133 Best Sights in Hong Kong, China

For a comprehensive hit of history, this museum's popular Hong Kong Story should do the trick. The exhibit starts 400 million years ago in the Devonian period and makes its way all the way through to the 1997 Handover, with spectacular life-size dioramas that include village houses and a colonial-era shopping street. The ground-floor Folk Culture section offers an introduction to the history and customs of Hong Kong's main ethnic groups. Upstairs, gracious stone-walled galleries whirl you through the Opium Wars and the beginnings of colonial Hong Kong. Don't miss the chilling account of conditions during the Japanese occupation or the colorful look at Hong Kong life in the '60s.

Allow at least two hours to stroll through—more if you linger in every gallery and make use of the interactive elements. Pick your way through the gift shop's clutter to find local designer Alan Chan's T-shirts, shot glasses, and notebooks. His retro-kitsch aesthetic is based on 1940s cigarette-girl images. To get here from the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR walk along Cameron Road, then left for a block along Chatham Road South. A signposted overpass takes you to the museum.

Housed in an Edwardian-style redbrick building at the top of Ladder Street, this quirky museum was formerly Hong Kong's Bacteriological Institute, set up after a plague outbreak in 1894 ravaged the surrounding Tai Ping Shan neighborhood. The most interesting exhibits are to do with the outbreak and its aftermath; in the rather chilling basement are a selection of primitive surgical tables and a former autopsy room.

The Lei Yue Mun Fort makes for an appropriate home for this museum that focuses on Hong Kong's military history and coastal defense. It's in the redoubt, a high area of land overlooking the narrowest point of the harbor; you take an elevator and cross an aerial walkway to reach it. As well as the fascinating displays indoors, there's a historical trail complete with tunnels, cannons, and observation posts. Free guided tours are available on Wednesday, weekends, and public holidays.

Soaring high over Victoria Harbour, this scenic Ferris wheel is just the ticket to keep little ones entertained before or after a trip on the Star Ferry, which docks a couple of hundred meters away. Ice-cream kiosks and an old-school carousel are further distractions, and the family-friendly Maritime Museum is close by at Pier 8.

This museum showcases over 900 artifacts from the National Palace Museum at Beijing's Forbidden City. In addition to its regular showings, the museum regularly hosts special exhibitions across six floors. There is also a number of on-site eateries, including a dim sum restaurant and a pleasant teahouse.

The hands-on exhibits are kid-friendly and include an energy machine and a miniature submarine, as well as cognitive and memory tests.

A structure behind the art museum that looks like an oversize golf ball sliced in half houses a planetarium, a solar telescope, and an Omnimax theater. It's all fairly unremarkable, though, and children under three aren't allowed to view the Omnimax shows.

This vast wetland reserve is home to numerous species of native wildlife, including Hong Kong's own star crocodile, Pui Pui. The reserve has several walks, many suitable for families with children, including a boardwalk through a mangrove habitat and a butterfly garden. The park has a visitor center, which includes an auditorium and several indoor galleries, as well as a café, play area, and souvenir shop.

A verdant holdover from colonial times, Hong Kong's Botanical Gardens opened back in 1864, and remain a delightful showcase of subtropical Asian flora, with bamboo groves, towering banyans, and groves of colorful rhododendrons. The fauna arrived much later and is a garden highlight: Lemurs, sloths, meerkats, and all manner of acrobatic monkeys swing about in well-tended enclosures. A menagerie of colorful birdlife includes flamingos housed in an aviary. The walk from the Central MTR stop is long and uphill, so consider taking a bus or taxi. Buses 1A, 3, and 22 go there from Central Ferry Pier.

Dubbed the \"robot building\" by locals, this iconic Norman Foster–designed skyscraper was the world’s most expensive building when completed in 1985. The pair of bronze lions out front, named Stephen and Stitt, belonged to an earlier version of the bank’s Hong Kong headquarters and still bear shrapnel scars from the Japanese invasion during World War II in 1941. Look up into the atrium through the curved glass panels, or step inside to admire the building’s exposed structural mechanics, a hallmark of Foster’s high-tech architecture.

Food left out on the street and smoldering piles of paper are everywhere during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Replicas of houses, cars, and traditional "hell money" are burned as offerings to the ancestral spirits allowed to roam the earth for these two weeks, when the gates of hell are opened. It's on 15th day of the seventh moon, usually in August or September.

Above the Central skyline, one skyscraper rules them all: Two IFC, the slender second tower of the International Finance Centre. Designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli, its 88 floors top a whopping 1,352 feet. Opposite stands its dinky little brother, the 38-floor One IFC. The massive IFC Mall stretches between the two, and Hong Kong station is underneath. If you wish to see the views from Two IFC, visit the 55th-floor Hong Kong Monetary Authority. While there, take a quick look at exhibits tracing the history of banking in Hong Kong. Upon arrival, you will need to register your passport with the concierge and get a visitor pass.

Jade in every imaginable shade of green, from the milkiest apple tone to the richest emerald, fills the stalls of this Kowloon market. Quality and prices at the stalls vary hugely, which means that if you know your stuff and haggle insistently, you can get fabulous finds.  Beware that some of the so-called jade sold here is actually aventurine, bowenite, soapstone, serpentine, or Australian jade—all inferior to the real thing. Look out for stalls with authentic jade certifications for a better chance of finding real jade.

The Central--Mid-Levels Escalator provides easy access to this hidden gem, the first mosque in Hong Kong. Known as the Lascar Temple in the early days, the original 1840s structure was rebuilt in 1915 and reveals its Indian and Islamic heritage in the perforated arches and decorative facade work. The mosque interior isn't open to non-Muslims, but the small enclosure surrounding the building is a peaceful retreat.

Just behind the IFC stands Jardine House, a notable 1970s skyscraper recognizable by its grid of round porthole-style windows. The 52-level building serves as the Hong Kong headquarters for Jardine, Matheson & Co., once the greatest of the British \"hongs\" (trading companies) that dominated trade with imperial China. Historically linked to the opium trade, Jardine Matheson has since transformed into a global conglomerate in retail, property, and financial services.

Trams clatter along this busy road, which is choked with traffic day and night. It's also packed with shops selling food, cell phones, herbal tonics, and bargain-basement clothes. Rattan furniture, picture frames, paper lanterns, and Chinese calligraphic materials make up the more traditional assortment at Queen's Road East, which runs parallel to Johnston Road. The lanes that stretch between the two roads are also lined with stalls, forming a minimarket of clothing and accessories.

With its mazelike detours and dizzying neon signs, Kowloon can be a bit chaotic for the first-time visitor but a guided Kowloon Market Walk will take you through the nooks and crannies of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok. You'll shop at famed street markets that sell everything from fine jade to cheap clothing and brightly colored goldfish in small plastic bags.

Hong Kong's largest Islamic worship center stands in front of Kowloon Park. Visitors can call ahead to arrange for a tour or simply drop by the building, which was designed by noted Indian architect I. M. Kadri. In addition to prayer halls, the complex includes a medical clinic and a library.

These 33 acres, crisscrossed by paths and meticulously landscaped, are a refreshing retreat after a bout of shopping. There are children's playgrounds, a fitness trail, a soccer field, an aviary, a Chinese garden, and a sculpture garden featuring 19 works by local artists. On Sunday and public holidays, there are stalls with arts and crafts, as well as a kung fu corner.

One of Hong Kong's most beautiful parks, Kowloon Walled City Park is designed in Qing-dynasty style. In previous centuries it was a walled military site, then a notorious slum filled with unlicensed doctors and dentists, opium dens, brothels, gambling houses, and worse, until it was demolished in 1994. Today the major attraction is the Yamen—the imperial government administrative building—the only remaining structure from the original Walled City and an example of southern Chinese architecture of the 19th century. There are also a number of traditional gardens on the grounds, and eight zones showcasing different flora that you can see on free 45-minute guided tours on weekends. Hong Kong's Thai community is based in the streets south of the park, and there are countless hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants.

People from throughout Hong Kong come to these two banyan trees to make wishes and offerings. Some burn joss sticks and incense; others used to throw an orange—tied to a wish written on a piece of paper—up into a tree (if it caught on a branch the wish would come true). Unfortunately, the weight of the oranges caused several branches to fall off and the practice has ended. Now, when people visit the trees—often during exam time or when the health of a loved one is in jeopardy—they tie the joss paper onto nearby wooden racks. Take the East Rail line to Tai Po Market train station, then take Bus 64K or 64P, or Minibus 25K.

A few narrow lanes filled with bars and clubs uphill from the intersection of Queen's Road Central and Pedder Street, Lan Kwai Fong has long been the epicenter of Hong Kong nightlife. Though much subdued after the protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, visit during the Hong Kong Sevens in April and you'll see it at its raucous, beer-soaked best.

The most glorious views of Lantau—and beyond—are from atop the 3,064-foot Lantau Peak. The ascent up the mountain that locals call Fung Wong Shan requires a strenuous 7½-mile hike west from Mui Wo, or you can begin at the Po Lin Monastery—from where the voyage is still a demanding two hours. The most striking views are at sunrise, particularly between December and February, when the air is dry and the sky is clear.

The Chinese New Year festivities end with the overwhelmingly red Lantern Festival. Hong Kong's parks—especially Victoria Park—become a sea of light as people, mostly children, gather with beautifully shaped paper or cellophane lanterns. It's also a traditional day for playful matchmaking, so it's particularly auspicious for single people. It's held on the 15th day of the first moon, usually in February.

This restored Hakka house was once the home of the Law family, who arrived here from Guangdong in the mid-18th century. It's the perfect example of a triple-jian, double-lang residence. Jian are enclosed rooms—here, the bedroom, living room, and workroom at the back. The front storeroom and kitchen are the lang, where the walls don't reach up to the roof, and thus allow air in. Although the museum is small, informative texts outside and displays of rural furniture and farm implements inside give a powerful idea of what rural Hong Kong was like. It's definitely worth a trip to bustling industrial Chai Wan, at the eastern end of the MTR, to see it. Photos show what the area looked like in the 1930s—these days a leafy square is the only reminder of the woodlands and fields that once surrounded this buttermilk-color dwelling.

A few steps away from Man Mo Temple, this private museum is accessible by guided tour only, and visits must be reserved online in advance. It’s well worth it, however, not only because of the superb collections---which include fine Chinese lacquerware, porcelain, and Ming and Qing dynasty furniture---but also because nothing is behind glass and you are even permitted to feel, pick-up, and interact with some of the treasures.

The easiest way to access the trail to Lion Rock, a spectacular summit, is from Kowloon. The hike passes through dense bamboo groves along the Eagle's Nest Nature Trail and up open slopes to Beacon Hill for 360-degree views over hills and the city. The contrasting vistas of green hills and the cityscape are extraordinary. There's a climb up the steep, rough track to the top of Lion Rock, a superb vantage point for appreciating Kowloon's setting between hills and sea. The trail ends at Wong Tai Sin Taoist Temple, where you can have your fortune told. To start, catch the MTR to Choi Hung (25 minutes from Tsim Sha Tsui) and a 10-minute taxi ride up Lion Rock to Gilwell Campsite. At the end of the road you'll see a sign indicating the start of the trail. From Wong Tai Sin, return by MTR.

Founded by a National Geographic writer and staffed by local foodies, these private tours are customized for your personal tastes and interests. Highlights include kitchen visits and insider access to some of Hong Kong's best-kept secrets.

In the far northern New Territories—just south of Shenzhen—a small unmarked path in the village of Sheung Shui leads to this ancestral hall. It was built in 1751 for the rich and prosperous Liu clan, and was one of few such halls that survived the Cultural Revolution. A restoration preserved the spectacular original roof and ornamentation, but substituted concrete walls to take the weight off rickety pillars—at some cost to the site's aesthetic unity. Take the East Rail Line to Sheung Shui, then Bus 70X, and alight at the Sheung Shui Bus Terminus on Jockey Club Road.

High above Wan Chai sits the suggestively shaped monolith known as Lovers' Rock, or Yan Yuen Shek. It's often visited by local single women, who burn joss sticks and make offerings in hope of finding a husband. Not in the market? The walk along Bowen Road offers excellent views over the city, particularly at dusk. The easiest way up is on Minibus 24A from the Admiralty MTR station.