Hong Kong is a spectacular place, even more so at night with the towering illuminated buildings on both sides of the harbour. You couldn't really call it a beautiful place though, in the way that many major cities have beautiful buildings. Any of these in HK are hidden by the skyscrapers. The effect on the weather of nearby mountains meant that many days were overcast and there was also a high level of pollution. While the weather prevented us from exploring the islands, the short tram journey up to the Peak brings you to an oasis of calm once you get on to the walking trail.
HK does have an excellent public transport system, supported by the Octopus card, which makes it easy to pay for journeys. The underground (MRT) also has a wonderful electronic route guide in the trains, which lights up to tell you where you are and also alerts you to which side the doors will open.
Hong Kong Chinese people seem to be rather grim and are frequently dressed in black. Unlike the Thais they are not very good at manoeuvring round you when crossing roads.
We noticed an abundance of sports arenas and pitches even in the city centre which were well used. The cafes and restaurants serve a distinctly Chinese menu, unlike the British version of Chinese fare. The Soho area is good however for international menus and interesting bars and restaurants. As with Bangkok the shopping malls were an oasis of calm and a place to get decent coffee. There is a lot of money around and hundreds of shops selling international luxury brands, which made us wonder who bought all this expensive stuff.
The HK Central Library is in a very expensive new building but it felt more like a university library. HK Airport is very clean and comfortable with free wifi.
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