Hong Kong Highlights

Cinematic. Sophisticated, yet gritty. Such adjectives barely scratch the surface of Hong Kong, an astonishing concrete jungle that’s girded by verdant mountains and the South China Sea. Its proud denizens are fiercely outward looking but remain steeped in Chinese culture and traditions; their can-do attitude and remarkable ability for constant reinvention suffuse the neon-washed streetscapes with a palpable buzz. Hong Kong packs an extraordinary diversity of experiences into a compact area: it has one of the highest number of restaurants per capita in the world, impressive cultural venues, and retro modes of transport—cue the double-decker trams and the Star Ferry—which count as attractions in their own right. If all that visual stimulation gets a little too much, you can always decamp to the scenic country parks and outlying islands on the city’s doorstep.