Destination Overview

Time difference: GMT +8 hours
Currency: Hong Kong Dollar
Flight time: 12 hours

Hong Kong’s show stopping skyline is likely the first thing you’ll notice when landing in the seething metropolis. Next: the smell of sizzling food. From the street food stalls of Kowloon’s Temple Street Night Market to the upscale restaurants in the old colonial buildings, Hong Kong is the food epicentre of Asia and certainly one of the top culinary capitals in the world.

Sample sweet and sour Cantonese, fiery Szechuan, delicate Japanese flavours and modern interpretations of French cuisine. Whatever your gastronomic need, Hong Kong has a knack of satisfying it. From warm pineapple budges slick with butter, juicy prawns, piping-hot dim sum fresh from the steamer or a bowl of greasy wonton noodles sticky with sauce, you’ll find it all here. One of the city’s enduring colonial traditions is that of high tea. Visit the lobby of any of the city’s luxury hotels and tuck into finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off, light-as-air patisserie and warm, comforting scones.

Hong Kong’s colonial roots aren’t the only influence on the city. Underneath the gleaming steel and shimmering glass of its modern skyline, its Chinese roots have left temples behind, parks designated for dawn tai chi, dragon boats and opera in bamboo theatres. Chinese revival architecture is everywhere, but there are also Buddhist icons and Sikh temples. With its awesome transport system you can nip from Chinatown to Little India to what feels like an upscale area of London in mere seconds. It’s a whirlwind, but incredibly fun.