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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Hong Kong
Get the best advice on shopping in Hong Kong. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Hong Kong city guide.
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| M Meacham |
09 February 2004 |
Stayed at Harbour Plaza Hotel Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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My trip to Hong Kong was a spur of the moment thing, but the nice thing about visiting Hong Kong is I could do things without much planning. The concierge desk had brochures describing 4-hr and 8-hr tours that cost between $280 HKD and $450HKD per person (the more expensive tour includes a meal). Being that this was the first time I had spent any time in Hong Kong, I tried the Hong Kong Island tour for $280 HKD. This provided a good way for me to see where things were and ask the tour guide about getting around in the city.
The next day, I decided to familiarize myself with the MTR (Hong Kong's subway) and the very busy Nathan Road area, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Their subway looks more like an underground shopping mall than a train stop. It is well lighted at all times and lined with shops. Littering carries a steep fine, so you won't find a speck of trash or a discarded cigarette butt anywhere.
The MTR system itself is pretty easy to figure out with map in-hand. Ideally, your map of Hong Kong would be small but detailed enough to show you where the MTR stops fall throughout the city. Your hotel concierge can probably provide you with just such a map.
Just walk up to a vending machine, touch your destination stop, and the computer screen will tell you how much money you need to deposit to get to where you're going (yes, it's that easy). The machine will spit out a credit card size piece of paper that grant access to the train area. And from there you will wait about 3 minutes before a train arrives.
At some point, you must use a taxi, and my first experience with this wasn't so good. The driver didn't speak English and this is not uncommon. As a consequence of this, we ended up travelling everywhere in Hong Kong except my intended destination which was the Harbour Plaza Hotel. I ended up in several conversations with his dispatcher before I finally got deposited at the right spot (to be fair, I wasn't charged for the "tour").
To avoid running into this little nightmare I would again suggest you acquire a map of the Island that clearly shows the city on both sides of Victoria Harbour, popular destinations in both English and Chinese, and the location of most of the major hotels. This will make life simple for both you and your driver.
Another caveat about using the taxis: Don't use them to get across Victoria Bay. I say this for two reasons: (1) you can get stuck in the cross-harbour tunnel traffic and incur a charge for just sitting in a parked taxi; and (2) there's a $20 HKD toll that will be added to your fair. For about half the cost of the toll, you can take the MTR to either side in about half the time. The Star Ferry service will also get you from one side to the other for even less money, but it will take about 15 or 20 minutes depending on your final destination. The additional time spent on the ferry, however, is more than balanced out by the fact that you get to stretch your legs and walk around the deck while viewing Victoria Harbour. Once you get to either side of the harbour, then take a taxi if you still need one.
Besides educating myself on how to get around, I had some clothes custom made. This was fun, but if you're even toying with the idea of doing this I would recommend doing it on your first day. They can finish your stuff in 1 or 2 days. If you can wear it a few days before you leave, then you'll get to see how it really fits and have any additional alterations made for no charge. Also negotiate shipping costs into the final sale if you can. Its much easier for them to ship it to you than it will be to carry an extra suitcase back through customs.
On a different note, I learned something about gratuities that usually goes unsaid. There is this 10% service charge attached to many purchases that seems to negate the need for it. Well, think again. My server at the Lux Cafe informed me that the "service" charge didn't go to him. That money was just an additional cost of the meal that would never work its way into his pocket (surprise!). Some places do pass it along, but its a good idea to ask the person serving you exactly how it works. Otherwise, they'll never get a tip for their great efforts.
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| R Hirsch |
07 February 2004 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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For those who are interested in shopping for electronics hardware, a trip up the MTR to Sham Shui Po or Mong Kok is worth the time.
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| J Turner |
01 February 2004 |
Stayed at Bishop Lei International - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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We bought food at both the Park N Shop and the Wellcome supermarkets by the escalators. Each was well stocked. The hotel is easy to get to - taxi or bus advised - or a short walk from the escalator. We found a great Egyptian restaurant called "Koshary" along the escalator and there are numerous bars and other restaurants along the way. The Indian "Tandoor" restaurant was also very tasty. Small Chinese places offer inexpensive standard rice, noodle or soup dishes and dim sum (yum cha) restaurants are excellent - ask where to find one).
The zoo and Hong Kong Park were very nice, though the aviaries are closed due to bird flu. The area around the escalator at many levels has lots of shopping, antiques and carpets (Hollywood Rd), and restaurants and bars. Times Square near Happy Valley (easy metro access) has lots of shopping and a large Fortress electronics store. We walked a lot, took a few taxis - mostly uphill or to the train station, got the bus to Stanley market from the Central bus station, and enjoyed rides on the tramline. The tram is narrow and crowded but worth the ride for the view from the top (as long as you don't have a lot of bags). The Victoria Peak tram is a nice ride and you can walk on many trails at the top.
Hong Kong has great ambience, good shopping (especially for namebrand goods if coming from China) and despite lacking real budget hotels, is a worthwhile destination. The Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) is convenient and reasonably priced (located on the Kowloonside) and the ferry from Guangzhou is also pretty easy (cheaper but you land a bit further away from the downtowns of both cities). Hong Kong taxis are pretty reasonable, but you should have the hotel name written in Chinese characters if possible. Taxis charge a surcharge of five HK dollars for each bag.
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| J Taylor |
18 January 2004 |
Stayed at Wesley, The - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Had 2 suits and some shirts made at Sam's Tailors in Tsim Sha Tsui. Great value and good fun, too. Took the tram up the Peak and spent a lot of time taking photos in Kowloon, up around the tropical fish and other markets. Cat Street antiques market was great for picking up fun items for presents (got my boss a copy of Mao's little red book!) but there are great "proper" antique shops in abundance. Great dim sum and thai restaurants in the basemement of Pacific Place, went there 2 days running. Wonderful food!
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| S Steinhagen |
12 January 2004 |
Stayed at Caritas Bianchi Lodge - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I had 24 hours in Hong Kong. With my hotel so close to Nathan Road, I went for a stroll before check-out. Wandered through a fresh market, and wet market in vicinity to ladies market. My main bag was already checked through to final destination (NZ) so I travelled lightly with a day-pack only. Went to the ladies market (opens 11:30am to late), lots of accessories, good for bag and sunglass shopping.
My Hong Kong map from a previous visit was extremely helpful - available from the HKTA and major hotels (mine was from the Holiday Inn). Wandered down Nathan Road towards the Ferry Terminal to the HKTA. If you are in a hurry, take the bus, it took me 2 hours, as I got distracted by many sites and shopping malls on the way. The HKTA is a great resource, they gave me good information on which bus to take to the airport, to get there on time. They recommended the ferry to Hong Kong island, birthing next door.
Took the ferry to Hong Kong Island (HKD2.20, goes every 20min), a great scenic way to get to Wanchai. Lots of good shopping in Johnston and Hennessy Road. I went to Garden Lane - another market. Had a hotpot dinner at a chinese store, soup, rice and pork, tea all for HKD33, the price of a coffee in Hong Kong! Took the tram to Times Square, a huge upmarket shopping mall, 7 stories or more tall. The A11 takes you to the airport for HKD40, from Gloucester Road.
I spent less than HKD100 on public transport, no need to get the Octopus card. Get enough money changed at the airport to get you to the hotel, as the hotels and shops have better exchange rates. I changed USD to HKD.
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| N Tavenner |
03 January 2004 |
Stayed at Empire Hotel Kowloon - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I was just in Hong Kong this time for an evening from mainland China, as my flight was to depart from Chep Lok on the following morning and I did not wish to perform border transit acrobatics on my departure date. That night I took my wife shopping at a plethora of cosmetics and beauty shops just around the corner from the Empire. She very much enjoyed herself with the high and middle end selections offered for sale.We visited a restaurant called the Western Coconut so that I could take a final try at steak before going back to the U.S. Well the restaurant was retro with old movie posters papering the walls and the ambience was comfortable, but the steak was litterally tougher than shoe leather. Order something else there and I am sure that it will be fine.The rest of the meal was great. There also was a nice bar there.
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| C Chu |
30 December 2003 |
Stayed at Newton Inn North Point - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Do remember to visit the Ladies' Street (Lui Yan Street) at Mongkok for really cheap bargains. Also stay up at least one night to experience the night life which cannot be seen in many countries!
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| J Rufo |
21 December 2003 |
Stayed at Caritas Bianchi Lodge - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I've been to Hong Kong many times. So I didn't go to any of the tourist sites. Mainly I came to do some Christmas shopping and for some r&r.
My favorite place to go shopping is the CitySuper in Tsim Sha Tsui. I like that place because I can find cooking and baking ingredients that are difficult to find in China. They also have an excellent bookstore called Page One and also a CitySuper stationery store. Not cheap, but worth a visit.
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| K Lee |
19 December 2003 |
Stayed at Kowloon Hotel, The - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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When you look at a map of HK, it looks very big, but one grid on the map is like 1 footstep so don't worry about going around. MTR and ferry is super friendly to foreigners, bus is not so much. So I usually took mtr then walked around. Taxi was not that expensive but most of the drivers had some problem communicating in English. Tram was not only fun, but also super value, it only costs HK$2 no matter how far you go. I personally found very useful to go around Admirality (Pacific Place) to Central or Western. In Tsim Sha Tsui, you can definitely cover everything just by walking around.
There are many places to shop in HK, but those too-tourists-oriented malls seemed too crowded or too expensive. My favorite was Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, few stations away from Tsim Sha Tsui to north. They also have a small ice skating rink and very nice AMC (yes the one in the States) multiplex with 11 or so screens.
Speaking of cinema, some recommended UA Pacific Place. That's also good choice, the thetre felt very posh, and had very nice sound system. However, non-stadium seats were not so comfortable after sitting for more than 3 hrs to watch Return of the King. The neck also felt little stiff since I had took 'up' most of time. So I preffered AMC's modern multiplex although it didn't have much flair like UA's.
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| L Lam |
03 December 2003 |
Stayed at Stanford Hillview Hotel - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Be careful when buying expensive electronic equipment from stores that ask for payment in cash. We bought a camera that was a japanese model but the seller was not totally honest about this. Although the camera works fine and has an English menu, I would have appreciated the honesty and not felt cheated.
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