Hong Kong - Less than 24 hours

If it is a weekday, go to dragon-i on 60 Wyndham St. This is just above Lan Kwai Fong which is where people get together for a night out. Dragon-i is the most popular/exclusive night club in HKG, but in the day time it is a dim sum place! It has eat-all-you-can fabulous dim sum at USD20 per person. You will not have the hustle and bustle of a dim sum hall with carts going around, and if that is what you want, you could go to City Hall, which is very close to the IFC Mall and Airport Express' Hong Kong station. You will need to book a table at dragon-i before you leave.

Hong Kong is very well connected by public transport. There are HKG tourism websites which will give you all the information. Must-dos really depend on your interests. For me, these would be a trip to the Peak on Hong Kong Island, a ride on Star Ferry to Kowloon, an a cable car ride to the Big Buddha on Lantau (I have yet to do this, but was told it is very very good...) And you can get to all these places using public transport. A trip to Stanley is very nice too... Have fun.

Some thoughts and suggestions:

1. It would be helpful to me to know the exact date of your trip, as that may be a public holiday here (I live in Hong Kong) which might affect my reccos as to what to do or see. Also if your day is a Sunday, it might change my dim sum reccos, as you will be in competition with literally millions of people out having Sunday dim sum with the family, so you might want to go someplace that takes reservations rather than risk having to queue for a long time.

2. The travel time between the airport and the main city sections of either Kowloon or Hong Kong Island is about 30 minutes. This travel time is about the same whether you take the Airport Express train, a bus or a taxi. It’s more of a matter of how much you want to spend to get there and the hassle factor you are willing to put up with.

3. As you are arriving at 8 pm, by the time you get through Immigration and get to Baggage claim it will be getting on toward 9 pm. You might want to consider whether just staying at an airport hotel would be easier for you. As the travel time to Hong Kong from the airport is not very far, it is not a huge deal to go into the city; but staying at the airport may save you some time and trouble on arrival and departure. I will say that the Hong Kong skyline at night is certainly one of the world’s best sights, so if you think you can do it, getting into the city to see that would be “worth” it. However, if you are coming off a long-haul international flight, and don’t think you will want to do any sightseeing after 10 pm in any event (which is what time it would be by the time you get to a downtown hotel, check-in etc), you may just want to stay at the airport and get to bed, and then head out early the next day. If you decide to stay out at the airport, there are currently three hotels near the airport: the Regal, the Marriott Airport and the Novotel. The Regal is attached to the main terminal, the Marriott and Novotel City gate are a few minutes' taxi or shuttle bus ride away. http://www.regalairport.com, http://www.novotel.com, or Marriott.com. You could then just leave your bags at the airport hotel and collect them on the way to the airport the next day (if you haven’t already checked in for your flight, see below).

4. I would suggest that when you land, that you try to check in for your Bangkok flight before you leave the airport. Most airlines allow early check-in up to 18 hours before departure. Take a look at the website for the Hong Kong Airport at www.hongkongairport.com which has info on early check-in, or check with your carrier. If you can do this, you will save a lot of time and hassle the next day in terms of waiting in line at the check-in counter. This also means you could check in your heavy luggage and just keep an overnight bag as a carry-on. If you check-in the night before, then IMO you only need to be at the airport about an 1 hour before departure, perhaps 1.5 hours to play it safe in case there are lines at Immigration.

5. If you can’t or don’t want to early check-in for your flight to Bangkok, you could just store your heavier bags at the airport and collect them the next day when you go to check-in for your flight. This will save your having to lug them into town for one night. You can check your luggage for HK$35 (US$4) per piece, go to http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/aguide/baggage.html#left for info. The "Meeters and Greeters Hall" is the main arrivals area, the Left Luggage area is on the far right of the hall as you exit the baggage claim/Customs areas.

6. The website for the subway is at http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/train/intro_index.html. The website for all public transport is http://www.td.gov.hk/. The website for Citybus, the main busline on Hong Kong Island is http://www.nwstbus.com.hk/. The website for Kowloon Motor bus, the main bus service for Kowloon is http://www.kmb.hk/tc/. The website for Hong Kong Airport is above, you can get links to the Airport Express train and other transport information from there.

7. It is very hard to advise on “must dos” without having any idea of what you like to do. Certainly a trip up the Peak in the Peak Tram, a trip across the harbour in the Star Ferry, a walk along the esplanade in Kowloon to see the Hong Kong skyline all make about the top three must dos in any guidebook and they do so for a reason: they offer spectacular vistas of the harbour, mountains and skyline. Whether this interests you is another matter. You can walk the market areas of Central or Wan Chai, visit some temples, perhaps get to some of the less touristed neighborhoods of Sheung Wan or Kennedy Town. A trip to Stanley is possible, but with your limited time it may be a bit rushed, I would say the same is true of Aberdeen. If you go to Stanley, I would do this first thing in the morning, although most market stalls do not open until 10 am or so.

8. Dim sum is generally served anywhere between 9 – 4 pm (although hours can vary), so if you can avoid lunch hours to have it, you will find fewer crowds. Having it for breakfast may be a good option for you. Other than on a Sunday when people eat all day (and sometimes a bit on Saturday too), the entire city tends to eat lunch between 12-1 pm on weekdays, so if you can go to lunch at 11:45 or 2 pm you may also find tables more available. Dragon-i mentioned above, is certainly a fine place, it is not the traditional dim sum, and offers no views although they have a nice outdoor terrace. If you want the cart experience, you will have to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, City Hall, also mentioned above, currently looks out onto a huge land reclamation and views are nothing at all now; so if you go there don’t bother with a view table. (I personally think dim sum for one person is difficult to enjoy, as the servings come in 3 and 4 piece sets and therefore it is hard to sample more than about 3 dishes by yourself as you will be overloaded with food. You may be better off with a set meal of non-dim sum items or a good bowl of noodles.) Three I can quickly mention that might work would be the Lock Cha Teashop in the Tea Ware Museum quite close to the base of the Peak Tram, it is small and quiet but a lovely setting and good food (vegetarian only), or Zen, a large and quite popular place in Pacific Place Mall, also near the base of the Peak Tram. Both take reservations, which may be a good idea. If you want the carts, you can try Metropol, also near Pacific Place, but they do not take reservations. For address of the various places mentioned see below. I know that Lock Cha and Metropol are open in the morning, the others may not serve until 11 am or so.

7. With one day, I would not bother trying to go see the Big Buddha on Lantau, as this will take up virtually all of your day. ( I do find it hilarious that the above poster has never been there yet recommends it as a must see!) The Buddha is located up on a mountain behind the airport, so if you stay at the airport you could see it with less time spent getting to and from, but IMO you then would be hard-pressed to see anything of Hong Kong proper. IMO it is not worth the time and trouble unless you have 3 days in Hong Kong, and even then my list of other things which would be more interesting here is quite long and the Buddha would be toward the bottom.

Lock Cha Teashop
Ground Floor
The K.S. Lo Gallery, Museum of Tea Ware
Hong Kong Park
Tel: 28017177
http://www.lockcha.com/

Metropol Restaurant
4th Floor, United Centre
95 Queensway, Admiralty
Tel: 2865 1988

Zen
Pacific Place Mall
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Tel. 852/2845 4555

Dragon-I
The Centrum
Upper Ground Floor
60 Wyndham Street
Telephone: + 852 3110 1222
http://www.dragon-i.com.hk/

Maxim's Palace City Hall Chinese Restaurant
2/F, Low Block
City Hall, Central
Tel: 2521 1303