are about at the time.
Their subway system is great, very cheap/clean & easy to navigate. It can be difficult to get a cab if its raining, or if its shift change-over time. And cabs on the island prefer not to go to the mainland side, & vice-versa for traffic reasons.
There really is so much to do there, its a bit like asking what to do for a weekend in london or new york. Where do you start? Anyway, I think its a great place & hard to have a bad time there.
matt.

My wife is HK chinese and we go back often. Try the temple in Mong Kok and electrical goods.

A little tip as some Chinese are superstitious then if you want to buy anything exspensive i.e camera go to the shop first thing in the morning when he opens. They do not like their first customer to leave without not buying so good deals are to be had.

HAGGLE for all electrical goods and at markets tell them what you would like included i.e Digital Camera then ask for 1gb memory stick but be careful they know how to charge Gweilo (foreign devils) and make you feel you are getting a bargain. So check the prices out first in a few shops. Do not be ashamed of baragining they expect it. To them only an idiot pays the full price.

Re the Stanley Market you tend to get some nice tourist bits that are difficult to find elsewhere on the Island.

Try Dim Sum like Harguo (Prawns in a steamed rice flour parcel), Cha Siu Bau (Pork Steamed Dumpling), Chicken Feet and any others that take your fancy. Dim Sum actually means steamed.

God I am starting to feel hungry.

The Peak is good if you want a view of HK but do not go up when it is either foggy or raining heavy you might not be able to see anything. To get there you must take the Peak Railway.

Try going to Lamma Island to see the Buddha you can easy get a ferry. You should also take a tram tour on the island as it is cheap.

You must also do the Star Ferry.

Take a Tram tour. Take Tea on the verandah at the Repulse Bay Hotel, beautiful views.

I agree re one of the other post re Tsim Sha Tsui and Temple Street.

Enjoy yourself it is a wonderful city.

Now for China you will need a visa better get one before you go. It is totally different than HK.

If you are looking for a vg hotel in Ghanzhou (Canton) then you must go to the White Swan- 5 star overlooking the Pearl River. Food is outstanding and the views at night can be breathtaking with a red sky. 5 star Chinese means 6 star European.

Take taxis everywhere but be prepared for the bumps in the roads there.

Avoid Shenzhen like the bubonic plague. There are hundreds of beggars lined up outside the railway station who will thrust babies into your face to try and get money from you. You will also find most of the named goods are fakes. A lot of the factories that produce them are just outside the city.

If you can try and visit Shanghai it is a wonderful city. Go and visit the Peace Hotel on the Bund- an old hotel in the 20's style where you can take high tea.

I could go on forever but have to go. Have a wonderful time.

Wow!
I know that was a bit of an open ended question...
Arrived last night, flew out of Chicago and over the North Pole. Very cool.
Staying in HK for now but we are headed into Shenzhen today for some biz. Weekend in HK. Then moving over to Shenzhen for Monday and Tuesday nights. I did my best to keep the group in HK as I knew it would be better.
Thanks all for the tips. Weather was foggy last night but if it clears we will try to get to the peak at least.
Some in the group have not traveled much but I'll get them out a bit for sure.
First impressions: HUGE, crowded, very clean, very friendly city.
Trying to adjust to the 13 hour difference for me, I got some sleep last night and am ready for the marathon day (I think). One of our hosts has a big dinner planned tonight and I'm looking forward to that.
Thanks for the tips on the boat restaurants. Will avoid.
Would love to see the Buddah, have to push for that.
Details and maybe some pics as things develop.
Thanks all!
David

If you're going to Stanley market, take the #6 bus from Central. Take a double decker and sit on the top at the front. You will see a completely different side (height) of HK and the route beyond after the bus leaves the city and begins to climb over the island. You can stop at Repulse Bay on your way along. Have Dim Sum at Hey Fong Tong in the Repulse Bay Hotel, one of the best in HK. A very enjoyable and cheap day out.

quote:

Should have the weekend free for touring then into Mainland for a couple of days and then back home. Just enough time to really get jet lagged!

oh man, being a mule to HK is sooooooo 70's.

Had an amazing trip. Hard to describe.
Spent a lot of time in Shenzhen doing biz but did get to go around HK a bit.
Friday night, after a whrilwind visit to a factory in the North West of Shenzhen (round trip taking 3 hours on the water ferry and 2 hours by car), our hosts took us to the fish market in HK where we had a wonderful meal. I ate everything. Jet lag was really catching up with us and they kept us out far too late.
Saturday we went to Lamma Island where we saw the Buddha. The gondola ride was very cool and I feel extra enlightened after the Buddha indoctrination. Like visiting some of the "religious parks" in the USA without the hard sell at the end. My favorite pic is a Starbucks in the foreground and the Buddha in the background with tourists-a-plenty in the mid.
Sunday was some sightseeing including Stanley Market (a bit of a disappointment due to the lack of quality goods for sale). We met our other travelers that were in Shanghai (lucky dogs!) to go to Shenzhen. Our hotel bellboy did not deserve his tip as the 3 taxis taking us went to 3 different places! An adventure for sure.
Ultimately we met at the Hung Hom station and took a scenic ride into beautiful Shenzhen. We met a very nice woman from Singapore who gave us some sound advice on getting to our hotel (The Crowne Plaza). That terminal was very nasty. It smelled like a body had been dumped near where we got in our transportation. Ugh.
No beggars but we were being "marked" by locals to see if we could be picked. Lots of eye contact usually drives that type away.
The Crowne Plaza looked like something out of Las Vegas.
When we went to dinner I was having culture overload as some genius in the group suggested the Italian place in the hotel. It was nice inside but my meal was lousy. Supposedly one of the best places to dine in all of Shenzhen. Give me some real Chinese food, please! My culture overload occured after watching cricket fighting on TV (yes, the bugs) and the Italian place's background music mixing between Euro Pop, Italian love songs, American Pop and finally trance. I needed a Valium after that!
Monday and Tuesday was spent visiting businesses and factories. The line workers were very much like Star Trek's Borg -- single-minded workers that paid no attention to the visitors. All these workers were 18-24 year-old pesant women who would sign a contract and work for 3 years for about $100 US equiv. a week. The were fed, clothed, housed, entertained and generally cared for all on site. Since they were factory workers and not citizens of Shenzhen they had little freedom to come and go on the weekends. A trip to HK is all but forbidden (if they could afford it). Forget about traveling outside China. They all seemed healty and hard working.
We toured the tiniest fraction of the thousands of factories we could see as we drove through Shenzhen. Amazing, the scale is staggering.
A thought crossed my mind... if they converted these thousands of factories into a war machine...
Good roads everywhere, new buildings, cell phones, cars, all modern. Even a Ferarri dealership in the South of Mainland China.
Nothing like what I expected except for the "haves" and "have nots".
One thing for sure, I'm calling my broker on Monday. I've been in a "China Growth Fund" since the early '90s and, according to what I saw, it should be worth millions now. It is not!
Thanks again for the tips, all. I hope to get back there again soon!
David

Some pics

More fish market at night

HK Street

Enlightened Latte

Cheese!

That's one big Buddha

An offering

Mountains and sea

Steamed corn, anyone?

Taxi!