
Hong Kong Top Picks
Admit it. Most of us visit Hong Kong for only two reasons: shopping and/or work. Usually its the shopping. Which is pretty much the best you'll experience in Asia. On my last trip to Hong Kong, I tried to put shopping in the background to see if the city has anything else worthwhile to offer the traveler. Well, here goes my list of top reasons to visit Hong Kong - which, no matter how hard I tried, still includes a good dose of shopping.
Architec(tour).

It's a pity that despite having the most breathtaking skyline - many visitors choose to ignore the cityscape. For the absolute best view of Hong Kong's skyscrapers - head to Statue Square in Central. St

Start with I.M. Pei's glass and steel icon - the Bank of China building. If there's any building that best symbolizes Hong Kong - this is it.

In the same viewing direction are some other fine, though less iconic, structures. It's fun to point them out one by one. Remember that these buildings stand on some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

Turn 90 degrees north to see the original modern icon of the city - the Jardine building. The unusual use of circular windows all throughout the building may strike some as a bit tacky, but when viewed alongside the other glass structures in Central, the Jardine headquarters provides the perfect visual counterpoint.


Hong Kong's buildings are even more spectacular when viewed from a distance. There are two places worth making the trip just to see the skyline in its full panoramic glory. One, and still the easiest way, is along the Promenade on the Kowloon side. Every night at 8PM the buildings put on a light display called the Symphony of Lights where the outlines of the structures burst into color. Any other time of day is breathtaking as well.

The one other place to see Hong Kong's fabled skyline is from Victoria Peak. Sure, this sounds a bit touristy, but there's enough space at the peak to find your private corner without the swarm of picture-takers getting in the way. In fact, lose yourself in one of the many leafy lanes around the peak and have a picnic with the view of the harbor and skyline beneath you.
Much of traditional Hong Kong has been leveled to make way for


Antiques and Curios.

The streets around the temple are where many good antique stores can be found with the best ones along Hollywood Road. When the communist mainland was still impenetrable, Hong Kong was where one went to purchase traditional Chinese artifacts and antiq

Antiques aren't the only things worth buying in this area, though.

Contemporary Chinese Art.

Once again, Hollywood Road is a good place to start and so is Wyndham Rd. r

Hong Kong's Tailors.
If there's one thing that remains free of hype in Hong Kong - it must be their tailors. Fast, skilled and relatively affordable, the city's tailors are legendary. But it wasn't always like this. The tradition was actually brought to the city by Shanghai tailors fleeing the communist revolution. Today, their children and grandchildren operate tailoring shops that can sew up a bespoke suit in as little as 24 to 48 hours.
Aside from the skill of the tailors, Hong Kong's free port gives these tailors all the same choices in cloth and fabrics that a tailor in the UK or Italy enjoys. At a much cheaper price, of course.
Shanghai Tang.

The flagship store in Pedder Street in Central is still worth a visit even after Shanghai Tang was bought out by a European luxury goods conglomerate. In fact, the additional financial muscle has given Shanghai Tang a wider global audience and global fashion style.
The store is a joy to navigate. Not only for the trademark colorful merchandise, but also for the architectural details. Aside from the tasteful use of chinoiserie all over, details like antique light fixtures, birdcages with real birds, and rich wood panels and floorboards give the store an elegance we can only imagine old Shanghai mansions to have once possessed.
You could skip the clothes if Chinese-inspired detailing is not your thing and head straight for the home section - if only for the delicate and colorful porcelain and china.
SoHo and NoHo.

Tired of big name luxury brands? In Hong Kong there's no escaping them! So why not small name luxury brands, instead? For the best selection of shops in this category there's the area north and south of Hollywood Road just around the mid-levels escalators.
Every big city you can think of will advertise one part of itself as "just like Soho." Alluding to the artist/bohemian districts of Soho in Manhattan or London, of course. In Hong Kong, that area is even called SoHo - which is short for South of Hollywood Road. In fact, SoHo in Hong Kong is not like being in Hong Kong at all. The vibe here is entirely, well, West Village. And so is the crowd. Which isn't such a bad thing. Unless you're looking for authentic Chinese cuisine or crafts.


Also on Staunton is the absolutely adorable Chocolate Rain where stuffed characters in stories called Sky Latte and Fatina double as fashion accessories. The creations come in different sizes and are meant to be pinned on to clothes, bags, jewelry and even on sneakers. Chocolate Rain is a Hong Kong creation and the designers give the neighborhood the kind of edginess you'd expect from a place called SoHo.
While on Staunton, grab a glass of wine at the Staunton Wine Bar. Hong Kong imports every imaginable wine label on the planet and a great bottle is never too hard to access. The wine bar is right smack beside the mid-levels escalator so people watching comes with the territory.
SoHo's dining scene is also first rate though not in a Michelin guide kind of way. For that, you're better off in one of the many luxury hotels Hong Kong is famous for. You come to SoHo for atmosphere first and food quality a very near second. Which is just fine since dining standards in Hong Kong are very high to begin with. The choice of restaurants is truly global so you can begin your meal in Africa and end it in America with every continent in between.

Luxury Hotels.
Hong Kong's luxury hotels are very much a part of the overall Hong Kong experience. Whether its the landmark hotels of the Peninsula and the Mandarin Oriental or the modern properties managed by the Four Seasons or the Intercontinental, a stay in any one of the many ultra-luxury hotels is fast becoming a tourist destination in itself.

With more and more sophisticated travelers choosing to stay in designer hotels these days, boutique hotels are popping up all over the city. We all know about the Philippe Starck designed JIA Hotel, but there are many more boutique properties coming up in areas close to

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