Hong Kong has much to extend everyone from sightseeing to buying at to eating to only engaging the aura and mix of cultures this world-class city has to offer. Here are some must see places on your visit : The Peak Tram is maybe the most favourite tourist magnet and decidedly a must on any visit to Hong Kong. A furnicular railway takes you up The Peak for some exhilarating views of the Kowloon Penisular, Victoria Harbour and close islands. You can achieve the Peak Tram station utilising the No 15C Shuttle Bus from the Star Ferry Terminal in Central or the No 12S bus from Admiralty MTR station. At the top there are shops, restaurants and other attractions besides the 360 degree wide-screen view. You can get the MTR from Kowloon to Central, but a trip up on the ferry is a must for the have and sees of Victoria Harbour. The Mid Levels Escalator, at 800m is the farthest hidden outdoor escalator system in the world. It takes commuters between the respected Mid Levels residential area and the center of Central Hong Kong. Travel along it is free but beware it operates in one direction (down) during the morning hurry hour then is exchanged to up thereafter. Nearby is the famous Chop Alley (Man Wa Lane) which is lined with small green-painted huts where chop makers sell chops. A chop is a Chinese seal typically carved from jade, soapstone, bone or ivory. You can get the carvers to transform your name into Chinese for a custom-made seal. For a soapstone custom-made chop expect to pay around 15. Buying At in Hong Kong Outstanding shopping centers on Hong Kong Island include Landmark in Central, Pacific Place in Admiralty, Times Square in Causeway Bay, and City Plaza in Taikoo Shing. Kowloon also has its share of malls, which lets in the linked Ocean Terminal and Harbour Centre building complexes. Bird Mart Yuen Po Street, Mong Kok, 10 minutes walk from Prince Edward MTR station. Hundreds of song birds in cages of all shapes and sizes merge to make a resound Nathan Road Not a market, but there's a definte market-feel to the many shops that are swotted up along the littler end of this street in Tsim Sha Tsui with their neon signs jutting out into the street from the constructions. Here there is everything from cameras, electronic goods, tailors to jewellery shops. Street hawkers will offer "Custom suit", "Copy watch", "Jade rings", anything and everything is accessible here. Nighttime Market Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei After dusk into late night a browse through this market is charming. There's everything from fortune-tellers to open air eating places. Ladies' Market Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok Accessible everyday from noon to 10:30pm sells everything from false designer accessories and clothing to cheap cosmetics and toys. It is also popular for late night snacks. Hong Kong Island Shops along this street are filled with a mix of bric-a-brac, real and fake old-timer and hundreds of stalls. Western Market Morrison Street Opened in 1906 this red brick established building was a food market for more than 80 years. Today it has been regenerated and in 1991 became a shopping complex. It puts up handcrafts, fabric and souvenir stalls. Stanley Market Stanley Market Road, Stanley, Hong Kong Island Stanley Market is the clear place to bargain something grand for supporters or relations. The historic fishing lanes are jam-packed with vendors selling Chinese graphics, silk collectibles and curiosities.
If you are considering exotic international travel to Hong Kong, be sure also to take in the environs of Hong Kong, such as Zhongshan, Macao and Tai Mo Shan. Although Hong Kong itself is a wonderful place to visit, these other attractions offer you an alternative view of China that is less frenetic, and more akin to the China most people have in their minds.
The best way to see this part of China, and it is part of China because the British handed Hong Kong over to Chinese control in 1997, is by means of a personalized tour that only the best international vacation packages can offer. This enables you travel at your own pace, with your own driver, without the encumbrance of a group of others who might have different views than you as to how long to spend at each attraction.
Good planners arrange tours to suit their individual customers and their partners, and although the cost of these might be higher than you would pay for general vacation group packages, it is worth it if you are looking for luxury international trips as opposed to just an ordinary vacation. At least one travel company states that if you can't live better away from home than at home, then why bother going? A good sentiment.
Back to Hong Kong as a destination for exotic international vacation tours. Its capital is the island of Victoria, which to many is synonymous with Hong Kong. Victoria sits in Hong Kong harbor, and Kowloon is the mainland part of the district. At night you can enjoy the magnificent laser light show from around 8 - 9 pm, when you can see a magnificent display of thousands of lights from the various tall buildings, including the laser beams that shoot across the sky. This show is accompanied by music. The Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade is great place from which to watch this display.
Make sure you also visit some of the fishing villages in the district, such as Aberdeen and the Sok Kwu Wan fishing village on Lamma island that is famed for its excellent Chinese seafood restaurants. You should also visit the Chinese border, out past Kowloon into the countryside. However, there is more to exotic international travel to Hong Kong than just that.
The first Europeans to settle in the Far East were the Portuguese, and the oldest settlement was at Macao, also known as Macau. This was also handed back to the Chinese, but you can still visit Macao, especially the Grand Prix circuit and the casinos: Macao is not nicknamed the 'Monte Carlo of the Far East' for nothing. It also has a unique combination of Portuguese and Chinese culture that is found nowhere else in the world.
Make sure that you also take a tour to Zhongshan, on the Pearl River delta. This is an 800 year old village covering some 20 square miles, inhabited by traditional fishermen and farmers. Also in the area is Tai Mo Shan (Big Hat Mountain), the highest mountain in the district, and providing magnificent views of the Lam Chuen valley and the Shek Kong Airport.
Hong Kong is not all high rise buildings and people dashing frenetically about talking to cell phones. There is also the peaceful part that comprises nine tenths of the district. Places such as the Chuk Lam Shim Yuen Buddhist Monastery and the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, with its delicate wood carvings and built in honor of Tang Chung Ling who founded the Tang clan. Close by is one of five famous walled villages, Lo Wai, built in the 13th century.
Make sure, if you can, that the Hong Kong packages you look at include trips to these places of interest that show the real China, as opposed to the westernized influences of Hong Kong as most people know it. Good vacation planners should include tours outside the environs of Victoria island and Kowloon and into the Chinese mainland and surrounding district.
It's a long way to travel just to visit the skyscraper city that is just like any other modern day city, and miss the real flavor of the Orient that can be found just a few miles away. Real exotic international travel to Hong Kong must involve some element of the mystery of the Orient, and that is what you will find once you get away from the modern parts of the city. Take in a tea plantation, and perhaps a local traditional Chinese market, and try some of the more traditional fare as opposed to the very westernized food of Victoria.
That way you will see and taste the real China of this area, and have a truly exotic vacation to Hong Kong that you will be able to talk about for a lifetime.
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