Nothing touristy in Hongkong

There is an enormous amount of non-touristy things to do here in Hong Kong. But let me first make sure that you have done some of the touristy things, like taken a ride on the Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Hong Kong Island, taken the funicular up to the Peak, walked the esplanade along the waterfront on the Kowloon side, taken the #6 bus over to Stanley market. These things are in every guidebook for a reason, and “worth” doing. I do them as often as I can myself, and I live here.

For some other ideas, please search this board for my very long list of reccos called “Cicerone’s Reccos for What the Locals Do for Fun in Hong Kong (Hint: We DON’T Go to those Awful Night Markets....)” at http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/cicerones-reccos-for-what-the-locals-do-for-fun-in-hong-kong-hint-we-dont-go-to-those-awful-night-ma.cfm this includes some non-traditional ideas, and includes a list of walks and some sources for more walks.

Getting outdoors is very easy here. Walking and hiking can be done right on Hong Kong Island, as well as in more remote parts. You can camp in many areas (need a permit), you can scuba dive (!) in Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park. You can paraglide in many places, including along the Dragon’s Back on Hong Kong Island. You can kayak, canoe and windsurf. For a description of an easy walk on Hong Kong Island, see my posting called “Cicerone’s Favourite Hong Kong Walks II: Paradise Found! From Happy Valley to Stanley in High Heels! (Almost) The Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path”. For what has been described as the best walk in Asia, see “Cicerone's Favourite Hong Kong Walks III: The Dragon's Back”. You can find these at http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/cicerones-favourite-hong-kong-walks-ii-paradise-found-from-happy-valley-to-stanley-in-high-heels-alm-1.cfm
and http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/cicerones-favourite-hong-kong-walks-iii-the-dragons-back.cfm. Also check the Hong Kong Tourism Board website at discoverhongkong.com for other ideas.

In the good weather in January I would say to try to get to the lovely Sai Kung peninsula area, or one of the outlying islands like Lamma or Lantau. It’s hard to beat Stage #2 of the MacLehose Trail for outstanding beauty and a good workout combined. If you do it on a weekday you will probably be the only people on the trail; although on a weekend it never is crowded or anything. But there are many choices. You can do walks/hikes, take kayak trips, or take local kaido or ferry rides and then have a meal in the area, including at the wonderful Restaurant One Thirty One. For other optons, I think the ferry ride to Tung Lung Island from So Sai Wan or Sam Ka Tseun may be the prettiest in Hong Kong (weekends and public holidays only), and Tung Lung Island has a wild beauty that is unique in Hong Kong, IMO.

My other suggestion is to just get on the MTR, the street tram or a bus, and then get off at any random stop and just walk around the local neighborhoods and see what is up. Good places for this on Hong Kong Island are North Point and Sai Wan Ho, and also the Kennedy Town area of Western. The #10 bus on Hong Kong Island runs from Central to the North Point ferry pier and from there you can poke around that area of North Point, including the Sunbeam Theatre for Chinese opera and other cultural offerings. This is a good bus because it is double decker so you get a street view on the journey. (You can also take the MTR to North Point.) The #10 also runs in the other direction from Central through to Kenndy Town making stops in very local neighborhood areas. The street tram is a slower, but more scenic, way to reach these areas as well. For Sai Wan Ho, take the MTR to that stop and walk the neighborhood. The Museum of Coastal Defense there is excellent and there are two interesting temples close to the museum. You can also take the #14 bus to or from Stanley to get to Sai Wan Ho which might be an interesting way to basically circle the island as part of a trip to Stanely. On the Kowloon side, I would go someplace like Kwun Tong which is completely untouristed, go to Yue Man Square and the Hip Wo Street area where there are local markets. (You can even take a ferry from North Point to Kwun Tong, which may be a good way to combine visits to both sides and get a little ferry ride into the bargain.) Tsuen Wan is also interesting, it was farmers’ fields not so long ago and now is a mini-city of like a million people. (Lots of PRC tourists, but ‘nary a Western one. The PRC tourists go for jewelry and pharmaceuticals, as fakes abound in the PRC. ) It also has a nice little walled village museum very close to the MTR station. These neighborhoods are high-rise ones, with some enormous housing estates in some places (which are sites in themselves IMO, but then again you live in Singapore perhaps not so much for you); if you want small villages, then head to the New Territories, the area around Fanling is good, but even Lamma offers small villages on its back side, as does Lantau and parts of Sai Kung. For Fanling, there are several ways to do this. One is to take the MTR/West Rail to Fanling and hop a #78K bus out along Sha Tau Kok Road and just get out at some point along the road once you leave the town of Fanling and hit rural areas, which will be after a mile or so. There are many small villages along this road and down the side roads here. You could also do a historical walking tour of the walled villages and clan halls of Fanling, this is quite an interesting self-guided tour, take a look at http://www.hktrampers.com/FactFile/LungYeukTauHeritageTrail for info and maps. It takes under 2 hours. You could also do Stage #10 of the Wilson Trail which ends/begins at the end of Sha Tau Kok Road and includes some villages. (Please bear in mind when I say “villages” I don’t mean a place with cobblestone streets and trim gabled houses with geraniums in window boxes like you find in Switzerland. I mean dirty, falling-down-around-your ears and featuring lots of barking dogs -- and is some places wild cows. The word ramshackle is an apt description. But I am in love with these villages none the less.)