Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [142]
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CHEUNG CHAU
In Cheung Chau village, south of the cargo pier and at the start of Tai Hing Tai Rd, there are a number of food stalls with fish tanks where you can choose your finned or shelled creatures at more or less market prices and then pay the stallholders to cook them the way you like. Pak She Praya Rd, running northwest off Praya St, is loaded with seafood restaurants that face the typhoon shelter and its flotilla of junks and sampans. There’s a ferry service from Pier 5 in front of Exchange Square.
Hometown Teahouse
Map Cafe $
2981 5038; 12 Tung Wan Rd; 11.30am-9pm, closed days vary btwn 1 per week & 1 per fortnight
This idyllic place that is run by an amiable Japanese couple serves lunch and dinner, but the afternoon tea – sushi and red-bean pastries ($4) – is what you should come for.
New Baccarat Map Chinese, Seafood $
2981 0606; 9A Pak She Praya Rd; set meals from $138; 11am-10.30pm
This restaurant has been around for so long you have to believe it’s doing something right. Seafood-wise it serves everything from steamed fish to fried mantis shrimp.
Windsurfing Watersports CentrE & Cafe Map International $
2981 8316; www.ccwindc.com.hk; 1 Hak Pai Rd; 10am-6pm
A favourite hangout of windsurfers and divers, this place is owned by Lai Gun, uncle of the champion windsurfer Lee Lai-shan who won Olympic gold for Hong Kong in Atlanta. On a balmy afternoon, this cafe is a great spot to relax over fries ($25), fish steak ($65) and a bottle of wine ($180).
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PENG CHAU
There are a couple of local Chinese stores that serve up instant noodles and sandwiches near the waterfront. Take a ferry from Pier 6 in front of Exchange Square.
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PO TOI
Ming Kee Seafood Restaurant Map Chinese, Seafood $$
2849 7038; 11am-11pm; Po Toi ferry from Ma Liu Shui (University KCR)
This is one of a handful of restaurants in the main village of Po Toi Island, south of Hong Kong Island, and is by far the most popular with day-trippers. Make sure you book ahead on the weekend.
ENTERTAINMENT
* * *
Nightlife Strips & Districts
What’s On
Tickets & Reservations
DRINKING
Opening Hours
HONG KONG ISLAND
Central
Lan Kwai Fong & Soho
Sheung Wan
Wan Chai
Causeway Bay
Island East & Island South
KOWLOON
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui East & Hung Hom
NEW TERRITORIES
Sai Kung Town
OUTLYING ISLANDS
Lamma
Lantau
NIGHTLIFE
HONG KONG ISLAND
Lan Kwai Fong & Soho
Admiralty & Wan Chai
KOWLOON
Tsim Sha Tsui & Tsim Sha Tsui East
THE ARTS
Central
Admiralty & Wan Chai
Causeway Bay & Island East
Lan Kwai Fong & Soho
KOWLOON
Tsim Sha Tsui
Yau Ma Tei & New Kowloon
NEW TERRITORIES
* * *
* * *
top picks
InterContinental Lobby Lounge Click here)
Tastings (see the boxed text on Click here)
Drop Click here
Gecko Lounge Click here
Yumla Click here
Pawn Click here
What’s your recommendation? www.lonelyplanet.com/hong-kong
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Hong Kong knows to party hard and does so visibly and noisily. The clubbing and bar scenes are as busy as ever and the creative destruction being visited on some venues by the economic turmoil has cleared space for some exciting new bars and nightspots.
It may be less voluble but the arts scene is also healthier than ever. Beyond the neon of the bars of Wan Chai or Central the increasingly busy cultural calendar includes drama, Cantonese opera, dance and live music.
Most weeks, half a dozen local arts companies perform anything from Cantonese opera to English-language versions of Chekhov plays. Locally cultivated drama and dance are among the most enjoyable in Asia, and the schedule of foreign performances is often stellar.
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Nightlife Strips & Districts
If you want to cut down your options for a night out, narrow your search to Hong Kong Island’s north shore along the area between Wan Chai in the east and Soho to the west.
This area has the lion’s share of the territory’s most popular