 Hong Kong (香港) Travel Guide
Hong Kong
Author: Baycrest (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Generic)
Welcome to Hong Kong Travel Guide. I created it for people who like myself, loves to go explore places on their own, planning and fixing their own itineraries, and largely travelling on a shoestring budget. Now, Hong Kong is not an inexpensive destination, so, for people with a limited budget, it is a challenge to stretch your dollar here. Nevertheless, with proper planning, you can get a lot from your trip to Hong Kong, and at the same time, have a great vacation.
Introducing Hong Kong SAR
Hong Kong (香港, map), or officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a small, self-governing territory of the People's Republic of China. It is located in southern China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south.
Guide to Hong Kong Hotels
Here's a list of hotels in Hong Kong, with full description, star rating, address, location map and evaluation. Spend a little time going through the list to find the hotel that suits you best. Pick the hotel and view the rates offered by different booking sites. Then select the site that offers the best rate, according to the date of your stay, length and room type.
Hong Kong skyline
Author: Diliff (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0)
More about Hong Kong
Hong Kong became a crown colony of the United Kingdom in 1842, reclassified as a British dependent territory in 1983, and remained as such until the transfer of its sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. By then it has become a global metropolitan and international financial centre. Under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong enjoys high degree of autonomy in all areas with the exception of foreign affairs and defence, which are the responsibility of the government of mainland China. As part of this arrangement, Hong Kong continues to maintain its own currency, legal system, political system, immigration control, rule of the road and other aspects that concern its way of life, many of which are distinct from those of mainland China.
Hong Kong is renowned for its impressive panoramic skyline and natural setting. It is the place where the East meets the West. This is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions. Hong Kong has a population which is 95% Chinese and 5% people of other ethnicities. With a population of 7 million people but land area of 1,108 km2 (428 sq mi), Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Author: Minghong (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
The name "Hong Kong" is an approximate English pronunciation of the Cantonese or Hakka pronunciation of the spoken Cantonese name, meaning "fragrant harbour".
Until 1842, the name "Hong Kong" referred to a small inlet between the island of Ap Lei Chau and the south side of the island which later became known as Hong Kong, which today is now Aberdeen Harbour or Little Hong Kong . The inlet was one of the first points of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.
The term "fragrance" may refer to the harbour waters sweetened by the fresh water esturine influx of the Pearl River, or to the incense factories lining the coast to the north of Kowloon which was stored around Aberdeen Harbour for export, before the development of Victoria Harbour.
Hok Yuen Street, New Kowloon
Author: Dacibomec (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
The name Hong Kong was first recorded on official documents to encompass the entirety of the Island when the Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842.
The Convention of Peking (1860) and Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (1898) added the Kowloon peninsula and New Territories into Hong Kong's territory, which has remained unchanged until the present.
Hong Kong Travel Information
- Official Name: Hong Kong SAR
- Capital: Hong Kong
- Population of Hong Kong: 6,900,000
- Languages: Cantonese, English
- Currency: Hong Kong Dollar
- Religions: Taoism, Buddhism
- Size: 1,092 sq km (422 sq miles)
- Region: Asia
Budget Travel to Hong Kong
Most travellers arrive at the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. It is the lub for Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair. But the good news is, Chek Lap Kok is also served by a number of budget airlines including AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu), Cebu Pacific (Cebu, Clark, Manila), Hong Kong Airlines (Changsha, Guilin, Guiyang, Haikou, Hanoi, Kunming, Nanning, Sanya and Xiamen), Hong Kong Express (Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Denpasar, Hakodate, Hangzhou, Harbin, Manila, Ningbo, Okinawa, Sapporo, and Shanghai), Jetstar Asia (Singapore), Thai AirAsia (Bangkok, Phuket), and Tiger Airways (Singapore).
To get out of the airport, you can take the pricer Airport Express Train or the budget Airbus (it's the bus, not the plane). The Airport Express Train will cost you HK$60 to Tsing Yi, HK$90 to Kowloon and HK$100 to Hong Kong Station in Central.
Hong Kong
Author: © Sengkang
You can arrange for a private vehicle to fetch you from the Hong Kong International Airport. This may be a useful option if you are pressed for time. Find out more how to book an airport transfer
Hong Kong International Airport
Author: Edison (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Budget Travel within in Hong Kong
Take the train! Hong Kong has one of the most efficient mass rapid transportation in the world. Their subway train is called MTR, or Mass Transit Railway. As this website is written for the benefit of budget travellers, all my description of the tourist sights will include information on which train to take, and which station to disembark (and which direction to walk).
The MTR runs from 6:00 am to 1:00 am, in other words, it doesn't run 24 hours. But that's enough for travellers like myself (and I hope, you too).
Avoid the trains between 8:00 am to 9:30 am and again from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, especially if you are lugging heavy baggage, as they get horrendously crowded.
The gate at Hong Kong MTR
Author: Enoch Lau (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0)
Today there are five lines, and they are all colour coded. A single journey costs anywhere from HK$4.00 to HK$26.00. If you buy a single-journey ticket, it is only valid for ninety minutes, so don't wander elsewhere, and don't buy your return ticket until you need it. You insert money into the machine, and it coughs out a credit-card-looking ticket. Some machines don't take notes - banknotes I mean - but there'll be machines nearby to get small change.
I recommend buying the Octopus Card. This is a rechargeable stored-value ticket that you can use not only to take the subway, but also the bus, most ferries and minibus. Your initial cost for the Octopus Card is HK$150 which has HK$100 of usable value, and HK$50 deposit, which you can get back if you return the card within 3 months. You can top it up at the machines at the MTR station, or over the counter at any 7-Eleven in Hong Kong.
To use the card, simply pass it over the sensor pad located on top of the turnstile gate (see picture below).
You will some times see people leap over the turnstile to ride without a ticket. Don't imitate. There are cameras all over the place, and if you get caught, the HK$5000 fine will turn your budget trip into an overbudget one.
Riding the MTR
The MTR or Mass Transit Railway, is the rapid transit system in Hong Kong. Today the system has 212 km of trakcs and 150 stations, including 85 railway stations and 68 dedicated light rail stations. There are presently six lines which are all colour coded:
Hong Kong Hotels
Hong Kong has a good choice of hotels. You can use our Hotel Search Engine to look for hotel rooms and compare the room rates as offered by all the major hotel booking websites. You will see that different hotel booking sites actually offer the same room at a different price. By doing this simple exercise, you can determine which site offers you the best rate. To begin, click on Hotels in Hong Kong.
Budget Hotels in Hong Kong
If mainstream hotels are beyond your budget, I propose checking out budget hostels where you can get accommodation for just a fraction of what you would be expected to pay in a mainstream hotel. Be forewarn that you get what you pay for, and many budget places do not provide towels or toiletries. Always read what they provide before booking.
Here's a list of Budget Hostels in Hong Kong from Hostelbookers.
Highway in Hong Kong
Author: mailer_diablo (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Hong Kong Sightseeing Tours
Click here to find Tours of Hong Kong
Useful Hong Kong Resources
Hong Kong Tours
Hong Kong skyline during the day
Author: Hstoffels (public domain)
Kung Yum Temple
Author: Simon Shek (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0)
The Cheerful Traveler
Something to cheer up your trip.
Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company responsible for the accident to court. In court the trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe.
"Didn't you say at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine'?", asked the lawyer.
Farmer Joe responded, 'Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the...'
'I didn't ask for any details,' the lawyer interrupted, 'just answer the question. Did you not say at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?'
Farmer Joe said, 'Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...'
The lawyer interrupted again and said, 'Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the highway patrolman on the scene that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.'
By this time the judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe's answer and said to the lawyer, 'I'd like to hear what the man has to say.'
Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, 'Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi- truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear ol' Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a highway patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me.' He said, 'Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?'
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