# Hong Kong

## food

### reference
- tabelog equivalent in HK: https://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong
- not totally reliable as there're inorganic reviews

### food places
- Dim sum restaurants (茶樓; usually a grand decorated place filled with round tables)
- Cha Chaan Teng (茶餐廳/冰室; usually a small restaurant with rectangular seatings)
- HK style western food, "fast" (literal) food
- Street food stalls
- Buffet in some hotels
- Cantonese dessert shops
- Dai Pai Dong(大牌檔/大排檔); open-air food stalls

### cuisines/food
- dim sum (點心), all varieties
- Cha Chaan Teng HK style food: https://www.tripsavvy.com/dishes-to-try-hong-kong-cha-chaan-teng-4799062
- HK style milk tea, lemon tea, red bean drink etc.
- Cantonese seafood (stir fried/steamed): in dedicated shops or in dim sum restaurants
- Cantonese hotpot: in dedicated shops or in dim sum restaurants
- other Chinese: Sichuanese etc.
- other Asian: Thai/Vietnamese etc.
- Cantonese soup (usually no dedicated shops)
- Cantonese congee
- Cantonese desserts: https://ling-app.com/yue/cantonese-desserts/
- street food: curry fishballs, HK egg waffles etc.
- rice noodles (米線) with toppings; in 譚仔，南記，stalls in a grocery market
- Chinese herbal tea (涼茶); in dedicated shops or buy in supermarket/convenience shops

### food souvenirs
- traditional snacks: egg rolls, rice pudding cake etc.
- artisan milk tea etc.
- dried seafood (check UK import rules)
- X.O. sauce
- mooncakes
- dried fruits (涼果); in dedicated shops
- seafood flavoured dried noodle: 壽桃牌蝦子麵/瑤柱麵/鮑魚麵 (shrimp paste/ dried scallop/abalone)

## Non-food souvenirs
- local cartoon related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDull
- porcelainware
- Jade

## Places to go
- Theme parks: Ocean park/Disneyland
- Popular/secret beaches
- highest peak: Tai Mo Shan 957m (大帽山)
- Victoria peak (太平山); take the peak tram up
- great view of HK island, Victoria harbour and Kowloon
- MacLehose Trail for hiking; recommend section 1-3
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacLehose_Trail
- Any other country parks
- central business districts: Central and Kowloon station (中環/九龍站)
- ICC (International Commerce Centre) where I worked in; highest building in HK; you can go to the The Ritz-Carlton restaurant at the top instead of going to Sky100 for the deck view
- The Big Buddha (and the surrounding temples); take the cable car there from Tung Chung (東涌); or other temples like Che Kung Temple (車公廟)
- get a glimpse of local religious practice
- Lan Kwai Fong （蘭桂坊; the bar area) and mid-levels area (半山區) near Central (中環) ; for food/drink and meeting other expats/tourists
- Happy Valley Racecourse (跑馬地馬場)/ Sha Tin Racecourse (沙田馬場); race days only
- meetup events
- live concerts
- A university (e.g. HKUST, my home university)
- Exhibition centre:
- ACGHK2023 (anime comic games) https://ani-com.hk/2022ver/en/
- July 28 - August 1

### Old HK
- outlying islands: Cheung Chau (長洲)/ Tai O (大澳) etc.
- Sham Shui Po (深水埗); considered the poorest area in HK previously, where I lived; There used to be an old fabric market where my mother worked but it's now forcibly closed
- Anywhere between Sham Shui Po (深水埗) and Yau Ma Tei (油麻地) or most places near the Island Line for some old flat building architecture
- An old housing estate: e.g. Choi Hung Estate (彩虹邨)
- not really a tourist spot but you can get an idea how people lived 20-30 years ago

### Historical places
- Stanley (赤柱); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley,_Hong_Kong
- British (and Japanese) empire!
- Hong Kong Museum of History
- It could be biased but it's still a good visit if you want a live history lesson