One Day in Hong Kong

A lot of people transit through Hong Kong. One of the best things about HK is that a visa can be obtained on arrival – the visa is good for 14 days, and you get to look and roam around. Having roamed about in HK for quite a while, I figured out that as a tourist, there’s not much to do or see. But the place is amazing for shopping – you practically get everything if you know where to go. Most of the things are way cheaper than anywhere else I can think of, but you get the same stuff for a lot cheaper within China. Also, you get authentic electronic equipment if you know where you are shopping without the fear of getting an ‘authentic fake’.

So here’s my first experience of HK – When I visited China, my Chinese visa would expire in 3 months. When I got it extended, I requested for a multiple entry visa and got it. When I found time over a weekend, I took off to HK since HK was just around an hour from Shenzhen, which is where I was staying. There are plenty of ways to get to HK – ferry, taxi and a train. Figured out that the train was the easiest way to get around, had help from a friend who had visited HK earlier. Few had even warned me that I would be ‘grilled’ by the immigration officials since this was my first time to HK and told me to take it into account that this may take at least 1 hour. Started early in the morning with a plan on where to go and what to do, and went to Lo Hu which was a departure point to HK. Cleared Chinese immigration without much of a fuss, and when I entered Lo Wu (the HK entry point), I was taken to an interrogation room. An officer came within 5 minutes and asked me a few questions. I showed my identification card, visiting card and told her I was working in Shenzhen and was visiting HK for a day. She asked the general questions as to how much money I was carrying, whether I had a ticket booked to return to India, etc and let me go. This took around a half an hour. If you are wondering why this treatment, a lot of Indians stay illegally in HK – this, I found later. And hence, the immigration department makes sure that I have a job, and am not entering HK to reside there forever.

Lo Wu station is really awesome – there’s a lot of help from the tourism department, and many people speak and understand English. Clear direction indicators are present that will help you go where you need to. I picked up an Octopus card right away, which is extremely convenient if you plan to travel a lot within HK over a period of time – You can use it within metro, buses, and even at some convenience stores to pay for stuff. If you are there for a day, talk to the executive at the counter, and they will suggest the most economical way for you to travel (which can include buying a ticket and a day pass, which is much cheaper) on the subway. Several ATMs present there will give you the necessary money and if you need to eat, plenty of shops for that as well. Study the metro map, or pick one up for free at the information kiosks and you are good to go. The map will tell you where to disembark and change lines to get to your destination.

Our first destination was Ocean Park. Ticket costs HK$ 250, but if you buy it at Prince Edward metro station, you can get it for HK$ 242. A bus at the station entrance will take you to Ocean Park. Avoiding weekends is a good idea as there is plenty of crowd. The ticket price includes everything – all rides, all entry fee – you will have to pay for food though (this can be expensive). At the entrance of the park, you get maps of the park for free (very helpful) – pick one up and decide where you want to go.

The famous Bank of China tower (on the left) , during the day:

The entrance to Ocean Park:

Entering Ocean Park, we were greeted by a flock of flamingos.

The park, as such has some fantastic rides – more than I can name, and the best part is that you don’t have to shell out a single dollar. All you have to endure is the long queues to get into the rides (maybe shorter queues on weekdays).

There’s also a very interesting dolphin show. You can watch the dolphins interact with the trainers and do some amazing jumps and acrobatics. I was torn between taking pictures and watching the show, and hence ended up with only a few images – trust me, the show, if you haven’t seen one before, is good. Just make sure that you are at the theatre on time (shows are at specific time – and it can get crowded which means you’ll have to either sit in the sun or at the back, both of which aren’t good)

Moving on, the park has plenty of aquariums – really colorful fish! The aquariums are huge, well maintained. There are plenty of people, so you’ll have to put your foot down and stand if you want to see something for a while longer. Boards request you not to use the flash, but you’ll see plenty of people ignoring the signs.

Here’s a Regal Tang, made popular through the movie ‘Finding Nemo’ [Dory, if you don't remember]

A Yellow Tang

Schools of Clownfish [Nemo & dad, from the movie Finding Nemo]

You also find exotic varieties of Jelly Fish:

The park is separated as two clusters – one on a hill and the other at ground level. The entrance we took was on the hill, and we had the option to take a cable car or a train down. Train is bound by schedule, while the cable cars run continuously and hence, seemed like a better option to save time.

On the way down, I spotted a few macaws flying in the air – my guess was confirmed a while later – this was part of the bird show. Didn’t get any pictures as there wasn’t enough time to switch to a telephoto lens.

Off to the Giant Panda zone – this houses HK’s famous Giant Pandas – a male named An an and female named Jia Jia. Signboards placed outside indicate the characteristics of both of them. The pandas are super lazy and shy though. They never face people. It can be quite a while before one of them turns to face the public.

Here’s An An:

This is not Jia Jia, but a third Giant Panda:

Off to another aquarium after checking the bird show timings. This one housed exotic varieties of fish.

A Lionhead Goldfish:

Another species of Lionhead Goldfish:

Goldfish:

Time for the bird show – they have several exotic varieties of birds – Macaws, eagles, cranes, owls. All are trained, and put on a good show for the public. There’s even a short awareness program on deforestation and its effects, which also demonstrates the capabilities and intelligence of some of the birds. Here are a couple of pictures of Stella, a male Red and Green Macaw (I know, a girl’s name for a male parrot) – who was a veteran model.

Once done, it was time for some good food. Reached Tsim Sha Tsui area by 4:30 PM, hogged a bit at an Indian restaurant. Roamed around Avenue of Stars, and then went to find a nice spot to witness the World’s largest fixed light and sound show – A Symphony of Lights. A few pictures shot from Victoria Harbor when the show was in progress:

And if you are in the mood for it, you can take a cruise on the ocean as and when the show is in progress:

They do have some fancy looking boats, don’t they?

To summarize, here’s what I did in one day:
1. 3/4th of a day – Ocean Park
2. Little bit of exploration of Stanley Road area for some stuff that I wanted to buy
3. Food at TST, followed by A Symphony of Lights

Do remember that if you do not plan in advance, you may end up losing a lot of time (and money) switching between trains and metros.

And yes, the show starts at around 7:30 PM but if you want a good spot, be there at least a half an hour earlier – and yes, you get to see it everyday. During festival season, you get to see fireworks as well.

Done with the day – headed back to Shenzhen at around 9 PM. No trouble with immigration on either side – smooth as butter.

PS :
1. I hold the copyright for all the images and what’s written here – images/text is free for non-commerical use only. Contact me directly if you’d like to use any of the images and we can discuss the terms.
2. I visited HK sometime in July – I’ve tried to be as accurate as I can. Things may have changed now.
3. I did go to HK another day to visit a few more places – a post on that will come later. If you need tips on where to go right away, leave a comment with your eMail ID and I will respond to you.