Hong Kong – The Great Chinese Melting Pot

1 Response to “Hong Kong – The Great Chinese Melting Pot”

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• Roderick

  March 6, 2010 at 7:51 am

  Hong Kong Expert, Helen Wong shares her shopping and sight-seeing secrets: [www.helenwongstours.com]HONG KONG ISLANDCentral: Where charming colonial buildings stand proudly alongside futuristic monoliths. The seat of government, a transport hub, a financial and banking centre, and an exclusive shopping district. Lan Kwai Fong, the famous nightspot, is here, along with another fashionable evening dining area, SoHo. Its main attractions are Victoria Peak, the Peak Tram, Peak Tower, Flagstaff House, Museum of Tea Ware, Central Mid-Levels Escalator, Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences.Western: Hong Kong’s most traditional “Chinatown” area.Shopping:Central, Admiralty and Western are renowned for brand-name luxury goods, designer labels and mega-malls such as The Landmark and Pacific Place.Hollywood Road is a mecca for collectors of antiques, arts and unusual knick-knacks.Li Yuen Streets East & West are packed with stalls and shops selling cheap, casual clothes and leatherwear and is popular with locals looking for buttons, needles and thread.Pottinger Street’s paved steps are lined with small stalls selling ribbons, bows, buttons and other items of interest.Lyndhurst Terrace has shops selling ancient maps, prints and paintings, stationery and picture frames.Western Market in Sheung Wan is filled with Chinese handicraft stores and fabric shops. The area is famous for its small Chinese-style shops selling dried seafood and medicinal herbs. Cat Street Bazaar is best known for stalls selling pocket-sized antiques, such as watches, old coins and stone carvings.Man Wa Lane is the place to find Chinese “chops”, stone stamps engraved with the owner’s name in Chinese characters. Spring Garden Lane is a good place to shop for clothes originally meant for export, meaning the quality and prices are very competitive.Causeway Bay: A very popular shopping, dining and nightlife area.Shopping:In Causeway Bay there are Japanese department stores, shopping centres like Times Square, In Square, The Lee Gardens and Island Beverley, as well as open-air markets selling everything from clothes to costume jewellery. Jardine’s Crescent is great for inexpensive clothing, accessories and domestic goods. Shops specialising in shoes, electrical appliances and fashion for young people are also concentrated around Causeway Bay, and Wan Chai has a number of excellent rattan and Chinese furniture shops along Queen’s Road East. South Side: The beaches of Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay, and the villages of Stanley and Shek O, are among this area’s scenic treasures. Attractions include Murray House.Shopping:Stanley Market is popular for Chinese paintings, handicrafts and furniture, silk, curios, clothes and souvenirs. KOWLOONTsim Sha Tsui: One of Hong Kong’s major entertainment areas, featuring a blaze of neon and shopping along Nathan Road. Attractions include the Star Ferry, Clock Tower, Hong Kong Space Museum, Science Museum, Museum of History, Museum of Art, and the Cultural Centre.Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok: Lively and fascinating areas full of speciality shops and open-air markets.Shopping:Much of the Kowloon promontory is a shopper’s dream. There are innumerable department stores and shopping centres like Ocean Terminal and Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui as well as the Grand Century Plaza in Mong Kok, and many factory outlets along Granville Road and in the Hung Hom area. Nathan Road’s famous ‘Golden Mile’ is crowded with shoppers day and night. Temple Street Night Market is the most famous open-air market, a bustling bazaar and bargain-shopper’s heaven for casual clothes and curios, as well as being crammed with entertainment, including fortune-tellers, Cantonese opera singers and elderly musicians playing traditional instruments. Ladies’ Market, along Tung Choi Street, attracts people seeking bargain-priced clothes