NWR: Ever been to Hong Kong?

Alko726

FI surprised me with a trip there in September! We're in Korea now, and fares to HK are too good to pass up! If you've been there or know anything about it, could you recommend things to do, places to go, and/or places to stay (that are inexpensive and clean)? We don't have a ton of money to spend, but what we have we'd rather spend on things to do and eat rather than a posh hotel and such. Oh, and anyone get any of their wedding things from there? I'm up for hearing good stories from trips there too! TIA ladies!!!

pegsterh82

HK is great. I was there 9 years ago, so i dont remember all the details. but dont be surprised if nothing is clean...nothing is! ha! We visited the giant statue of Budda, you had to take a boat. That was great. You have to go to Lady's Street at night. That's where all the vendors come out to sell their goods and you can barter with them! Plus there's a ton of food stands! in cantonese (lu yun gai) Dim sum is ok but it'll be packed. my fav dessert, its like an egg creme brulee (remember i havent had it for 9 years! lol ) its called dun li. you have to get some good gnow lam mein (beef stew noodles! MM)there's a chinese fast food....i forget what its called but you should see it everywhere. they're colors are red and yellow. lai kim gai? idont think that's it.Sorry i couldnt give you more details! Have so much fun!

NJerseyABC

I went to HK 5 years ago and our friends who live there planned out most everything we did.  Like Peg mentions above, go see the giant Tian Tan Buddha!  We took a bus tour up there and it was really nice to have a guide explain everything to us.We visited Ocean Park and it was a lot of fun!!  It's like an amusement park and Oceanarium in one.  It was so long ago for me too so I don't remember too much more since I didn't do any of the planning.

ring_pop

Pick up an Octopus card  to get around (it's like a pre-paid debit card) - it's good for use on the MTR, buses, 7-11, McDonald's and lots of other places.Lan Kwai Fong is sort of the entertainment district with the bars & clubs, quite hopping. Wan Chai has the big electronics markets if you guys are into that stuff.Go shopping at Times Square and around that area in Causeway Bay. Central is a little more chi-chi, but there are some street vendors on the side streets.You HAVE to go up to The Peak, I think you can hike around the mountain, or else just enjoy dinner up there and take in the view.Even though you can take the subway between the HK and Kowloon side, definitely try a ferry trip at least once.I always make it a point to eat: roasted chestnuts from the street vendors, dim sum, milk tea, wonton soup, chrysanthemum or 5-flower tea. Mmm.I don't know much about places to stay because I usually stay with family, sorry!I love HK. One of the best cities in the world.

LanaJade

We went to HK last winter and FI's relatives showed us around. We also rather spend on things to do and eat so we stayed at a pseudo-hostel in Jordan. Not quite hotel but not quite hostel in that we had our own room and maid service. FI's mom set it up for us but I can definitely ask her if you want. I think it ended up being $50/night. We did all of the touristy stuff that everyone else mentioned. We went to the Buddha statue; shopped at Times Square, Causeway Bay, and Mong Kok; went to Ocean Park and Disney Land; took the ferry across to Hong Kong Island...what else can I think of? We also went to some of the outer lying islands where there are fishing villages but I can't remember where that was. Oh and yes, the food! There were a lot of yummy places around where we stayed in Jordan. Obviously, FI's relatives knew the best places to take us. Definitely try the "dun nai" (sort of like a custard?) and the milk tea (different than what you'll get in Chinatown. In the States, you actually have to ask for the Hong Kong-style). We went to a temple and had vegetarian, too. There's a place in Central (I think?) called "Lan Fong Yuen" that apparently is popular for it's milk tea and grungy food.Lan Kwai Fong is where the nightlife is, and I swear that when I was there I couldn't tell if I was in the States or HK because everyone was speaking English. Oh yeah, another thing about HK is that you'll get by fine speaking English. No one will look at you funny. I have some friends who are there now/are from there, so I can definitely pass questions along to them. Because of this post, I pulled up photos that I took in HK, and dang I am missing that place now! Once in a while, FI and I would just get cravings for the food we had in HK :)You'll have fun!

Alko726

This is awesome information! Thanks so much everyone! I'll probably have a zillion more questions before I go! We want to make the MOST of this trip! My dad has a brother living there, but they don't get a chance to talk often. He's hoping to get in touch with him so that he can show us around some, but we think we want to stay in a cheap hotel so that we can wander around town on our own some too!

tohruchan

i just went to HK this past march. i had a good time, (but to be honest i was a bit disappointed. i think ppl hyped it up too much for me).  things i liked: public transportation (the subway, trams/trolleys,  star ferry especially), victoria peak (yes its touristy, but you get a great view), street markets, stationary stores, JUSCO and SOGO (japanese dept stores)food: dim sum, lai cha (HK style milk tea), red bean dessert with ice, bakeries (like maxim's cakes)and i really am sad we didn't have time to go to Ocean park b/c i heard its really fun and i wanted to ride the skyride to have an awesome view =(

Stuffing

I went there twice.  First time when I was engaged and then again for my honeymoon.  My fiance unfortunately couldn't remember how to get to all the places, so we had a Lonely Planet book with us the second time which was VERY useful!I think everyone mentioned pretty much everything I had actually done... We also went to Lantau Island to see the big Buddha.  You should definitely see the Festival of Lights, I believe it's at 8pm each night?  You have to watch it from the Hong Kong side of the island.Oh, and watch the traffic =P  The drivers are very good at trying to run you over.You can check out some very nice highlights at the Hong Kong Tourism Board:http://www.discoverhongkong.com/usa/index.jsp