lery

I know most of you fodorites do not like HK Disneyland, but my 2 children, who are in fact 2 grown teenagers are 'DISNEYMANICS". Although we know HK Disney is not that interesting, we´ll have to visit it. We have left 2 available days in HK: Jan 25, the day before the holiday, THE CHINESE NEW YEAR; and Jan 28, which is the second day of the holiday. I would like to know which of these days would be less crowded. We do not know if the Chinese people go to the park on the holiday or if they stay at home with their family. If we decide to go on the 28, we have to go early back to Kowloon to see the fires. It may seem a silly question but we do not want to make the wrong decision as we do not have that much time in HK.
THANKS everybody again.
Cicerone: I printed all your posts about Hong Kong. Thank you!!!

rkkwan

1/25 will be less crowded. It is not a public holiday, while 1/28 is. Also, locals will be busy preparing for the big dinner that night (think Thanksgiving) and/or going to the flower markets.

Cicerone

The fireworks are on <u>Tuesday January 27</u>, not the 28th

Generally I would agree that the 25th is probably better with two caveats: (i) that day is a Sunday, and while it is the eve of Chinese New Year and that evening is the night on which the reunion dinners occur, people will have had the whole day off school and work, and Mom may send Dad and the kids to Disney to get rid of them so she can cook, and (ii) you should also check the Disney website to make sure that the park is not closing early on the 25th. I liken that day more to Christmas Eve: most business close up around 3 pm.

If you are in Hong Kong, and the park is open on the first day of Chinese New Year (i.e. Jan 26), IMO that may be a better day to go local Hong Kongers will not be out for the most part, and most everything else is shut down (although walks and hikes are still quite doable).

In any case, you might want to get reserved tickets.

If your kids are grown up teenagers (lets say 16 or above) they could actually go to Disney by themselves if you wanted to do other things. It is quite safe and they could do the public transport by themselves. I am sure you want to have a family vacation, but it won’t take them more than a few hours to do the park, so you could see something else and meet up on Lantau or elsewhere.

lery

Cicerone, sorry I knew the firewoorks are on Tursday, I was just confused when I wrote the post. I agree the first day of the holiday would be the best day, but what about the parades in Kowloon, we are dying to see them? The problem is that we do not want to miss anything!!! We are trying to find a solution. The only thing we are not much interested in is in hiking. Disney website does not have the holiday time yet.
Anyway, if you have any idea, it will be more than welcome.
THANKS again.

Cicerone

The parade is at night on January 26, so would not interfere with Disney plans. It actually does not interest me a whole lot, but if you can get some good seats, might be worthwhile. (This might be one event worth doing via a sponsored tour.) You can also see lion dances all over town starting from Jan 26 day and continuing during the rest of your trip at shopping centres and small shops, just look out for them all over town.

I would make an effort to get to the new year’s flower market in Victoria Park sometime before midnight on the 25th; any time from when you arrive up until then would work. It’s quite interesting, and just visiting it can bring you good luck for the coming year. There are smaller flower markets in other parts of Hong Kong as well, and the regular Flower Market in Kowloon will also be more than usually active, that is generally at its best in the morning. I would also try to take a walk in any local market stall areas, which will be loaed with colourful red home decorations to bring good luck for the coming year in addition to the usual colourful array of fruits and and veg and then live seafood and the butchers chopping to order. These make good souvenirs and gifts, IMO (much better than a copy watch or fake Prada bag and will bring good luck to your house or your friends' homes.) Market areas can be found on Hong Kong Island in Wan Chai, around the Central escalator area in Peel Street, in the Des Veoux Road area in Sheung Wan and there is a small one on Canton Road on Mongkok at Argyle Street. A visit to a temple at some point, esp during the second and third days of the holiday would also be something to include on your itin, the Pak Tai temple on Stone Nullah Lane in Wan Chai is good for bringing good luck for the coming year, this can be combined with a visit to the local market areas. The Wong Tai Sin temple in Kowloon will be quite crowded during that period, but is quite intereseting and you can have your fortune told. There are also forturne tellers in the Tin Hau temple on Shangahi Street in Yau Mai Tei, I am not sure if they speak English or other non-Chinese languages.

lery

CICERONE:
You can not imagine of how mucu help all the info you gave me will be!!! Thank you!
Cicerone and rkkwan, we decided to go to Disneyland on Sunday. Le's see...On the way back, we'll visit the flower market in Victoria Park (you said it is the best, right?).
On the the following days of the holiday, we are planning to visit:
Victoria PeaK,
Great Budha and Po Lin Monastery,
Market area of Wan Chai along Jonhston Road,(your favourite, isn't it, Cicerone?),and Pak Tai Temple, you just suggested.
Besides , the parades and fireworks.
I think we'll manage to do a bit of everything.
We would like to book a Chinese restaurant with a view. We thought about Hutong, what do you think?
Again, thank you both for your attention!

rkkwan

The flower market leads up to the Chinese New Year holiday, and it ends on CNY Eve. CNY Eve will be most crowded but if you go late (like midnight or after), there will be some significant bargains. [Hahaha, interested in a big peach blossom?]

MTR should run overnight or very late that night.

Cicerone

Can you first let me know what day you arrive in Hong Kong and what day you leave. I am having trouble advising you as I don’t fully understand your plans for the other days.

My concern with visiting Wan Chai markets during the first three days of CNY is that many of the stalls will be closed, I also think that going before CNY is better as stalls are loaded with goods for the holiday, small orange trees and plants and you just see red decorations everywhere (you are starting to see it already here and it ain’t just for Christmas). I would try to do this on the 25th or any day prior to that, but I don’t know when you are arriving. Can you advise.

I think Hutong is a very good idea, <i>make a booking immediately</i>. It is CNY and they just received a Michelen star, so it’s bound to be booked up. You do not need a window seat really, views are good from most tables. There is a window seat row, a middle row and then a line of Chinese wedding beds which they have turned into booth-like private table areas which are quite nice too and actually have decent views. So any would do IMO.

Here is the CNY schedule generally as I have found it in my experience. You might want to work on the itin based on it.

Sunday January 25 (Eve of CNY): things should be open per normal, but will start shutting down around 3-4 pm as people head home for reunion dinner (think Christmas Eve). The exception would be the flower market in Victoria Park which stays open until the early morning hours of Jan 26. However, this market is open from about Jan 20, so you could go at any time during your visit if you are arriving before Jan 25. It’s open daily from Noon- midnight. It’s generally most lively between 6- 9 pm when it’s just jammed with people. Your plan is to go to Disney, which may have shorter hours, check the websites. As it is a Sunday, it may be crowded at the park; get advanced tickets if you can. Public transport will be running as per normal and should you should have no trouble, but MTR and buses could be quite crowded in the late afternoon and early evening. If you want to buy grocery supplies, buy them today, as everything will be closed on the 26th.

Monday January 26th (first day of CNY): everything in town is closed. Shops, restaurants, grocery stores, museums. (Although Disney may be open.) Hotel restaurants will be open, you may find the odd Indian restaurant open as well. Ferries and buses are running, you can do walks, ferry rides, visit the Peak (this may be a good day as many people will be at home). Parade is at 8 pm or so on Monday evening. There are many easy walks that do not involve hills (or just minor ones) and are very scenic, like Lamma Island, parts of Lantau along the sea, the Peak ring and/or Severen Road, the Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path to Stanley. The Dragon’s Back, which has a bit of a climb, rewards with great views and with the time you have on this day, you could do it via the walk through the cemetery or include a walk to Big Wave Bay and the longer bus ride back via Stanley and Repulse Bay.

Tuesday January 27th (second day of Chinese New Year); Some smaller shops and restaurants will still be closed, but shops in malls will be open, and a good number of restaurants too. Museums should all be open. Offices, schools, banks and government agencies are closed. As for the local markets in Wan Chai, I believe you will find that many of the stalls will remain closed on this day. I personally don’t think it’s a good market day. Visits to a temple are a good plan, this could be Po Lin Monastery and possibly the temples in the charming village of Tai Po. Fireworks in the harbour at 9 pm.

Wednesday January 28th (third day of CNY): Smaller shops and restaurants will still be closed (and may remain so for the rest of the week, this is annual leave for staff for many smaller shops), the markets will have more stalls open. Malls and larger restaurants are open as are museums. Offices, schools banks and government offices are closed.

Thursday January 29: offices, banks, government, schools reopen. Smaller shops and restaurants may still be closed. Most everything else is back to normal routine.

lery

We arrive in Hong Kong on Jan 22,8PM , after a 2 day travel from Brazil, via New York(!!!). As we managed to have an upgrade at Continental Airlines, we hope to arrive not THAT tired. So in the morning of the 23th, we will be ready to begin to explore the city.We are booking Hutong for Saturday evening, the 24th.
Maybe we'll do street markets on the first 2 days. On Sunday, we'll go to Disneyland. And during the 2 days of CNY, we will visit the Great Budha and the Monastery, Victoria Peak and some of the walks and temples you , Cicerone told us to. Besides the parades and fireworks of course. I am trying to resume my schedule not to bore you.
In terms of malls, which one is the best? We'll be at the Renaissance Kowloon. Is it true that it is dangerous to shop in some of the shops at Nathan Road? Aren´t they relyable?
We'l leave HK on Jan 28., early in the morning.
I don´t know if I was clear enough, but everything you write about HK and the CNY are of great help for me to organize my stay in Hong Kong!
THANKS a lot again!

rkkwan

The flight is fine, but you'll still have jetlag. Most likely, you'll feel tired on the afternoon of the 23rd, so don't plan much at that time. Go back to the hotel for a nap.

I wouldn't wait until 1/27 to go to the Big Buddha. It is a public holiday and can be crowded with long lines for the cable car. If you go on 1/26, go early.

klam_chowder

lery, great to see that rkkwan &amp; Cicerone have given you excellent insights, as they generously did with my Nov trip too.

I just wanted to add that I'm a DisNut and spent the entire day at Disneyland and even had to rush at the end to get in all my shopping.

Just a tip...check out the Royal Banquet Hall. It's a counter-service/food court place that has lots of selection (everything from Mickey-head shaped pizzas to pork and dried squid on rice and green tea soba) so you might even consider eating there. However even if you don't eat there, it's worth a pop-in as it's themed on a medieval castle, paying homage to the princesses; there's even a few statues of princesses dancing with their beau or beast. If your kids are disfans, they will likely appreciate the theming of this place.

I just wanted to add this tip as I haven't yet finished my trip report. Have a magical time in HK!

Enjoy-la!

lery

rkkwan:
great tips!! Excellent to know that the best time, in my case, to visit the Great Budha is on Jan 26 early in the morning.
Cicerone:
always marvellous tips! I've been studying all of them to make my stay in HK unforgetable!!
Klam Chowder:
happy to meet a &quot; Diney nut&quot; like my family! We'll certainly have lunch at the Royal Banquet Hall!
THANKS everybody for all the info you so patienly gave me! And if there is still more... I will be more than happy to read it!

Cicerone

OK, knowing your schedule is helpful. I would encourage you to keep some flexibility still at this point; for example if Hong Kong Disney is open on Monday Jan 26 (nothing posted yet on their website) that may be a very good day to go, as it is unlikely to be crowded. Going to the Buddha is also a good idea for the 26th; it may be possible to combine the two on the 26th, but it is hard to say how much time you need at Disney. I have some more suggestions with regard to the Buddha below as well.

With regard to the markets, IMO they are most lively in the early evening hours, like between 5-7 pm, so perhaps you can work that into a schedule for Friday or Saturday late in the day. (Photographs may be better or worse at that time, but most of the market stalls have these hanging red lamps which IMO are quite atmospheric, markets are also very crowded then with evening shoppers). Lunch time is also another good time so you could incorporate a Wan Chai walk into lunch in the Wan Chai area maybe on Friday. You could also do the Wan Chai markets and the Pak Tai Temple, and then get the #6 bus from Queens Road East over to Stanley (the Pak Tai Temple is just off Queens Road East where the #6 bus has several stops). Sat afternoons and most of Sundays are generally good market days in any event. The only time they would be very quiet are first thing in the morning before about 10:00 am, some stalls won’t even be open.

If you get reservations for Hutong for Saturday that is good, hopefully you will be in the restaurant at 8 pm so you will see the light show and won’t have to make any special effort to see that at any other time (not sure it is worth the efforts at any other time really).

It is a bit hard to advise for the other days, as they are public holidays and some things will be closed and then once they start opening up, will be quite crowded. You will just have to play it by ear; the weather will also be a factor, if you get a very nice day, things like the Buddha will be even more popular.

I would say the LATER you can go in the day to the Buddha the better. First of all, most bus tours tend to go in the morning and then have lunch there or otherwise be gone by mid-day, so crowds tend to be getting smaller as the day goes on. You may find you can get cable car tickets for the afternoon but not the earlier part of the day. Secondly, and more importantly, sunset there is actually quite beautiful as the sun starts to sink behind the Buddha and the mountains into the sea. While you cannot really stay for sunset at the Buddha as it closes at 5:30 pm (which is at or even before sunset for much of the year) you can get some pretty views starting around 4 pm. At crowds are quiet a bit less by then. For the average tourist who does not know Hong Kong, timing may be hard to judge, but if you leave on the MTR for Tung Chung from down town Hong Kong by 2:30 pm, this should put you up at the Buddha (via the bus, not the cable car where lines are unpredictable) by 4 pm. You would then have about an hour plus a bit at the Buddha, which is generally fine. If you want to have more of a margin for error, leave from Hong Kong at 2 pm. (Note that this would not give you any time to do any hiking or to go Tai O, but if you just intend to see the Buddha, is doable. You may not have time for the cable car either, unless you book like a 3 pm ride UP from Tung Chung, or if it is possible to book the last ride down at 6 pm, see the website.) Lantau offers a lot to do and see, and you could easily spend a day on Lantau doing other things and go to the Buddha at the end of the day via a bus from Tai O or elsewhere. (Note also that I have ignored the ferry option to get to Lantau, which IMO does not get you anywhere but in longer bus lines and on public holidays, on more crowded ferries. I would not bother with the ferry unless you want to rent bicycles in Mui Wo for part of the day first. Or if you want to skip the Buddha and see coastal areas of Lantau, but that is another trip.)

On Jan 26 perhaps going later in the day may not matter, as Jan tends to be overcast generally, and on the first day of the New Year people may get a later start in the day than usual. There are also unlikely to be nearly as many bus tours on that day as well.

With regard to the Buddha, I have actually been there on public holidays (most recently October 1) and it was not nearly as bad as I had dreaded in terms of lines. We did not have a booking for the cable car, and waited about 45 minutes for the ride down at about 3 pm. (I will say it was a very hot day, which would keep crowds lower than the cooler winter days, so I could see lines of maybe twice that length on CNY. But then you aren’t waiting in the heat.) Also, on public holidays they run many more buses, so you will find the wait for buses be shorter in any event even if the cable car line is long. The Buddha area itself may be crowded, and thus hard to perhaps take some pictures, but doable. And you can skip the vegetarian meal, IMO, so more lines can be missed. Note that on Sundays and public holidays you will pay more for the cable car and the bus than you would on Saturdays and regular weekdays.

It is not at all necessary to take the cable car both ways, and IMO is an unnecessary expense, as IMO the bus ride is as interesting and thrilling and really should be taken at least one way. If it is foggy or polluted the cable car will not offer much in terms of views in any event, so both ways may be overkill. (Walking down is also quite interesting, there are several good options, including one through several working monasteries.) If you want to take the cable car, try to pre-book, that should save you a great deal of time in terms of lines. See http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng for information, they may already be sold out for your dates. The other thing to remember if you do not have pre-booked tickets for the cable car, is that when you arrive on Lantau Island for the journey up to the Buddha, you can easily gage the line for the cable car and if it looks long, you can just take the bus. To get to the cable car station on Lantau, you first need to take the MTR to the Tung Chung station. Exit at Door B from the station. (Look for the Hang Seng Bank). You will come out into a large outdoor plaza, and keeping the building in front of you to your right, walk across the plaza. As you go around the corner of the building on your right, you will see a set of stairs a bit to the left leading to a pedestrian overpass. This is the entrance to the cable car. <i>If you can see people lined up on the overpass, IMO you should rethink the cable car, as this means the line is fairly long</i>. What is worse is if people are queuing on the plaza in front of the stairs, if this is the case, then I would just take the bus. To get to the bus, keeping the stairs up to the cable car to your left, walk next to them and follow the covered sidewalk around to the curving parking lot to the blue/green signs which say Bus #23 Po Lin/Ngong Ping. (Please by-pass the ladies at the counter there who are selling combined bus/cable car tickets, as you may not want to commit to the cable car going down until you have seen the line at the top.) The bus makes the journey in about 50 minutes, and is a great ride. Sit in the very front if you can, otherwise the right side is slightly better as you get some Buddha views from across the Shin Pik reservoir. (But you miss some beach views on the left side, it’s a toss up.)

My only other comment on the Buddha is that there is <b>no admission fee to go up the stairs and walk around both platforms of the outside of the Buddha</b>. However, before you go up the stairs, the ladies in the booking windows may ask you to consider whether you want to buy a meal ticket. You are not obligated to do so. You can however buy a ticket for the museum located in the base of the Buddha. This will also include a vegetarian “snack” at the snack bar run by the monastery. The price is HK$23. The museum exhibits are only curated in Chinese, so unless you can read Chinese, it will be virtually meaningless to you. There is a tiny Buddha relic there, but again, for the most part I think you will find this somewhat obscure and not meaningful. The museum-with-snack-option is <u>not</u> in the list of printed options in English at the ticket window, and I don’t believe it is generally mentioned to foreigners by the sales personnel. (They want to sell you to the full meal ticket.) I rarely see it mentioned in a guidebook (and even Fodors has it wrong on this site by implying that you have to pay to go to the “upper podium” of the Buddha, which is incorrect). The first time I learned of it was recently when I was with a Cantonese speaker, so ask before you commit to buying a full meal ticket if all you want is access to museum inside the Buddha, or just a snack. The snacks overall are OK (the silky tofu is quite good actually), you eat outside under awnings near the restaurant and the temple; but overall if you are short on time, the food is not the point and can be skipped. You can always just make a donation to the monks as well.

lery

Cicerone: Thank you again!
Our schedule will be more or less like this (it may change depending on our tiredness, weather, etc).:
Jan23:morning: stroll along Tsim Sha tsui water front.
Ferry to HK island.
lunch: Sevva
afternoon:- Hollywood Rd /Man Mo Temple
- Wan Chai: Jonhston Rd /Flower Market /Pak Pai Temple.
(I don't know we'll be able to visit both markets on the same day).
Jan 24hopping Mall (which one is the best?)
dinner: Hutong at 8pm (already booked).
Jan 25isneyland
Jan 26:Great Budha, Po Lin Monastery (is it interesting, you didn't mention?)
afternoon: parade
27: Tsim Sha Tsui or what?...
afternoon: fireworks.

This is a very &quot;basic&quot; schedule just to organize my ideas of what to visit in Hong Kong. I am very open to new ideas and tips.
Thanks everybody again for all the help!!!

Cicerone

Sorry, leery, I forgot about your shopping question. I would not say that the shops on Nathan Road are “dangerous” in terms of your safety, but they do have a reputation for overcharging people. They also have somewhat of a reputation of pulling scams on people like giving empty camera boxes, or switching the model that was agreed for an older model in the box. So I would be careful shopping there. For the most part, prices for electronics like cameras and mobile phones will not be cheaper here than in the US, but I have not compared to prices in Brazil. So do a good bit of comparison shopping at home to make sure you know a bargain when you see it. You may also see more recent models of things here, but not always (you can’t, for example, buy the Sony Reader electronic book here; but you can usually but the latest Japense model mobile phones).

As for other shopping, is there something in particular you are looking for? I am of the opinion that you can buy virtually everything in the world here, as Hong Kong is a true entrep&ocirc;t; however most of it will <u>not</u> be at a discount. A Prada bag (a real one) is not going to cost you any less in Hong Kong than it does in S&atilde;o Paulo or the US. We have no VAT or other sales tax, so that may be one small savings, but otherwise coming here to buy high-end goods will not result in a bargain. You can find fake Prada and other knock-offs of course, but I imagine you can buy them in Brazil as well. (If not, make a stop over in NYC and go to Canal Street where all the Cantonese from Hong Kong have street stalls there selling fake purses, why waste your time here doing that?!)

If you want souvenirs, the Wan Chai area markets have a limited selection of items. The Cat Street and Ladder Street areas of Hollywood Road have lots of interesting junk like Chinese coins, little red books and other Mao kitsch, and are fun to wander as part of a walk in Hollywood Road and Soho. For a good selection of quality Chinese crafts and souvenirs, I would try Chinese Arts and Crafts, or the slightly down-scale version: Yee Hwa Chinese Products Emporium. The former has a large shop right near the Star Ferry pier in Kowloon, the latter has their biggest shop is in Kowloon right on Nathan Road, go to http://www.chineseartsandcrafts.com.hk (click on “E” for English) and http://www.yuehwa.com/yh/english/hkallstore/p2_2k4.html for locations. Both are fixed-price, good quality, they will ship, and are very reliable. The main Chinese Arts and Craft shop in Kowloon at the Star Ferry is huge, with a very large gift department and clothing department on the second floor (jewelry on the first). I also like the gift shop at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (10 Salisbury Road) which is basically across the street from the Chinese Arts and Crafts shop. It has art books, artwork (esp wall scrolls) cards, Chinese music CDs, and all kinds of other art-related stuff at good fixed prices. For fun and funky gifts, I like Shanghai Tang. They have some fashion forward clothing (think hot pink silk Mao jackets) and then gifts like watches with Chinese characters, wallets and some housewares, esp frames and silver items like candle holders. Some things are expensive, some are reasonable. Their ginger room spray is great, if you like how the store smells, that is what they use and you can buy it too. Their main shop is in Central in the Pedder Building, they have outlets in Pacific Place Mall and I believe in IFC Mall (but check the website at http://www.shanghaitang.com/shanghaitang/index.jsp
for locations and some idea of their items). Stanley Market has a huge selection of souvenirs and also clothing items like “pashminas” (fake but fine). One of the best things to by there IMO is the inexpensive artwork, from small already-framed pieces like Chinese zodiac signs, paper cuttings, old black and white photos to larger unframed artwork. The smaller framed pieces generally cost less than US$25 and make great gifts or souvenirs (you couldn't even begin to get anything framed at home for that price generally), the shop will wrap them in bubble wrap to ensure they won't break. My favourite are the wonderful &quot;peasant paintings&quot; which are brightly colored primitive-style folk art prints of Chinese village life. You can find these in Stanley and often in some other markets as well, there are shops along Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai which sell them. They range in size from small to large, the largest size being about 25 by 25 inches and going for about US$85 and going down in price from there depending on size (and your bargaining skills). Very whimsical and charming and a good memento of your trip. You can also have a chop or seal made in Stanley (and some other places too), they also make a good souvenir.

If you want to spend a good bit of money, but like good quality, please go to Blanc de Chine, either in the Pedder Building or in the Landmark shopping centre. Lovely silk clothing and bedding. It is unusual and you can’t find it everywhere. see http://www.blancdechine.com/. Also, for unbranded truly boutique shops, try Peel Street and Staunton in Soho, these have lots of designer items (you just don’t know the designers’ names -- yet). Peel and Graham Streets have a lively veg/fruit market too, lower down the hill.

There are literally dozens of books written on the shopping in Hong Kong, you might want to get yourself one, like Suzy Gresham's <i>Born to Shop, Hong Kong</i>. Especially if you are going to devote a whole day to shopping (which I can’t imagine doing, and not inside a mall, but it is your vacation, so you should do what you want).

Otherwise, there are just tons of shopping malls here, selling all kinds of goods, mostly all the same brands you can probably get at home or over the internet; but it really depends on what you want. I couldn’t begin to tell you which is “best”. But are you coming to Hong Kong to go to a Benetton, Gap, Body Shop or similar branded store?

You don’t have the Peak on your list, I am sure it was just left off because it’s not a comprehensive list and I know you have mentioned it before. You also could consider Stanley Market, with stops at Repulse Bay and/or continuing on from there to Shek-O and Big Wave Bay. You could also include someplace like Sai Kung in the New Territories for seafood and also a walk along the reservoir or sea coast and/or visit to the Sheung Yiu Folk Museum (http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/eng...ch_sel_syf.htm). You could also go to outlying islands like Lamma, Cheung Chau or Po Toi, and do the easy walks there, there are small temples there too and casual restaurants. All these are doable on the 26th and 27th when other things like shops may be closed and ferries and buses are running on more frequent holiday schedule. You might want to save the mall day for the 27 or 28 when shops will be open but other things may be more crowded. Stanley on a Saturday would be an idea too, it may be crowded, but IMO less than on the following Tuesday or Wednesday which are public holidays (many people work a full or half day Saturday here, including the 150,000 or so Filipina maids who will otherwise have most of the other days off).

lery

Cicerone:
Yes, I forgot to mention The Peak. I do not intend to spend the whole day inside the mall. As I knew you would bring up more ideas for the Saturday, I left the entire day &quot;free&quot; . Now I will be able to choose among the many options you gave me for our Saturday!
My family and I are very anxious to visit HK, mainly after reading all your detailed posts! I have already printed many of them and I am sure they are going to be of great help!
THANK you so much!
Thanks everybody!

Iroma

We are hoping to be in Hong kong mid April and take the kids to Disneyland. Is it very crowded in April and is the weather very bad for this kind of thing? Thanks

Cicerone

April is generally warm and very humid. However so far this year, like many other parts of the world, we have had a cool spring, and temps are only in the upper 60s F. But if things go as per normal, it will be in the high 70s to low 80s F, and humidity will be about 80-90%. It can be a bit uncomfortable with humidity, but is a bit cooler than July and August, and there is less chance of pouring rain, although overcast skies would not be unusual. (The very best time to come to Hong Kong are late October through end January, when temps and esp. humidity, are pleasant.)

In terms of crowds, generally avoid weekends if you can, esp. Sundays, as you will encounter local Hong Kongers. On weekdays, you mostly would be contending with other tourists, including mainland PRC tourists who are bused in. There are several public holidays in April (one is today) and then Good Friday and Easter Monday, so again those days are to be avoided if possible. Schools here have spring vacation during April, different schools have different schedules (the American school is off this week), so it is hard to judge whether you will encounter scores of school kids.

There is also Ocean Park, our homegrown amusement park, which might interest you or the kids. There are many activities here beyond Disney which may also interest them.

rkkwan

Most local schools in Hong Kong will be off from Friday, April 22; with classes resuming Tuesday, May 3.