So you want to visit Hong Kong

Hong Kong may be the most civilized place in the world. There is almost no crime, most people are polyglots, or at least bi-lingual and English speaking, the streets are immaculate, and the whole city moves at a perfect beat. People won’t step aside for you on the sidewalk as they do in Northern Europe and America, but the development and public transport rivals anywhere in the world. Best of all, no visa needed to travel to Hong Kong. However, you will need one to go to mainland China.

Stepping out of the Hong Kong Airport into the high humidity of South China shocks the system. The locals say you get used to it, but I always bring along a portable fan (manual or electric) and a sweat cloth. The hotter it is, the more people you’ll see dabbing their faces with small towels as just a way of life to beat the heat.

A high-speed train takes you from the airport from the far side of Lantau Island to Central, the epicenter of the city on Hong Kong Island.

Hong Kong is an archipelago made up of three major islands, a small portion of the mainland, and a variety of smaller islands, and each one is accessible by ferry or train. All of this territory is a part of the one-country, two-systems agreement brokered by the British in the 1980s.

Modern Hong Kong is a post-colonial haven, ranked seven on the Human Development Index, only outranked by Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Germany, and Iceland. English, Mandarin, and Cantonese are equally spoken across the main parts of the territory. The only place that is difficult to speak English is in local taxis. A handy trick is to have google translate ready to translate English locations and names, or take an Uber.

Arriving in Central feels like any business focused city. Tall office buildings, malls, restaurants. Many people will be in business attire, but as you walk out into the neighborhoods, most locals wear wide-leg pants and capris or light skirts and dresses, clothing that keeps the air flowing in the heat.

I recommend finding a hotel in Central as it has the territory’s major ferry terminal and train stations. For nature, city life, new cultures, museums, history, Hong Kong has it all.

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Buildings in Sai Ping Pun, west of Central HK

Getting Around

Before your first adventure, stop and get an Octopus Card (London travelers will appreciate the marine travel card name). They’re available at all MTR (Hong Kong Metro) stations as well as at most convenience stores and in the Ferry Terminal. The Octopus card pays for every type of public transportation: streetcars, ferries, busses, etc. You can even use it to pay for things at 7/11 and in some laundry facilities.

Hong Kong is all about ease of transportation. Like San Francisco, Central Hong Kong is built on hills that steeply slope up to the center of the Island at Victoria Peak — named after Queen Victoria.

There is a tram up to Victoria Peak (which is a great place for amazing views of the city and a casual walk on Lugard Road).

Fortunately, there is an outdoor, electric escalator system that runs from the bay, up, and up, and up. So whatever tier of the hills you’re on, you can use the escalators to support your climb.

With an Octopus card, you can take a metro train to mainland China. Like all non-American cities, Hong Kong’s metro system is world-class and can take you to most of the places of interest on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

On the main street in central, you can hop-on-hop-off a streetcar. These open-air cars lend a gentle breeze and make it easy to travel through the most populated areas of the city center. They run regularly, and you can pay with your Octopus card.

To travel to the islands, and believe me, they’re worth it. You can easily take a ferry from the Central Ferry Terminal and pay with, you guessed it, an Octopus Card!

Ubering is not a problem in Hong Kong (though it will not work on mainland China). The local taxis are safe and comfortable, but language barriers are most apparent here.

My favorite places

I love to be in the city and wander around Central. The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden, which is right in Central, shouldn’t be missed. There is shopping, restaurants (lots and lots of vegan restaurants), bars (I recommend the Globe British Pub), museums (the old city prison was recently turned into a museum), and cultural centers (PMQ, which used to be police living quarters).

Have a tea ceremony in the botanical garden

If you want to eat the best, authentic Sichuan food in the city, Chili Fagara of Qi Sichuan, are my top recommendations.

There genuinely are endless places to go.

But the beauty of traveling to Hong Kong is you can have it all. Be in the epicenter of one of the most prosperous and advanced cities in the world, but just a short ferry ride away be in nature.

Lamma Island is an extraordinary place. No cars are permitted on the island, and just a short walk away from the island’s ferry terminal is a beach and hotel bungalow where you can sit and have a summer cocktail and stay overnight on the beach. Lamma Island also has hiking trails to take you to more remote swimming coves depending on how far you’d like to hike.

Viewing the Ferry Terminal from the Main Street in Lamma

Lantau Island, which is the biggest island in the Hong Kong Territories, has a little bit of everything. Go to Disneyland, hike, or gondola up to the Tian Tan Buddha statue (accessible from the Mui Wo Ferry). If you want to go off the beaten path, take a ferry to Mui Wo and hike over to Discovery Bay on the 4.5 miles, the well-paved trail where you’ll get amazing views of Central Hong Kong, while being on the road less traveled.

Views of Hong Kong From the hike on Lantau

De-classifying the political unrest

It’s hard to miss the week after week news reporting on the Hong Kong protests. Most recent news indicates Hong Kong is entering a recession as a result of decreased tourism and business hesitation.

I visited Hong Kong once since the protests started. Despite the marches happening just a few blocks from my Airbnb (AirBnbs or hotels are great, but ensure they have air-con), I never heard or saw any unrest; this is the most likely situation travelers will encounter.

The protests are primarily confined to populated neighborhoods on the weekends, and that can shut down some public transportation, depending on the intensity of the protests.

The protests were initially authored by the government however, the current protests are not authorized, so a lot of the engagement between protestors and police is guerilla-style, high intensity in short bursts.

Mainland China and Hong Kong are two of the safest places I’ve ever traveled. Like in any major European city, petty crime does happen, but larger scale violence is almost unheard of on Hong Kong or mainland China.

If you’re planning on spending a week in Hong Kong and are nervous about protests, take the Ferry to Macau or one of the more remote islands away from any potential protests on the weekends or public holidays.