DK Travel : Hong Kong

“A dream of Manhattan, arising from the South China Sea.” For succinctness, modern travel writer Pico Iyer’s description of Hong Kong has yet to be bettered. From opium port to Cold War enclave to frenetic financial capital, Hong Kong has never been boring. This is the hedonistic engine room of cultural fusion: East meets West in high style, and the results astonish and delight. Prepare to experience one of the most dramatic urban environments ever conceived.

Science Museum

Some fascinating interactive displays here if you don’t mind fighting your way through the giggling, pushing throngs of schoolchildren. There are enough buttons to push, gadgets to grapple with and levers to tweak to satisfy even the most hard-to-please kids. Basic principles of chemistry, physics, biology and other sciences are explained but in a much more entertaining and less dry manner than in the classroom.
Seen Juk Guen

Soy pastry, crisp fried with a vegetable filling. A savvy alternative to the common spring roll.
Seibu

Four floors of designer clothes, cosmetics, gifts, household items and food.
Sha Lo Tung

This hidden valley is probably the closest Hong Kong comes to stereotypical ideas of classical Chinese landscape, with its old paddy fields, deserted villages, flowing streams and ancient woods. Magical.
Sha Tin

Less grim version of Tsuen Wan, with a massive shopping centre. Home to Hong Kong’s second racetrack.
Sha Tin Racecourse

Hong Kong’s most famous horseracing track is at Hong Kong Island’s Happy Valley (see Happy Valley Races), but the people who live in this part of the world are so mad about horseracing they built a second racetrack in the NT. More than 85,000 punters have been known to pack Sha Tin’s $500-million world-class track, where record-breaking sums are wagered on Saturday and Sunday afternoons between September and June. Form guides are published in theSouth China Morning Post on race days.

Sha Tin Racecourse
Shaffi’s Indian

The owner is famous in these parts as the former chef for many years for British and Gurhka troops at Shek Kong barracks. After the Handover, he hung out his shingle in Yuen Long – where his faithful fans still seek out his top curries.
Shalimar

Cheapest curries outside Chungking Mansions.
Sham Tseng Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant

Locals can’t get enough of the stewed goose intestines, though the less exotic roast goose with salt and pepper is a better bet.
Shamian Island

The small islet in southwest Guangzhou long served as the main gateway to China, the only place where merchants and diplomats were allowed to do business with the Empire. Today it’s a lovely leafy haven, recently restored and beautified with some good accommodation, dining and drinking options and quiet riverside walks.

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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal) and extra charges.
- under HK$100
- HK$100-250
- HK$250-450
- HK$450-600
- over HK$600