1st time to Hong Kong
 

I am travelling from Canada to Hong Kong with a friend during the last week of May and this will be my first trip to this part of the world. We will be staying at the Langham Hotel in Kowloon. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for great bargain shopping or dining that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

if you stop at the tourist office at the star ferry terminal in kowloon, they have a pamphlet about outlet shopping that is quite helpful....also there are terrific places all through kowloon...just watch for signs on buildings and go upstairs and visit...one great building on the HK side is the peddler building, a small building in the middle of the hi-rises...great shopping

You can also pick up the pamphlet mentioned from the HKTB counter immediately after clearing customs at the airport (along with a lot of other useful information).

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Great shopping at the Stanley Market. Take a taxi.

The Langham in Kowloon is in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. You'll have lots and lots of dining and shopping choices nearby.

Stanley Market is cool, but don't take a taxi there. It's pretty far, and a taxi ride from your hotel to Stanley will cost $$$. Take the Star Ferry across the harbor, and take bus #6 or #260 outside the City Hall to get to Stanley.

Stanley Market is kind of touristy. Mongkok and Causeway Bay both offer better shopping, unless you are looking for overpriced statuettes and knickknacks, etc. There is a Joyce Warehouse outlet in Causeway Bay near Lee gardens that has designer stuff for cheap.

The bus ride to Stanley is nice if you sit on the upper deck in the front.

Eat at Yung Kee in Central, Tsui Hang village for dim sum, also in Central, Peak Lookout for the nice atmosphere, Spring Moon in the Peninsula if you feel like splurging. For southside dining, you could try the verandah in repulse bay.

You might be able to get the info that Peter mentioned at the link below. They do have an "All About Shopping" link.

www.hktb.com

For dining with a view (European cuisine), try the Deco cafe atop Victoria Peak. We also enjoyed Panorama and Harborside along the harbor in Kowloon. A slight edge to Panorama, as their tables are oriented so both parties can catch the view, while at Harborside one party sits with her back to the view. We saw the nightly light show from each of these, but the best view of that we found was from an elevated walkway behind the cultural center near the Star ferry terminal, in part because you can hear the music there.

If your're going to buy photo or video stuff only buy from the government approved shops even if it works out more expensive. Friends of ours were looking for a camera, the shop said they didn't have it in stock but if they left a 3rd of the ammount as a deposit they could order it for the next day they gave him a receipt & he thought he had gotten a great deal bcoz it was cheaper than the other shops, but When they went back they said they had'nt been able to get hold of the model they wanted & gave them back the deposit, the problem was that the dollars were false, which they only found out about when they tried to pay their hotel's extra bill in Bangkok a few days later.

If you want to buy electronics in Hong Kong, you should clearly understand the followings:

1. There are usually two types of electronic goods in HK, even at large stores - officially imported via the designated HK distributor; and grey/black market stuff imported from Japan or elsewhere directly.

2. The main difference between the two is that with the "official" ones, you can get warranty at the official shops in HK, or you can probably exchange for an "international warranty card" issued by the manufacturer. KEEP IN MIND that this international warranty card may not be recognized by the distributor in the US or elsewhere, so you won't get warranty either way, official or black/grey market imports.

3. NEVER NEVER NEVER hand out money to a merchant until you've looked at the item you're going to purchase. By that I mean the EXACT item, in its box. Don't let them switch to a different one even if the box looks the same. Double and triple check. If a store wants a deposit (like what Clark55 says in her post), walk out immediately, because they'll promise everything, and you'll never get your money back if the item never arrives.

4. Understand CLEARLY that there's no such thing as "return". This is a totally new concept for Americans, but that's the way it is in Hong Kong and many other places. Once you hand over your money, you're on your own. You'll be laughed out of a store if you want a return or refund once you step out of the store.

In short, it's usually not worth the trouble, especially with big-ticket items.