Hong Kong
Suggested Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival at the airport, with transportation by private car to the hotel.
After a 40-minute ride from Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong's ultra-modern airport situated on its own island, check in to the iconic Mandarin Oriental hotel, the standard-bearer for luxury hotels in Hong Kong since it opened its doors in 1963.
Have dinner at the hotel at one of its ten fine restaurants. Try Man Wah, an exquisite Cantonese restaurant on the 25th floor with glittering views of the skyscrapers of Central and Victoria Harbour.
If you’re jetlagged and hungry, commune with Hong Kong’s night owls and have a midnight snack at a dai pai dong where patrons feast on congee (rice porridge), noodle soups or hearty stews at tables and stools in alleyways and on sidewalks.
Day 2
Start the day with a helicopter tour over the Hong Kong and Victoria Harbour, taking in views of Victoria Peak, the South China Sea and outlying islands, and the dynamic architecture of Central and Tsim Sha Tsui. A private car will pick you up from the Mandarin and take you to the heliport.
After your return, walk to Kou, a high-concept "lifestyle boutique" housed in the stylish duplex penthouse of Fung House on Connaught Road, run by Hong Kong design guru Louise Kou. A unique shopping experience, Kou is intended resemble a chic "mansion" with a lounge, dining room, kitchen and dramatic staircase leading down to a library and bedroom — only here, everything you see is available for sale from the Taschen books lining the shelves, to the chandeliers in the library, spa products in the bathroom, and the precious rugs on the marble floors.
Have a classic Cantonese lunch of dim sum at a restaurant renowned for its modern, elegant take on classic dishes such as steamed lobster dumplings, asparagus spring rolls, and barbecued pork buns. If you are feeling adventurous, try some of the more exotic options available such as pig stomach soup with white pepper, chicken feet and stinky tofu. Afterwards, have a tour of the kitchen to see how a team of cooks and chefs works together to produce hundreds of distinct, piping-hot small bites throughout morning and into the mid-afternoon.
Thread your way through the neon-lit streets on foot as you follow the pedestrian skybridges of the Central-Mid-Levels escalator — the world's largest outdoor escalator system — partway up Victoria Peak to the fashionable SoHo neighborhood.
Explore the galleries and boutiques of Hollywood Road, where some of the best art and antiques can be found. Meet gallery owner Oi Ling at her boutique, specializing in fine Chinese antiques, for a private tour of the collection. The area is also home to bustling street markets descending steep, pedestrian-only alleyways known as "the lanes", where you can purchase everything from paper grave goods, incense and lanterns to costume jewelry, designer knock-off clothes and bootleg CDs and DVDs.
Meet with the chef of a celebrated private fusion kitchen and go grocery shopping with him at a wet market as he creates his daily menu. Go back to his restaurant and help him experiment with different flavors and recipes before sitting down to a lavish dinner here.
Day 3
Journey to nearby Macau by helicopter for a quick trip over the coast of the Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong's small outlying islands and fishing villages. Macau was once a Portuguese colony — it was only returned to China in 1999 — and it has a dramatically different ambience from Hong Kong, between the ornate architecture of the old city and the Las Vegas-style glitz of its high-rolling casinos.
Once on land, visit the Buddhist Kum Yam Temple and the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, a 16th-Century Portuguese basilica built by the Jesuits of which only the Baroque facade remains; then, take in the stunning vistas afforded by the bell tower at Penha Hill Church in old Macau.
Have lunch at Fernando's, a family-style Portuguese restaurant located on Coloane Island, where only Portuguese wine is served and the menu includes chorizo, feijoada, charcoal-grilled chicken, pork ribs, suckling pig, seafood and salads. The bread all comes from the restaurant's own bakery.
Take the plunge from Macau Tower's SkyJump, where the same technology used in special-effects falls for films allows you to plummet 765 feet before you slow down and cruise to a safe landing. Later, use your adrenaline rush to hit the gambling tables at some of Macau's splashiest new Vegas-caliber casinos, The Wynn, The Sands and The Venetian.
Have dinner at the Wynn, where the choices include gourmet Japanese at Okada and refined Cantonese in extremely opulent surroundings at Wing Lei.
Return to Hong Kong in the evening by high-speed jetfoil.
Day 4
Though Hong Kong moves at the rapid pace of international business, the surrounding areas of the South China Sea have a relaxed, almost tropical feel, and it is possible to imagine that you are quite remote from a
major urban center only a short distance outside the city.
Spend the day exploring Hong Kong's outlying islands aboard your own luxurious, motorized Chinese junk — a type of boat traditional to the region. The waters around Hong Kong are filled with islands large and small, some with small fishing villages or relaxed communities of ex-pats and locals, others home only to lovely isolated beaches and coves where you can pause for some swimming, wake-boarding and sunbathing.
Stop on Tung Lung Island, which is largely uninhabited and protected as a special park region for its lovely landscape and great hiking and rock-climbing opportunities.
Have a delicious champagne lunch prepared for you aboard your junk — or as an onshore picnic.
Spend the afternoon on Lamma Island, which has become an outpost for Hong Kong's creative, bohemian community in recent years. Explore the island's several small communities which are linked only by a series of footpaths that cross lovely open hills with views over Hong Kong and the surrounding waters. End up in Yeung Shue Wan, where small boutiques, cafés and Western-style bars mix with traditional seafood and produce vendors. The waterfront here is lined with restaurants serving the freshest of the day's catch — try Rainbow for a boisterous traditional Cantonese seafood dinner.
Day 5
If you haven't noticed already, Hong Kong is a haven for foodies. Today is a day dedicated to the delicious variety of food and beverage options available in one of the culinary capitals of the world.
At a pre-dawn hour, go squid fishing with a fisherman and have a simple breakfast with him and his family of whatever you caught that morning. In pre-colonial times, Hong Kong was a fishing village and hard-working fisherman families still populate settlements along the coasts of Hong Kong’s outlying islands, including Cheung Chau, Lamma and Lantau.
Return to your hotel for a rest and to freshen up for the day’s activities.
Take a scenic drive to Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island to visit the award winning Hong Kong Brewery for a tasting of their latest offerings with the brewmaster. Currently, the brewery brews six types of beer: Aldrich Bay Pale Ale, a classic English-style pale ale, Caledonia Brown Porter, Dragon's Back Ale, South-China Rice-Beer, Spring Lager, Too Soo, Warlords 8 and Winter Ale.
Have lunch with the brewmaster and explore Aberdeen by walking along its waterfront. Here you will see the famed floating restaurants, including the aptly named Jumbo which opened in 1976 and has received over 30 million patrons since then including Queen Elizabeth II, John Wayne and Gong Li. The food is far from top tier, but Jumbo itself is certainly unique in the world and worth capturing on camera.
Drive back to Central and visit a Chinese herbalist to see which herbs are incorporated into Chinese cuisine and have a traditional medicine check up to see what foods you need to avoid or eat more of to balance your yin and yang.
On Queen's Road Central, visit Hanart TZ Gallery, started by a good friend of Remote Lands, Johnson Chang. Chang was one of the first to champion contemporary Chinese art and has an impeccable roster of A-list discoveries: Gu Wenda, Liu Wei, Feng Mengbo, Zhan Wang, Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiaogang, Wang Guangyi and Yue Minjun, to name a few. If he is available, meet with Chang to discuss Hanart TZ’s latest exhibition and have a private tour of the gallery.
Return to your hotel to freshen up for dinner.
Meet one of the region’s top sommeliers and have a blind wine taste test of fine Chinese wines versus wines from California, France, Italy and other well-established regions. Chinese wines are gaining traction with young, local oenophiles as the country’s winemakers – many of whom are specialists who also consult in France, Austria and New Zealand – race to produce fine wines instead of the tawny vin d’pays that have been rolling off the production line since neglected vineyards in Hebei and Shandong provinces were resurrected in the 1980s. The proof of Chinese producers’ rigorous efforts just might be on the nose or in the finish.
Take a break from Cantonese fare and have dinner at one of Hong Kong’s finest Western restaurants; the city is home to many superb Italian and French restaurants, among many other excellent options.
Day 6
Visit the Kowloon side, which was once the glitzier, more refined place to live, work, and play. Today Hong Kong Island has claimed that title, but modern Kowloon is just as bustling and boisterous as the island, albeit with a weathered facade that gives visitors a clue as to how fast-paced this city is, and how quickly things go out of fashion.
Visit the Hong Kong Museum of History, which is home to the permanent exhibit "The Hong Kong Story." As its name implies, the exhibit details Hong Kong's progression on several levels, including its natural development over 400 million years and its evolution from fishing village to financial hub.
Have lunch at one of the many South Asian restaurants such as Everest Club for Nepalese food or Aladdin for Indian in Chungking Mansions, made famous by Wong Kar-Wai's film Chungking Express. The Mansions buzzes with activity morning, noon and night, which is why Time magazine hailed it as the "Best Example of Globalization in Action." If you have time, chat with shopkeepers and innkeepers that work here; they have a treasure trove of incredible stories that will make your time here completely worthwhile.
Have your fortune told at Wong Tai Sin, a Taoist temple built in honor of a deity, whose name literally means "The Immortal Wong" as he purportedly created an elixir able to cure any illness. Rows of soothsayers line the side of the main building, and you may speak to one after performing a ritual called kau cim. This involves offering incense at the main altar and shaking a bamboo stick out of a canister, which is exchanged for a piece of paper bearing a corresponding number and text that one of the fortune tellers can interpret for you.
Take a break and munch on street food such as toothsome curry fishballs and crispy “chicken egg” waffles. Solitary street vendors are increasingly rare, but there are several larger conglomerates of businesses selling a wide variety of street food all over Hong Kong.
Stroll along Salisbury Road, which used to have unobstructed views of the Harbour before a row of museums and public spaces, including the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Hong Kong Space Museum, was built on reclaimed land. Have afternoon tea at the Peninsula, a Hong Kong tradition that still retains it colonial air, before taking the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong Island.
Take the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak for cocktails in one of the many restaurants at the top with sweeping views of the harbor. See Hong Kong skyscrapers and streets light up and watch ships and boats zip across the water as the sun sets.
To celebrate your last night in Hong Kong, dine at the prestigious China Club, an art deco-style restaurant and private club reminiscent of Shanghai’s decadent Jazz Age, where the elegant and expert staff will ensure a pleasurable evening. Start with a cocktail in the Long March Bar, where the interior was designed to mimic the decor of a great ocean liner. After dinner, explore the club’s lavish library, which contains several thousand volumes on all aspects of Chinese art, culture, history, religion and literature, and showcases a well-worn couch that once belonged to Winston Churchill.