Hong Kong in One Night
 

I will be in Hong Kong from 6pm on a Tuesday until around noon the next day...I know it's not a lot of time but I'd like to make the most of it, and I'm willing to stay up most of the night.

I'd like to get a really good Cantonese meal, maybe some dim sum, and see whatever sights I can see in that time. I'm especially interested in good photo ops.

I'll be staying at the JW Marriott which is adjacent to the Pacific Place complex. Does anyone know if the Man Ho restaurant at the hotel is good?

Thank you for any ideas!

For a start , you will get fabulous views and photo shots looking from Kowloon side across the harbour night and day ( on the promenade in front of Intercontinental Hotel). Don't think you will get much time for dim sum as it will only be served mornings unless you can squeeze it in in the morning. I will let others suggest Cantonese meals for you. If you can get time to go up to the Peak looking down on Hong Kong again you will get great views and shots.Have fun !

FMWarner, you can have dim sum at HK airport. The tea house is run by the "famous" Maxim Group.

Man Ho is quite good, albeit somewhat formal, but they don’t open until 11 am. There is another very good more local place quite close to the hotel, see below, which opens from 8 am, and does serve dim sum at that time, I personally haven’t had it there that early, so you might call or have the hotel call to confirm this. For dim sum and other Cantonese restaurants, please see my list of recommended restaurants in my thread called “Cicerone’s Reccos for What the Locals Do for Fun in Hong Kong (Hint: We DON’T Go to those Awful Night Markets....)”. Most dim sum places don’t start serving until like 10 or 11 am, by which time you may have left for the airport. Most restaurants stop serving dim sum around 4 pm, which means you will just miss the afternoon you arrive as well. You should be able to find some “fast food” dim sum at the airport when you are leaving.

Metropol Restaurant
4th Floor, United Centre
95 Queensway, Admiralty
Tel: 2865 1988
http://www.heichinrou.com

Has the carts. Good food and good value. No views. It is across the street from Pacific Place Mall where the Marriott is located. Open at 8 am.

For photos, the esplanade on the Kowloon side is very good both day and night, take the Star Ferry over (good shots from the ferry as well). The Peak is great day and night, esp the morning and at dusk as the lights come up over the city (go to sunsetsunrise.com for dusk times). You can walk to the bottom Peak Tram station from the Marriott, go through Hong Kong Park, or take the #15 bus from the stop in front of the hotel. There is a viewing stand on top of the Peak Tram station at the top which should give very good shots, and of course walk around as much as you can, the Lugard Road/Harlech Road loop is flat and gives some good views. If it is a clear day (rare and getting rarer), take the hike up Mt Austin road to the top of the actual Peak for some very good water views.

The other thing which I think makes great photos are the local food markets. I would go to the Wan Chai markets or the Graham Street/Peel Street market areas in Central in the morning to catch locals at their daily shopping. Refer to my thread above for some suggestions, or the Hong Kong Tourist authority website at www.discoverhongkong.com. The markets are also quite crowded and lively in the early evening, but generally shut by 7 pm, so I think you will miss that if you don’t land until 6 pm. Finally, the local temples are extremely interesting, if you have time to get to the Man Mo temple on Hollywood Road that is quite atmospheric, and the Wong Tai Sin Temple or the Tin Hau Temple (and nearby Jade Market) in Shanghai Street are also very interesting if you are on the Kowloon side in the morning. Temples tend to close around 6-7 pm, so night visits are not possible. You don’t have a lot of time to see very much.

If you can tell me what specific dates you will be here, I can check to see if there is a special holiday or festival going on which might be worth seeing.

If I'm staying at the JW I would have dim sum at the Zen restaurant (in the basement of Pacific Place). At 6pm you will not find any Dim Sum but then again Zen does have a nice a la carte Cantonese menu as well. I didn't like Man Ho that much.

Zen does not open until 11:30 am. It is on my list, you can call all the places on my list. I think the Metropol is the only one that opens early...