Monday, 23 July 2012

Travel Destinations: Hong Kong

Hong Kong, known for its Sky scraper sky line, great food, shopping and mix of cultures. This Chinese city, sits alone as a state from China, but up until 1997 belonged to the UK as a colony. It has it's own currency, parliament, passports and legal system, but Beijing still appoints it's Chief Executive.
It has a lot to offer from the shopping experience on The Golden Mile in Kowloon to the Ocean park with its marine centre and even Pandas (pictured below)! The Ocean park is located to the south of Hong Kong Island and relatively easy to get to.

The currency is HKD or Hong Kong Dollar and the official languages spoken are English and Cantonese. There are four main parts to Hong Kong: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Lantau Island and The New territories. The tourist traps are Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Pictured above is Kimberley Road, which is in Tsim Sha Tsui, (famous for it's pier) and houses many hotels, restaurants, and neon signs! It looks 'typical' Hong Kong and it worth a visit.
Also the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry pier (view in picture above taken from the pier) that looks out onto Hong Kong Island is worth a visit, especially at night to witness the laser show as shown below (sorry for the poor quality- my camera didn't seem to enjoy the show!)
So to sum up, Hong is worth well worth a visit, the food is amazing, there's so much to do: Victoria Bay (the beach between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island), Ocean Park and Stanley Market, both on the Island, as is Hong Kong Disneyland. On Kowloon there's the Tsim Sha Tsui star ferry pier, The Golden Mile for shopping, and Temple Street which houses Hong Kong's famous open air night market. This is just a small list of things to do in Hong Kong, there's even the option of taking a ferry to visit Macau known as the Las Vegas of the east! The airport is located just off Lantau Island and is known as Chep Lap Kok. It is fairly pricey to get there from the UK but many airlines travel there and there are lots throughout the day, Visas (short term ones) are available upon arrival- I believe! Transport is relatively easy to use, from taxis to trains to ferries.
I loved it there, I hope to go again sometime soon! Have any of you been to Hong Kong?

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