We stayed there for 5 days in the Sheraton at Kowloon Island. I
can totally recommend it for people like my crew and me, who are outside most
of the day for exploring the city and only use their rooms for sleeping and
taking an evening cocktail at the skybar with a breathtaking view at the famous
Hong Kong skyline. My tip for you is to book the hotel without breakfast,
because it´s very expensive (20 HKD per person!!) and if you don`t need a lot
in the morning there`s also a Starbucks about 10 minutes away.
Hong Kong itself is in the first moment maybe a bit overwhelming, because when you are in the streets there are only skyscrapers all around you and that`s especially for me, the small town girl, not very normal. Don`t take me wrong I`ve been to other mega cities before but as a matter of facts HK is the city with the highest skyscraper concentration in the world and it totally feels like this. Plus the air is totally polluted, it`s very loud and I haven`t seen a real park while my whole stay. For many people, just like my mum, this sounds like a nightmare of a city and maybe it really isn`t one of the prettiest, but in a very special way HK is authentic.
It doesn`t want to be pretty. It doesn`t want to smell good. Hong Kong is Hong Kong, you can like it or not it`s not going to change for you.
When you walk through the streets there are so many different sensations at just one corner…the smell of fresh fish lying outside in water boxes; the crowds of busy people crossing the street; luxury stores next to traditional Chinese drugstores; a crowd of signs in mandarin; car noises and at least the smell of petrol mixed with a sea breeze everywhere.
Maybe you`re going to find a market with fresh fruit
just next to a street with the hugest Gucci store in the world or a Buddhist
temple just at the corner of the main street. Who knows?
The tourist
attractions are, like mostly, not all worth a visit. We did a Big
Bus tour and in Hong Kong this is maybe not a bad way for getting an overview.
In my opinion you don`t need much more tourist program, because against the
opinion of many others, the Peak is
a waste of time. As you may know there`s a huge cloud of smog all over HK and
as a consequence the view is not very good, plus the waiting lane for the cable
car is endless and in the end you´re happy to get safe in the train, because
all the people around you want to get in there first. Relaxing is different…Another “must-see” is the Night Market and this one is really not bad, but actually it got very touristic in the last years, so I can recommend the Ladies Market more, because you can make better deals there and the small restaurants located around it serve great Chinese food (even when they don`t look so). The Stanley Market is also a good alternative, because it`s a bit outside HK in a very lovely area with fresh air, a thing you learn to appreciate after a few days in the city.
Our passion for Shopping is something most of the Chinese and me have in common. I did a lot of shopping in HK, because you can connect walking through the streets and stopping at one or another shop very good. As a European it`s also not as complicated as I thought to get clothes in my size, even when I had to accept to buy clothes in L or XL if they should fit. The very hard part was with jeans, because my legs are longer than normal and after a while I stopped looking for them. You should keep an eye out for a Shanghai Tang or an I.T, because they are very popular in China, but in the Western world no one`s going to have this clothes! We also found a totally lovely mall at Kowloon site in the Nathan Road called collect point, so if you`re nearby you definitely should take a look!(collect point, 118 Nathan Road Tsimshatsui) When you are in HK a very good souvenir is a Kimono too, at one of the markets they have them in good quality and for the best prices!
At the end of our stay I have never been so sad to leave a city, maybe it was because we had to leave our friends there too, but Hong Kong has such a very specific feeling that totally catched me.
Do you understand what I mean? If you have been to Hong Kong too, what do you think about it??
Can`t wait to read about your experiences!!
Your Laura
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