Hong Kong

Madeleine Knight
Sep 25, 2016
7 min read

Flying to Hong Kong (HK) can be the easiest way to ease yourself into a country that couldn’t be more different from Europe if it tried! HK used to be part of the British Empire and so everything tends to be in both Mandarin and English, making getting around relatively easy. The locals also generally tend to be pretty willing to help, as much as they can, though it’s not always useful - for instance I was looking for a camping shop to look at new backpacks, standing on the street corner looking completely confused, and two people stopped to ask if I needed help… Both sending me in completely the wrong direction, but still the thought was nice!*

*All prices stated on this post are correct are time of writing, they are however subject to change over time.

Getting from the Aiport to Hong Kong Central and metro travel cards

Getting from Hong Kong Airport to the main city is quite a journey, about an hour by tube, as the airport is on an island of it’s own next to Lantau Island (I’ll talk about this wonderful place later). For me, the easiest and cheapest option was to get a 3 day travel card for the MTR (the name of the metro system), which gives you unlimited MTR travel for 3 days for 250HKD (around £25). When you come out of the Arrivals gate, look slightly to the right and you’ll see a service/help desk, the ladies there speak good English and are super helpful. This is where you buy the travel card. Then you walk around and behind the desk, forwards and to the right you will see the MTR station, this is the end of the line and so you can only go in the right direction!

The Yellow Line (I’m sure they have proper names but they’re all colour coded too) takes you across from the airport to Lantau Island, to the main-land part of HK and finally to Hong Kong Island (HKI), where the last stop is the Central MTR station for the whole city. From here you can get anywhere you need in the city.

The MTR is only for HK though, you can not use your 3 day travel card or Octopus card (the tube card I could suggest if your stay is longer than 3 days) in main-land China.

Accommodation

Accommodation is quite cheap in comparison to other cities of this size (London, New York City, Syndey, Paris etc) with rooms on HKI going for between £13 - £15 per person per night, and on the main land section of HK for around £10. The convenience of being on HKI is worth the extra few pounds though - in my eyes. I love to travel cheap, but from what I can tell, the money you could end up spending on getting around (unless you have the 3 day travel card) could be more than just being on the Island and close to HK Central metro station.

I stayed at Hong Kong Backpackers Hostel, in a double private room (it was me and my boyfriend). You pay at Check In and give a 100HKD deposit for the room key that you get back at the end of your stay if you don’t loose the key card. When we arrived they gave us a double bed+single bed room with a/c, a bathroom, toilet, wifi, TV and it was way more than I was expecting for the price we payed - £33 per night for two people in central HKI.

I will warn you now that this hostel is not that easy to locate. You need to go to Paterson St (come out of Causeway Bay Metro station, Exit ‘E’, turn left, turn left again then look left and you will see a doorway with 47 PATERSON ST on (almost as the next junction). Go inside, go to level 3 and you’ll be able to see main reception on your left.

I didn’t feel much of a community vibe, but because I was with my boyfriend and not there for long I wasn’t looking for a community vibe, so it could be different if you have more time to spend getting to know people.

Attractions

Lantau Island

On this Island there is so much to do and see I would give yourself a whole day, especially if you hate rushing and it’s super hot and sweaty this time of year (September) so you end up feeling kind of gross if you do try and rush.

How to get there:

HK Central MTR station - Tung Chung Station (yellow line, to end of line)

Once in Tung Chung, you will find yourself by the bus station and in an area with shops for food, water and everything you could need. From here you can either get the bus or the Sky Tram to The Big Buddha - which is exactly what it sounds like, a big Buddha statue up 216 steps, with a temple at the bottom that is so vibrant and beautiful! In the temple, make sure to go to The Room of 10,000 Buddhas as it is truly stunning!

How to get there:

Sky Tram - 250HKD upwards (straight from Tung Chung to the Buddha)

OR

Bus 21 from New Lantau Bus Station (walk past the bus station you can see and around behind it) - 17HKD one way*

*For every bus in HK you have to have exact change OR you can use the Optus travel card

On arrival at The Big Buddha the bus will drop you at Ngong Ping Village, which is purely for tourists with memorabilia everywhere and lots of food stalls. Walk to your right, where you will see a long promenade with 12 statues representing the 12 star signs of the Chinese Zodiac. From the end of this premiered you can choose to walk up the steps to The Big Buddha, which has an amazing view, or to the left towards the Temple. It is free to enter both, but you can pay to go inside the Buddha statue and/or have a meal in there.

After you’ve spent time here (around 1 1/2hrs - 2hrs) you can choose to go straight down again with either the Sky Tram or the bus (I warn you the bus is comfortable but very rocky) OR you can get the bus to Toi O, which is an awesome little fishing village about 20 minutes away. The whole village is build on stilts over the water, so it’s a really good photo opportunity! We ended up spending around 2hr’s here taking photos and walking around. There is the opportunity to go on a Dolphin Tour too. This village is super cultural and not so touristic at all.

How to get there:

Bus 11 from Ngong Ping Village to Toi O - 6.60HKD

Then I would suggest using the Number 11 bus again to get from Toi O back to Tung Chung as it is cheaper and quicker (11.80HKD per person) and takes around an hour. Then you’ll hope back on the MTR tube to central HK.

There is also the opportunity to hike around this beautiful island, with a 70km hiking trail. Or, alternatively, you can split up the journey a bit - such as getting the bus to Toi O and hike 12km back to Tung Chung.

The Peak

This attraction gives you a view not to miss! Overlooking the whole of HK, I would suggest going at night to walk the city lights - many buildings have interesting and colourful light displays all night long. You can go up for the free viewing point (the right hand building, in the glass elevator, go straight through the barrier) or pay to go up to a slightly higher point (the left hand building, up all of the escalators) which I have seen has a slightly better view, but it depends on your budget as this attraction costs around 45HKD.

How to get there:

Bus 15 from the bus station outside HK Central metro station to The Peak (first stop to last stop) - 9.80 one way

Visas

My main reason for flying into HK and leaving 3 days later? Visas. I was already in Eastern Europe when I decided to head to China, so getting visas was a little difficult from Lithuania when I’m English and haven’t got a Residency Card there.

There is Chinese Visa Services - which is the official Visa company for China in HK - which costs around 300HKD or around 500HKD for the express service. For this you do need your return flights out of China, a detailed Itinerary, addresses of stay in each place you’re going to etc etc etc… All of which is doable and can later be cancelled with no expense, but this is a bit complicated when you aren’t sure how long you’ll be hanging around and whether you plan to find work later or plan to hitch hike out of the country etc.

There is also the Forever Bright Trading Company, who charge a fair bit more (1090HKD for a UK passport, 850 for a Lithuania passport) but you can pick up the visa within 2 days and all you need for application is your passport, a passport style photo, the entry ticket you get at Boarder Control in the airport, and enough cash to pay on pick-up. These guys were super helpful and efficient, and as much as 1090 sounds like a lot of money, it is actually only around £109… which is cheaper than It would be in London*.

All the prices in this section are in referral to a 60 day double entry tourist visa.

Food

Obviously there are McDonalds and Subways etc everywhere, and the McDonalds in HK is the cheapest in the world, but if you fancy a more local experience, just head to any of the many restaurants lining the streets of HK. You will be told to sit at a table - sometimes with strangers - and given a menu where you tick which option you want and pass it back to the waitress/waiter who will then bring you your food in record time. You can also get some really decent street food, I’d suggest going for somewhere that already has a bit of a queue as you know they’re one of the more reputable street vendors. A meal in HK is likely to set you back between 35 - 80HKD.

Other

Water 1.5L - 13HKD

Beer - 20HKD (in 7/11) or 60HKD (in a typical bar)

McDonalds Double Mac Meal Medium - 32HKD

Free Wifi

Can be found at every 7/11, McDonalds and Bank and they are everywhere so there’s no need to worry! Also, the social media sites that are banned in the rest of China are still available in HK, so you can Facebook, Instagram and Google to your hearts content (yes google is also banned in mainland China!)