Hong Kong Island Things to Do

The Peak Tower is an unusual design which has been likened to a ‘wok’. There are viewing located on different levels of the tower where you can get a fabulous view.

Inside the Tower you will find lots of shops, restaurants and amusements including Ripley's Believe It or Not!, the Peak Explorer Motion Simulator and Madame Tussaud's - London's famous wax museum.

Viewing terraces located on different levels of the tower offer spectacular views of the Hong Kong and Kowloon skylines, including Victoria Harbour.

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Last month, it was my first time to have a bus tour for sightseeing in Hong Kong. It¡¯s really amusing and interesting. Sitting on the upper deck of the bus, I explored Hong Kong panoramic view in a different angle. When the bus passed along the street, all the buildings and attractions the way seemed very close to me. I bought a one day pass priced around US$6 to enjoy unlimited rides on 2 thematic routes.

I started the trip from Central Star Ferry, and took H1 Heritage Route to travel around Central and Western District. Leaving Star Ferry the bus passed Western Market, then along Hollywood Road, the famous antique shopping street, past Man Mo temple. I not only sightsee on the bus, but also can hop-on, hop-off at any designated stops. I took off in Man Mo Temple, walking along Lascar Row. Then, I got on the sightseeing bus to Dr Sun Yatsen Museum, and Hong Kong University. I traveled back through Western district and the dried seafood shops then past the Macau Ferry to the terminus at Star Ferry.

After the heritage journey, I took another H2 Metropolis Route for my shopping tour. I left from Star Ferry and traveled through Wanchai to the shopping destination of Causeway Bay and Times Square, onto Happy Valley racecourse, and back via St John¡¯s Cathedral and Statue Square in the heart of Central. I do have lots of fun with my one day bus tour!

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The Central Library isn't really something that requires a whole lot of explanation, especially since it is unlikely to be a hot tourist destination for anyone visiting the island. Still, at 12 stories tall, it is a rather large centre of knowledge and learning, and it dominates a section of the Causeway thanks to the unusual lack of other skyscrapers in its vicinity. The Library was opened in 2001 and cost approximately $100 million, allowing for a high-tech institution that linked people with knowledge in a myriad of ways. Today, the library's steps are filled with cute school children in uniform running up and down as they come in and out of the library. There are a number of statues and exhibits around the Library which are worthy of pictures. Unless you are fully literate in Chinese, this library is probably not of interest to you, but it is still an interesting snapshot of the importance the HK government attaches to education.

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Victoria Park is, obviously, named after Queen Victoria, the British Regent who oversaw Britain's great expansion the height of its naval power. There is little in the park that is reminiscent of the Queen, except for a large bronze statue that was replaced in 1952. The original had been carted off to Japan by the occupying army and melted down. The modern park has little that reminds us of the stolid and repressed Victorian era, with brightly colour flowers and blossoms, plenty of sports facilities for men and women in sports clothes, and a general preference for large, open air and green spaces, rather than the dreariness of London. On Sundays, this park, like many others, is taken over by domestic helpers during their day off. Victoria Park, the largest in Hong Kong, is a favourite hangout for Indonesian maids, and you will find many, many Indonesian grocery stores and restaurants in the vicinity.

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Causeway Bay is neither a causeway nor a bay. In fact, it is a dry land that is crammed with highrises and shops. At one point, there was a causeway that spanned a bay, but the bay has since been filled in in an effort to reclaim land and reduce the density of the city. Today, the area is the best place in HK to find knock-off anything, from bags to electronics to, likely, passports. The streets are packed with little shops, as well as a few malls that cater to high-end consumers. You can find no end of small noodle houses here to satisfy your hunger for real Chinese street food. There's not much else to Causeway Bay besides the plethora of stores and restaurants - there is a nice walk along the current coast, but it is often marred by heavy traffic.

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Western Market, unlike Central Market, is an upscale establishment that is more of a tourist and pleasure market than any sort of actual market. The bottom floor has a number of jewellery stores and souvenir shops, while the escalator brings visitors to the large ballroom and restaurant that looks like it caters to events and weddings more than usual diners. The market is a tasteful British design. In truth, there's not much to say about the Market, but it is an interesting stop on a tour of the old part of the town.

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For those who are looking for a typically Hong Kong messy, smelly market experience, Central Market is the place to go. There is nothing touristy about this place, and you are unlikely to find other tourists snapping away with you. This is a three-story marketplace with fish on the bottom floor, greens and other produce on the main floor and a large fastfood market on the top floor. It's not a very picturesque area, but it is a great place to visit if you're looking for the way the average Hong Kong resident lives - or if you're looking for a quick local bite.

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Hollywood Road has long been famous for its antique and curio shops. These are not shops selling the usual tourist crap that has made China such an industrious producer. Rather, they are filled with intricately carved and impressive examples of traditional Chinese art. Some of these sculptures, pendants and figurines are carved from jade, the stone that is much admired by many Chinese and East Asians. However, this is not the only medium that is used by the artisans whose goods fill these shops. In addition, there are many examples of exquisite carvings in the tusks of long-extinct mammoths. Whether this is true is something that is to be proven on a case by case basis, but one thing is for certain - these items are not for the amateur. For those of us who are unversed in the ways of Chinese artists, it is a simple pleasure to be able to walk along the sidewalks and admire the the complicated and life-like sculptures and carvings that fill the various curio shops.

Note that the name of the street does not come from the bastion of entertainment, but rather from the family home of the second British Governor of the territory.