An Overview Of Hong Kong

The hustle and the bustle get to you. It's a city that throbs with excitement and business buzz. There are 15 million people who live and work here and it is among the 3 busiest business centers in the world. The great thing is that it is a fantastic tourist place as well.

To have a great overview of Hong Kong, you can start with a visual feast from the top of its highest point – the Peak (or Victoria Peak when the British still ruled Hong Kong). There are 431 steps to get to the top and the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas actually has 12,800 Buddhas. There's also a gold leaf covered mummy of a holy man. The view is spectacular and if you want one to match or even surpass it, go to Lantau, one of the Hong Kong islands and walk up the 268 steps to the Big Buddha and take in the Po Lin Monastery where you will be just spellbound with the view.

If it is museums you want, go across to the Kowloon Peninsula where you'll find many such as the Hong Kong Heritage Museum which also give you an overview of the Chinese art point of view. It spans a wide spectrum from opera to sculpture and painting. From here, you could whiz into present day when you walk through the Hong Kong Science Museum with its modern exhibits and the same feeling can be had in the planetarium which is at the Space Museum.

Then go back in time again at the Lei Cheng Uk Branch Museum where the 2000 year old Han Dynasty tomb can be found. This is considered very modern when you compare it with a lot of China's 4000 year old art and architecture!

Or you could just walk around the outer islands – they are so pretty. You typically reach those by ferry and some parts have stayed pretty much the same for over 200 years. The fast and hi-tech lifestyle that typifies Hong Kong seem to co-exist very well with the old world.

Don't miss a ride on the Star Ferry which takes you back and forth from Kowloon to the Hong Kong island. A visit to the Hong Kong Cultural Center will be well worth your while as you pore over the 2000 odd Chinese antiques and works of art.

Need a breather? Well, there's an oasis of peace in the middle of all the hustle ands bustle that is downtown Hong Kong just nearby, called Hong Kong Park in the Central District. There's an open air restaurant here and the whole place is one of tranquility with its beautiful pond with turtles, frogs, dragonflies and butterflies as well the aviary, with its huge collection of birds chirping away around you. Close by, you'll find the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, yet another place that is green and peaceful.

A short from here leads you to the Peak Tram which takes you up almost vertically up to the Peak. Another must-experience, this tram has existed for over a hundred years. Before the tram was built, all the wealthy people living on the Peak depended on rickshaw drivers to take them home! This funicular railway is actually a cab suspended by cables and it goes all the way up to the top of this high mountain to one of the most spectacular views from the island. Do you wonder why a lot of Hong Kong's rich and famous live up here, drinking in the breath-taking views?

It's such a contrast – this view - and yet there's a sense of harmony. Tall skyscrapers standing side by side with ancient monuments and showing you that this is what Hong Kong is all about – a wonderful mix of old and new to make up one of the greatest cities in the world.