Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [47]
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TRANSPORT – THE MID-LEVELS
Bus Bus 26 from Central calls along Hollywood Rd ( Map); and bus 3B from Jardine House in Central and bus 23 from Admiralty stop at Robinson Rd ( Map).
Central Escalator ( Map) Use this for Caine Rd (museum) and Robinson Rd (synagogue).
Green Minibus Bus 8 or 22 from Central call at Caine Rd and Ladder St ( Map).
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HONG KONG MUSEUM OF MEDICAL SCIENCES Map
2549 5123; www.hkmms.org.hk; 2 Caine Lane; adult/concession $10/5; 10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun; 3B alight at Ladder St bus stop on Caine Rd
This small museum houses medical implements and accoutrements (including an old dentistry chair, an autopsy table and herbal medicine vials and chests), and offers a rundown on how Hong Kong coped with the 1894 bubonic plague. The exhibits comparing Chinese and Western approaches to medicine are unusual and instructive, but the museum is less interesting for its exhibits than for its architecture: it’s housed in what was once the Pathological Institute, a breezy Edwardian-style brick-and-tile structure built in 1905 and fronted by palms and bauhinia trees.
OHEL LEAH SYNAGOGUE Map
2589 2621, 2857 6095; 70 Robinson Rd; admission free; 10.30am-7pm Mon-Thu (by appointment only), service times 7am Mon-Fri, 6pm Mon-Thu; 3B or 23
This renovated Moorish Romantic temple, completed in 1902 when that style of architecture was all the rage in Europe, is named after Leah Gubbay Sassoon, the matriarch of a wealthy (and philanthropic) Sephardic Jewish family that traces its roots back to the beginning of the colony. Be sure to bring some sort of ID if you plan to visit the sumptuous interior.
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THE PEAK
Eating Click here
On your first clear day in Hong Kong, make tracks for the cooler climes of the Peak ( Map), the highest point on the island. Not only does it offer some of the most spectacular views in the world, but it’s also a good way to put Hong Kong and its layout into perspective. It’s not a bad idea to repeat the trip up on a clear night; the views of illuminated Central below and Tsim Sha Tsui across the harbour in Kowloon are superb.
The Peak has been the place to live in Hong Kong ever since the British arrived. Taipans (company bosses) built summer houses here to escape the heat and humidity.
When people refer to the Peak, they generally mean the plateau (elevation 370m) with the seven-level Peak Tower, the huge titanium anvil rising above the Peak Tram terminus and containing themed venues, shops and restaurants; they don’t mean the summit itself.
Half the fun of going up to the Peak is riding the Peak Tram (see Click here). In 1885 everyone thought Phineas Kyrie and William Kerfoot Hughes were mad when they announced their intention to build a tramway to the top, but it opened three years later, silencing the scoffers and wiping out the sedan-chair trade in one fell swoop.
VICTORIA PEAK Map
Some 500m to the northwest of the Peak Tram terminus, up steep Mt Austin Rd, Victoria Peak (552m) is the highest point on Hong Kong Island. The old governor’s mountain lodge near the summit was burned to the ground by the Japanese during WWII, but the gardens remain and are open to the public.
You can walk around Victoria Peak without exhausting yourself. Harlech Rd on the south side and Lugard Rd on the northern slope together form a 3.5km loop that takes about an hour to walk. If you feel like a longer walk, you can continue for a further 2km along Peak Rd to Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Rd, which leaves Peak Rd near the car-park exit. This goes past the reservoir to the main Pok Fu Lam Rd, where you can get bus 7 to Aberdeen or back to Central.
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TRANSPORT – THE PEAK
Bus Bus 15 from the Central bus terminus below Exchange Sq ( Map) and bus 15B from Wan Chai and Causeway Bay ( Map), via Police Museum, Caine Rd and Ladder St, both terminate at the bus station below the Peak Galleria.
Green Minibus