Hong Kong - where East meets West (part 1)

Hong Kong → see more

Special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.
Language: Cantonese, English
Districts: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories, Lantau and Outlying Islands

We travelled to Hong Kong on September 2012 by +Air China with a stopover in Beijing (which will be another post soon). Weather was very hot but manageable. In Hong Kong we stayed in +Metropark Kowloon hotel.

Currency: Hong Kong dollar (HKD) - notes vary in design and colour according to denomination. If you plan to visit Macau from Hong Kong you still use there Hong Kong Dollars, rate is the same, but the change you will get will be in Macanese Pataca (MOP).

Octopus Card is a must if you visit Hong Kong, It's very convenient and save your money! You can buy it for 150 HKD, in which 50 HKD is the deposit (you will get it back as soon as you return it, deducting 9 HKD as a service charge). You can use it everywhere even if you do grocery shopping!

You can take a tube leaving Hong Kong International Airport Chek Lap Kok to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island depends where your hotel is. Ours was on Kowloon side and we decided to take a bus A21 from the airport, cost 33HKD (deducted from our Octopus card) which took as directly to our hotel.

Symphony of lights - the world's 'Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show'. We were very disappointed with the show itself, but the skyline of Hong Kong is just outstanding!