What to do in Hong Kong (After Shopping, Eating, and Hiking)

I have spent quite a bit of time in Hong Kong, because my husband is a native Hong Konger and we’re based here for part of our trip-around-the-world this year. It’s a fast-paced and energetic city. Public transportation is great, it’s safe, people are civilized and helpful, and there’s lots of English spoken so you’ll be ok if you’re monolingual. In English.

That being said, I’ve been surprised to see that most Things to do in Hong Kong lists that I’ve found on the internet aren’t that interesting. They talk about the shopping, but that’s not too appealing for me because I’m not much of a shopper (also, I’m apparently too big to buy Asian clothing, being a whopping size 8, which I found quite discouraging but I don’t want to talk about that right now). The lists talk about eating, which is terrific, but you can only eat three (ok, maybe four) meals per day, and if you live it up at each meal you’ll be sorry real soon. The hiking is great from November to March, but it will kill you during all those other months. So, what’s a traveler to do? I found out.

First, check out the Hong Kong arts scene.

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is closed for renovations until 2018, but it should be great when it reopens. I visited in 2012, and it had a nice selection of ancient and modern Chinese art and some Western paintings. I’ll check it out in 2018 and let you know.

Where you really find the contemporary art gems, though, are in the small galleries scattered through town. They are usually located on the upper floors of high-rise office buildings, some in windowless spaces painted white, some with stunning views of Victoria Harbor.  There is usually a quiet thoughtful person on duty who is happy to talk to you about the art.

I loved A2Z Art Gallery’s San Reperes exhibit by French artist Hom Nguyen.

I also enjoyed Para Site, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, and the White Cube. The artists were from all over the world, and employed many different media. It’s wonderful to see what is important to people from different parts of the world, and to see how they seek to convey their ideas. Get this little book and hit the town.

Go to an island. You know that Hong Kong is made up of lots of islands, right? The smaller islands often have a slower, more traditional lifestyle, and are thoroughly enjoyable to visit. Take a ferry from Central, or if you’re going from another island you’ll take a little kaito like this one. ​

Getting on and off can be challenging if the weather is rough

But don’t worry because it’s very safe

Drying the squid.

Ride the Ding Ding. That’s the streetcar that runs across Hong Kong Island, and it takes you to the older sections of Hong Kong that you’ll never see if you stick to subways and buses.

But, Yvonne, you say, is it any fun? Well, it’s called the Ding Ding so, yeah, it’s adorable! Ding Ding is the sound the bell makes, so that’s what they call it. You know, like Clang Clang Clang Went the Trolley (Ding Ding Ding Went the Bell). Extra points if you write in the comments section who sang that and where. No Googling! Just you.

​Anyway, if you ride the Ding Ding you can get off and explore the tiny streets like this.

Or ride the Mid-levels Travelator. It’s a sidewalk that hauls people up the hill. Stairs on the descent.

Go to Mong Gok on a Saturday night, when the whole place turns into a street fair/night market/community get-together.

You can sing karaoke. Many of the singers are truly awful and stone cold sober, which is quite perplexing to me.

Don’t worry about crowd control--the police are out in full force.

The shops employ characters to drum up business.

Even Waldo was there! He was singing Moon River.

These Indonesian musicians in Santa hats (photo taken in December) drew quite a crowd.

This band brought its own dog.

When you go to Hong Kong, please shop, eat and hike to your heart’s content. But don’t stop there, or you’ll miss some of the things that make Hong Kong truly unique!