香港

Why this place

Hong Kong, China is a city of verticality and water: the harbour between Kowloon and the island is the reason the city exists, and the peaks behind the towers mean you can be on a hiking trail within half an hour of the financial district. It is also the best place in the world to eat Cantonese food at every price level, from street stalls to three-star restaurants.

What to see

• The Star Ferry across the harbour, still the best value sight in the city
• Victoria Peak — the tram up, and the view down over the harbour and the towers
• The Central and Sheung Wan districts: the Mid-Levels escalator, the wet markets, the old lanes
• Temple Street and the Sham Shui Po street markets, for the older Kowloon city
• The Dragon's Back trail and the Sai Kung coast, for hiking and beaches
• Lantau: the Big Buddha at Ngong Ping and the Tai O stilt-village
• The Hong Kong Museum of History, which explains how all of this came about

What to eat

• Dim sum at any hour — the tea houses and the modern restaurants are both worth it
• Roast goose, char siu and wonton noodles, done to a standard found nowhere else
• Dai pai dong (open-air food stalls) in Sham Shui Po; and the cha chaan teng (tea restaurants) for milk tea and toast
• Temple Street's seafood and the evening street food of Mong Kok

How to plan

Four or five days: the harbour and the island one day, Kowloon two, a hiking day, plus Lantau.

Best time

October–December and March–April; summers are hot, humid and typhoon-prone

Practical tips

• The Octopus card works on almost everything — get one at the airport
• Hong Kong connects to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macao, China by high-speed rail, ferry and the bridge