
Hong Kong is a giant city with 6 million inhabitants, an exciting mixture of skyscrapers and shabby hovels standing side by side in harmony. The former British colony was transferred under Chinese control in 1997 with the principle of the Chinese government "one country, two political systems".
The city of Hong Kong in fact consists of two different parts divided by a broad strait. On the other side of the strait is the district of Kowloon where most of the cheap hostels are. On the Island of Hong Kong there is an urban jungle of skyscrapers. In both parts there are lots of malls, shops and cheap eateries of all Asian nations. You also find very expensive restaurants, check the prices before ordering!

View of the Island of Hong Kong as seen from Kowloon
The energetic, at times chaotic but never dull Asian city in itself is in our opinion the most fascinating aspect of Hong Kong. A good and cheap way to see the city is to jump into one of the two-storey trams and find a seat in the front row on the second floor. Also the ferries between the two parts offer marvellous sights of the city and harbours.

Double decker tram


Street view

Fruit market

These twin towers look kind of surrealistic to us
You should absolutely visit the Victoria Peak Mountain, where you get by a mountain train. The best time to go up is one hour before sunset, when you can see the sky-scrapers in daylight and also the neon light jungle at night.

View from Victoria Peak

Victoria Peak train
Check out also our article on Macau-the casino city