Welcome to the Hong Kong Forum!

The best way to find relevant information on this travel board is to use the “search box” at the top of the forum’s table of contents and type in the topic or key words that you are looking for.

You can also find excellent travel information in the traveler created, "Inside Pages" for Hong Kong: tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294217-s1/Hong-Kong:…

Frequently Asked Questions (Hong Kong Forum - Updated February 2008):

The information below is only for your reference, for further information, please contact Hong Kong tourism board, do your own research, and get an updated comprehensive guidebook!

1) WHICH AREA SHOULD I STAY IN ? (KOWLOON OR HK

ISLAND)

The transportation system in Hong Kong is very efficient, reliable, and very affordable. You can take the MTR cross harbour, or take the star ferry, or cross harbour buses,mini buses, or taxis. All are convenient and affordable. The important thing is to choose a hotel that best suits your needs and budget, location is not the most worrisome factor while touring in Hong Kong.

However, the popular areas to stay in nevertheless are:

On the Kowloon side- Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok On HK island side- Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Wan Chai

There are more hotel choices to choose from on Kowloon side.

2) WHEN IS THE BEST TIME DURING THE YEAR TO VISIT HONG KONG ( WEATHER WISE SPEAKING)?

In general, November to February would be the best time to visit. During these few months, the temperature is much more comfortable, less humid, and not much rain.

Jan-February are our coldest months.

May-June are our WETTEST months.

July-August are the HOTTEST months.

April and October are the hotel's peak season.

For further details:

Hong Kong Observatory http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm

3) WHAT DO I WEAR DURING MY VISIT (Weather wise)?

If you are coming from a warm country, then during the winter months of November to February, you will need sweaters, coats, scarves, mittens, hats, and some will wear warmers during February. There is no heating system in general around Hong Kong.

During the hotter months like May to September, one would wear short sleeves, sleeveless, shorts, skirts, anything for summer weather that has the temperature

as high as 32 degrees celsius during the months of July to August.

However, Hong Kong is known for its unusual habit of keeping very powerful air conditioning in most indoor places, once you're indoor, unless you are used to the

air conditioning, you will find it handy to have a light cardigan, or some kind of a long sleeve shirt to cover up. In nicer restaurants, if you are cold, you may ask for a "shawl" to cover up, mostly intended for the ladies. The restaurants will lend you one while you enjoy your meal.

4) WHAT ARE MUST SEES AND DO'S IN HONG KONG FOR A FIRST TIMER?

This is the city that never sleeps, what you want to see, do or eat... is really entirely up to you ! You can be conservative, or really adventurous and daring. For more ideas of what you want to see, for example, history, cultural, nature, food, shopping, electronics, antiques, art ... etc.

Please visit Hong Kong's tourism board's official website:

www.discoverhongkong.com

In general, most tourists will vote that the following places are must see's:( based on a 5 day stay)

1) the Peak

2) Stanley Market

3) Ladies' Market and Temple Street market( both night markets)

4) Symphony of lights

5) Big Buddha and Ngong Ping 360

6) Disneyland

7) Ocean Park

8) Repulse Bay

9)SOHO and the longest escalator

10) Star Ferry ride

11) Shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui,Causeway Bay, Mongkok

If you have more than 5 days, consider these:

1) Wong Tai Sin Temple

2) Shatin's Snoopy Land

3) Fa Yuen Street and Flower market

4) Macau (Outside of HK)

5) Shenzhen (Outside of HK)

5) WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION

TO/FROM AIRPORT?

Most people travel out of the airport by Airport Express train, Airport Buses, Hotel shuttles/limousines, taxis or private cars.

hongkongairport.com/eng/aguide/airportex.html

Airport Express often offers promotional ticket prices for those travelling in groups, be sure to check their websites for their latest offers.

mtr.com.hk/eng/…promotions_index.html

Airport express train is the fastest way to get to Kowloon or HK island. From the HK international airport to downtown HK takes approximately 24 minutes!

(In comparison to taxis or buses, will be close to 1 hour under normal traffic conditions)

Airport Express service offers free shuttle to many major hotels.

mtr.com.hk/eng/…complom_free_bus.html

Buses information:

www.hongkongairport.com/eng/aguide/bus.html

Taxis:

www.hongkongairport.com/eng/aguide/taxis.html

For those who are in need to travelling cross boundary to places outside of Hong Kong, like Shenzhen, Macau, Shekou...etc.

You have the option of cross border buses, or skypier.

www.hongkongairport.com/eng/cbt/cross.html

www.hongkongairport.com/eng/tbu/skypier.htm

For those who have extra cash to spend and those who want to travel cross border in comfort, you have the option of skylimo.

hongkongairport.com/eng/…index.html

For those who plan to take the Airport Express train TO the airport for departures:

From Kowloon station or Hong Kong station, passengers can do in town check in for their upcoming flights. This is a convenient service for those who have flights later in the day, and also for anyone who likes the comfort of not having the drag their luggage

all the way to the airport.

mtr.com.hk/eng/…itci

There is a lot of information on this topic in the Hong Kong Forum. If you cannot find the answers in this sticky that you need, try doing a search in the forum, as well as posting your question.

6) OCTOPUS CARD

Octopus card is an electronic payment system using a contactless smartcard.

It first started with just utilizing the Octopus Card for transportation around Hong Kong, minimizing the need of carrying coins from loose change, and the advantage of not having to worry about having the EXACT change for transportation.

In the recent years, the usage of Octopus card have been extended to paying for merchandise, and food from many participating merchants around Hong Kong. Now the system can also be used for parking entries and exiting in parking lots, paying for parking meters, and using it as a reward point system for participating merchants.

Using the Octopus card for MTR offers you a small disocunt each trip when compared to purchasing single journey tickets.

There is a deposit of $ 50 HKD charged for each card. When you return the card to any customer service desk, you will get the deposit refunded to you. If you refund the card for the "on-loan" octopus within 3 months of issue, you will be charged a handling fee of $7 HKD.

For more information and details:

www.octopuscards.com/consumer/en/index.jsp

For those who would like to keep the Octopus card for souvenirs, (no deposit required), you can purchase one for yours to keep. They have mini-octopus cards as well. You can purchase one, and then add the value you want into the card.

For tourists who are interested the Airport Express travel pass- including 1 or 2 AE journeys, plus 3 days of unlimited travel on the MTR.

Please check more information from this website:

mtr.com.hk/eng/…aepass_index.html

For more information, you can also do a search in the Hong Kong Forum, or try posting your question in the forum.

7) SHOPPING

This is a very popular topic ! In general, Hong Kong is a shopping paradise. Shopping is available almost everywhere you go in Hong Kong. General opening hours of most retail stores are late in the morning, like 11:00am, but they also close late, in general around

10:00 or 11:00pm.

Most popular areas for shopping are Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Mongkok.

8) Visiting Macau and Shenzhen:

If this is not your first visit to Hong Kong, or you have at least 5 days here in Hong Kong, you might want to consider a day trip to Macau, or Shenzhen.

To Macau, it is approximately 1 hour by ferry. The two most popular ferry terminals are on in Sheung Wan, ferry company is Turbojet. The one in Tsim Sha Tsui, is First Ferry.

There are frequent sailings, however, during weekends and statutory holidays, if you do not have a flexible schedule, it would be best to pre-purchase the ferry tickets ahead of time.

www.turbojet.com.hk/eng/home/index.html

http://www.nwff.com.hk/english/nwff100000.asp

9) Do I need a "VISA" to enter ?

For Macau- MOST countries do not require a visa. For Shenzhen- MOST countries (except USA) can apply for a 5 day visa on arrival at the Lo Wu Visa office. There is a list of countries that one can apply for this 5 day visa on arrival.

Of course, one can obtain a Chinese Visa before entering China, or obtain one through China Travel Service, and some travel agencies who provides this obtaining visa service for tourists. (For a charge).

This information is only for reference. This information and policy is subject to change anytime, it is best to contact the Chinese Consulate in your country for the most updated and latest information.

There is also a "shenzhen" forum in Tripadvisor that one can posts more questions there.

10) WHERE CAN I FIND OUT WHAT SPECIAL EVENTS/CONCERTS/EXIHIBITIONS ARE ON DURING MY TIME OF VISIT?

Urbtix:

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/home.php

Hong Kong Ticketing:

http://www.hkticketing.com/eng/