Hi,

I will be travelling with my mother to Hong Kong from 15Feb - 23Feb for CNY. As my mother has never been to HKG before, I wanted to book some tours for the festival, tickets to the parade, tickets for maybe a dinner cruise to see the Fireworks as well as tickets/tour for the NY racing day. Can anyone suggest an agency in HKG that I could book this with - do you think I have left it too late??

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!

There's no tickets for the parade that I'm aware of. You just show up. Same thing for the horse race - just show up there early to beat the crowds. [Other racing regulars can give you details, or perhaps how to get into VIP/member areas without being a Jockey Club member.]

You can see the fireworks for free along the harbor, but if you want a dinner cruise, try contact the companies directly to book in advance.

http://discoverhongkong.com/eng/tour...138486l1.jhtml

You can find lots of other information on the discoverhongkong.com site.

You have to be early for the fireworks to get a relatively good spot. When I was there in Oct there was a crowd of 500,000 people watching the National Day fireworks display.

You can do most of this yourself, you don’t need an agency. It’s not too late, although for the fireworks, call ASAP for a dinner booking. I agree that trying to fight the crowds along Salisbury Road for a view would not be a great idea. What hotel are you staying at? You may have a good view from your hotel.

1. Fireworks -- The fireworks start at 9 pm and run for about 20 minutes. They are generally held on the 2nd night of the New Year, so this year that is Monday Feb 19. I personally would not recco a dinner cruise for the fireworks, as the boats actually have to stay quite a bit aways in the harbour and I therefore don’t think that a boat is the best place to see the fireworks. (The fireworks are launched from boats in the harbour, and the main portion of the harbour is closed to other boats during that time.) Also, the dinner on those boats is quite average from what I understand and is not cheap.

I would STRONGLY recco dinner at a restaurant with a harbour view. Good choices would be below. CALL RIGHT NOW TO GET A TABLE.

Hutong – great food and atmosphere, not as expensive as some of the others below. There is also a Japanese and Italian restaurant in the same location, any would have a good view. The restaurants are at one Peking Road on the Kowloon side, go to www.aqua.com.hk. Can take the MTR.

Felix – expensive but great view. In the Peninsula Hotel, go to http://hongkong.peninsula.com

Spoon – very expensive French food, but a great view. In the Intercontinental Hotel, go to http://hongkong-ic.dining.intercontinental.com. The Harbourside Restaurant also in the hotel has an excellent view as well and is not as expensive (it’s their coffee shop) but I don’t think they take reservations, you could call and ask.

Pierre - In the Mandarin hotel, I have not eaten there yet as it only opened in November. Very expensive, but would have great views. Go to mandarin-oriental.com

Habitu -The Pier
Shop 63
Ground Floor, Ocean Terminal
(waterfront opposite Star Ferry)
Tel: 852-3101-0901

This could be good IF you got a table outside on their little terrace or right near the windows. Could be quite a jam to get to the restaurant as you will have to negotiate the crowds on Salisbury Road (same with going to Felix or Spoon though). They are probably booked up but worth a call.) Casual, good food.

Quarterdeck Club Seafood Restaurant and Grill
Shop 53 ,Ground Floor
Ocean Terminal, Harbour City
Kowloon
Tel: 2735-8881

In the same building as the Habitu, above, no outdoor tables, but if you got a window seat you would have a pretty good view. Casual, good food.

Quarterdeck Club Seafood Restaurant and Grill
Fleet Arcade Branch
Fenwick Pier
1 Lung King Street
Wanchai
Tel 2827 8882

This is another branch of the same restaurant listed just above and is on the Hong Kong side. It has great outdoor seating and I would normally recco it first, my only concern is that there is some reclamation work going on in front of it and so I am not sure that the views are as good as they used to be. It may be worth making a booking now, and then going by a day or so before and deciding for yourself if the view is still good, if you can get an outdoor table, this is THE best place to see the fireworks IMO, as it is not expensive and is outdoors, which is nice.

Man Wah Restaurant – This is in the Mandarin Hotel and is just such a lovely restaurant. It has limited harbour views, but if you asked for a table at the windows facing Chater Garden, I think you would have a pretty good view of the fireworks. Very good Shanghai cuisine. Again, you might make a booking and then take a look at this a day or so before the fireworks and decide for yourself if this works. Go to mandarin-oriental.com.

One other way to do this might be to make a booking at the great spa in the Peninsula hotel and then stay for the fireworks and watch it from their pool terrace which is part of the spa, or their resting room which has a good view as well. You are allowed to use any of the facilities if you book a treatment, so you could either make a booking for a 9:30 pm treatment and just come early, or make a booking for a treatment and be done before 9 pm and then stay on a bit. Go to the Penn website at http://hongkong.peninsula.com and see if any treatments interest you; the spa is excellent. There is also a spa in the Intercontinental hotel and you could watch from their pool deck too I think; but I don’t recall how close the pool deck is to the spa.

2. Horse racing -- races are held Wednesday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons from September to June. However, I am not sure that there will be races on Sunday Feb 17 or Say Feb 18 because of the New Year celebrations, so your only chance may be Wednesday Feb 21. Take a look at the website for the Hong Kong Jockey Club at http://www.hkjc.com/english/index.asp. The basic admission price is HK$10, which is for standing-room only. However, you can watch from the more exclusive Hong Kong Jockey Club members' enclosure by purchasing a temporary "member's badge" for HK$50 (about US$6.50). It's available upon showing your passport at either the Badge Enquiry Office at the main entrance to the Members' Private Enclosure at Happy Valley, or an easier way is to go to one of the off-track betting centers like the one near the Star Ferry concourse in Central or on Nathan Road in Kowloon where you can buy the badges up to 5 days in advance. Take a look at the website for the Hong Kong Jockey Club at http://www.hkjc.com/english/index.asp. Click on "Come Racing" and then "Overseas Visitors" in the text. You can also go to the Stable Bend Terrace restaurant and have dinner while you bet, the dinner is extremely average, but the view is great and it is pleasant to sip a drink and have a meal while you watch the races. You can make a reservation for the Stable Bend by calling, you may be able to do so via the website as well. I would recco going to the restaurant rather than the members enclosure, as it’s a more relaxed atmosphere, IMO.

3. Be sure to go to the special New Year’s flower market in Victoria Park which runs every day up until like 4 am on Feb 18. It’s worth going any time, but especially in the early evening when lots of people are out buying flowers and plants on their way home.

4. In Hong Kong, the public holidays for Chinese New Year this year run from Saturday February 17 through Tuesday February 20. Virtually every shop in town will be closed on February 18. (The first day of the New Year is Feb 18, but because that is a Sunday, there is an extra public holiday on the 17th, but I believe most shops will be open per normal on the 17, it’s just government offices and banks which will be closed.) This is just bout the only time when shops are ever closed in Hong Kong; it’s worth walking around the commercial center in Central and along Nathan Road on the Kowloon side just to see shops actually closed. The larger shops (i.e. department stores) will re-open on the 19, and a few more on the 20th. Smaller family shops and restaurants may be closed the entire time. Hotel restaurants will be open on all days. Don’t worry, there is plenty to do even when you can’t shop, and many of the hotel restaurants are excellent. 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....)” this should give you some ideas for what to do. Also check the Hong Kong Tourism Board website at discoverhongkong.com for other ideas related to New Year’s.

Sorry, I now see from your post that you wanted to see some racing on New Years, from the Jockey Club site at http://www.hkjc.com/english/racing/fixture.asp it appears that there are day races at the Sha Tin course on Tuesday Feb 20; I believe that may be the “Lion Race”. IMO its a pain to get out to Sha Tin and will be really jammed for the New Year’s, but check the website for info on tickets and transport. Unfortunately, according to the schedule, there is no racing on Sat or Sunday or on Wed Feb 21 due to the New Year, so if you really want to see racing, you will have to go out to Sha Tin on the 20th.

Thanks for the responses everyone, this is a great help. We will be doing some things on our own (normally, I would do everything on my own), however due to an leg ailment I think it would be easier for my mother to be transported around for a part of our time there.

I tried Hutong late last year and they could not confirm a reservation that far in advance, I expect they are keeping it open for a large group. We will be staying at the Sheraton in a Harbour view room - I'm hoping we will be able to watch from there as a last resort??

I have come across a tour operator GrayLine that offer special event tours - i think they are large in the states (not so here in Australia), has anyone used them before?? I take note of your comments Cicerone about the dinner cruise - i hadn't thought about that, but they also do a 1/2 day tour with seated tickets to the parade and a come horse racing for the 20th for the Chinese New Year cup - the prices are expensive but not too bad - i expect inflated prices for that time of the year... any thoughts that anyone may have????

Thanks again for the fantastic information.