7 Best Sights in Hong Kong, China

Running for several miles, this street is filled with hotels, restaurants, malls, and boutiques—retail space is so costly that the southern end is dubbed the Golden Mile. The mile's most famous tower block is ramshackle Chungking Mansions, packed with cheap hotels and Indian restaurants. The building was a setting for local director Wong Kar-Wai's film Chungking Express. To the left and right are mazes of narrow streets with even more shops selling jewelry, electronics, clothes, souvenirs, and cosmetics.

Parallel to Tung Choi Street Ladies' Market, this street is sneaker central, lined with shoe shops selling some brands you know and lots more you don't. If you're not sporty, the stretch between Mongkok Road and Nullah Road offers cheap versions of the latest clothing fashion trends.

The best of Hong Kong's antiques sellers can be found on Hollywood Road, named after the holly trees that once grew nearby. On nearby Upper Lascar Row, a flea market known as Cat Street sells curios, porcelain, and not-so-old trinkets masquerading as artifacts. They might not be authentic, but they do make for great souvenirs and affordable gifts.

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.

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.

This street is roughly at the spot where Captain Charles Elliott stepped ashore in 1841 to claim Hong Kong for the British empire. Back then, this was the waterfront, but aggressive reclamation means it is now several blocks inland. At the top of the street stands Hollywood Centre, home to the nonprofit contemporary art space Asia Art Archive.

Traditional trades are plied along this street. There are blocks dominated by tailors or shops selling Chinese cookware or everything you need to set up a household shrine. Nearby Ning Po Street is known for its paper kites and for the colorful paper and bamboo models of worldly possessions (boats, cars, houses) that are burned at Chinese funerals.