HONG KONG IN A DAY: FAVOURITE SPOTS
One month after my travel to China and nearly two years after my first ‘in a day’ guide about my incredible stay in Marrakech with the Riad Anayela hotel, I finally found some time to create a diary about my favorite spots in Hong Kong. Even if you’re just planning a short stay in this amazing city, make sure you do not miss these locations!
Because breakfast is simply overrated! Just leave your hotel (which is coincidentally located in/near Midlevels or Soho) as early as possible and grab a coffee to go and a simple croissant at one of the countless cafes and bakeries. Afterwards just follow the outdoor escalators towards Midlevels and explore the beautiful nature of this huge city. Light grey, concrete freeways are punctuated with the ungovernable jungle of palm trees and banana plants.
Something very touristic but a must-do anyways: Taking the oldest cable car of the city (called the Peak Tram) to the observation deck The Peak. Arrived on the top of the mountain, standing on a platform on top of a cheesy Chinese shopping mall (confusing right?), you will have a breathtaking view over the entire city. Even if the weather is cloudy and grey this view will give you creeps.
After you returned to the city from The Peak make your way to Aberdeen St. and have lunch at Sohofama, a modern Chinese restaurant. From the location of the restaurant to the decoration of the drinks and the taste of the food, Sohofama is definitely worth it’s money even if it’s a little bit more expensive than the traditional Chinese restaurants of Hong Kong. Another great ‘feature’ of the Sohofama: It’s located in a very unique kind of shopping mall called PMQ. The concept: PMQ only offers very valuable design products – most of them are handmade right in the little shops of the Mall or in Scandinavia.
Ferry time! As it’s already 4pm make sure you don’t miss the ferry to Lan Tau, an island about 25mins away from Hong Kong. Lan Tau island has a beautiful, sandy beach (oh yes!), a McDonalds restaurant (oh yes 2.0!) and a huge buddha sculpture, called the Tian Tan Buddha. With more than 30 meters height it is a pretty intense feeling to stand under this big buddha, having a view over the Chinese countryside. No skyscrapers in sight!
The goldfish market is like the best thing about Hong Kong ever, ever, ever, ever! Located in the East of Mong Kok (mainland part of the city) you can stray trough the variety of lots of different shops where the Chinese people buy goldfish for luck, turtles, jellyfish (too good to be true), kittens and puppies. Most of the vendors are super nice so you can take loads of pictures. I even had a Corgi puppy and a parrot on my arm! Cuteness overload.
Kids, walking trough a big city the whole day can be really exhausting. That’s why having a good, authentic dinner is an important thing to do! As Hong Kong island is rather europeanized you can find the best ‘real’ Chinese restaurants in Mong Kok, on the mainland part of the city. As I don’t remember the exact name of our favorite restaurant anymore I can only suggest you to have a walk through the streets in Mong Kok and chose the one that gives you a smile. Marinated pork, green beans and Wan Tan (Chinese dumplings) as starter and main course, baked and caramelized bananas for dessert – Hong Kong in a day couldn’t end any tastier!
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