The Answer is definitely the Giant Buddha on Lantau which on the internet there are a few different answers as to how many steps. According to Wikpedia it is 268 steps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha
Hi TJs! While in Hong Kong, you should take the tram (locally known as the Ding-Ding bus) from somewhere like Admiralty towards Happy Valley. Go upstairs and sit all the way through to Happy Valley. It costs HKD2 and you can get a quick tour of the amazing Hong Kong streets. At happy valley you can get off and check out the race course (horse races on Wednesdays) or just sit tight and go back as the tram turns around as goes back towards Admiralty (you still pay only 2 dollars as you just pay when you get off). I also recommend hiking in New Territories to places like Sai Kung East country park and High Island Reservoir. If you go to the peak, take bus #15 one way (from exchange square) and take the peak tram on your way back. Also, get an octopus card, you can use it for any public transportation. You pay a HKD 50 deposit but you can get it back when you return it. For sea food, don't go to Jumbo restaurant. Too touristy and expensive. Go to Sai Kung instead, has much more character. You can check out the British bar/pubs afterwards. Tony, I'm not a big party guy, but will be willing to take you to some places here. Places like LKF is somehwat dead other than Fridays and Saturdays though.
Cheers! tj (yep, that's what some of my friends call me)
As a tourist, you will find Octopus indispensable for getting around Hong Kong's sights and shops as you won't need to buy individual tickets for different transport systems or carry coins either.
Octopus is also widely accepted at retail outlets including fast food chains, cake, bakery and convenience stores, supermarkets, personal care stores, vending machines, photobooths, pay phones, cinemas and leisure facilities. Just look for the Octopus sign, and you can enjoy the convenience of "wave and go" payment during your stay in Hong Kong.
DO NOT get an octopus for tourists unless you would take the Airport Express to or from the airport. Just get a normal Adult on-loan octopus card amount to HK$150 (HK$100 stored value(refundable)+ HK$50 deposit (refundable)).It will only has a little cost HK$7 as you will return the card less than 3 months, but this is much more cheaper than the tourist one.
There are a number of methods to reload your cards. So no need to store so much money at one time.
Hong Kong is one of the TJ’s destinations that I feel confident to give some suggestions on what to do while they’re there. I’ve been to HKG a few times on business but I spend most of the time there on the Kowloon side so most of my recommendations would be from around that area.
Window shopping along Nathan St. at Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) area. There are a lot of duty-free shops and hole-in-the-wall places selling almost anything you can imagine along this street. I usually like to just walk the distance starting at the corner where the HKG Peninsular Hotel is located all the way up to Mongkok. Prepare comfortable walking shoes as it is quite a ways to walk. Also prepare a friend to convince you not to impulse purchase everything you see or else you’ll find yourself critically broke by the end of the day.
Half-day trip to Victoria Peak. Take a trip over to the main island by ferry via the Star Ferry pier on the TST to Central route. Take a tram ride up to the peak at Garden Road for the best experience although they also have buses that go up to the peak from the Central pier. Bring you own food and have a backpacker’s picnic up at 552m. I prefer to go up fairly early in the morning when it is nice and cool but late afternoon is also good as you can stay up and see HKG light up as the sun goes down.
Night Market at Mongkok There are several night markets to go to here. Notable mentions are the Ladies Street at Tung Choi Street and the Men’s Street at Temple St where the some of the items sold are specific to the gender but I think they overlap most of the time. Tip for travelers is to look for the shops behind the street stalls. They have better prices than those up front due to less people traffic. Don’t be afraid to bargain but do so fairly as it is not worth the aggravation to fight over a dollar difference.
You can also get your fortune told in one of the fortunetellers at the Temple St market (I think) if you have a local to help translate for you. Some people I know swears that they are the best fortunetellers they’ve been to.
Dim Sum Brunch The one thing that I never fail to do whenever I’m in HKG. I don’t really have a particular place that I would recommend but ask the local for their recommendations. Almost everyone would have their favorite dim sum place to go to. Fairly inexpensive and a lot of fun since you get to try a lot of things.
Dim Sum is a collection of buns, dumplings and rice rolls filled with a variety of ingredients served in small bamboo steamers. You pick what you want from a list and they will calculate the price at the end of the meal. Dim Sum and Yum Cha (tea) is best shared with other people as you can’t get the full experience when eating alone. The more people you have, the more dishes you can order and share around to experience the variety.
Ordering Dim Sum can be a daunting task as the restaurants may not have an English menu that you can point and order from. Since much of Dim Sum is wrapped before they are steamed or fried, you may not know what’s inside each basket. For some the process of ordering something that may surprise you could be a thrill but for a less adventurous option, get a local to eat with you so they can explain. Or else take a list of the more popular dim sums and ask them from the cart pusher there by pointing to the Chinese names. I found a list that might help here.
Hong Kong have always been a favorite place for me to go on business. I have not been there for quite sometime now and hopefully the places that I’ve recommended are still there. Looking forward to see some of the places in my list again and your take on them in your HKG show when it airs.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: nickxandar,
hey TJs its gr8 that you've reached Asia! while in China other than disneyland the other thing you could do, coz u have a low budget, is 'Wing Sing' its the traditional chinese 3 mast sailing junks which is used ideally for weddings at sea. its really cool and worth visiting. also u must go to Victoria Peak wjich gives a panoramic view of the city (its price ranges from hkd5 to hkd400!) hope u have a good time there!
