Page 7 - Hong Kong Destination Guide PRINT

"Old" Kowloon's borderland with China lay along Boundary Street, which runs straight across the peninsula a few blocks north of Mong Kok M.T.R. Station. "New" Kowloon was formed in 1898, when Britain leased the land north of Boundary Street and south of the Shenzhen River. PAGE 3 Population | Time | Visas TSIM SHA TSUI AND HUNG HOM Insurance | History One of Hong Kong's major shopping, dining and entertainment areas, Tsim Sha Tsui ("Sharp Sandy PAGE 4 History & Government Point") was a barely inhabited rural promontory at the beginning of the century. Nathan Road, named after PAGE 5-9 the British Governor who designed it, runs directly up Island Areas to Boundary Street, and was long scorned as a white On the reclaimed land of North Wan Chai, where the PAGE 9 elephant and dubbed "Nathan's Folly". In recent 78-storey Central Plaza (Asia's tallest building) rises, Language decades, it has been known as the "Golden Mile" a host of glittering towers have given Hong Kong a because of the dazzling array of brightly lit, neon- PAGE 10 new social and entertainment center. Arts-lovers Climate & Weather decorated shops, hotels, restaurants and nightspots flock to the Hong Kong Arts Center and the Academy that flank the wide thoroughfare. The road's gilded of Performing Arts. PAGE 11 magic now extends much further than a mile and The Land represents a shopper's paradise, stretching up to YAU MA TEI AND MONG KOK PAGE 12 Boundary Street and beyond and out to both sides. This district is full of specialty shops and street Currency | Credit Cards markets which provide fascinating insights into Changing Money | Tipping An oasis in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, the 14 hectare traditional Chinese lifestyles. It can take a whole day Kowloon Park stands on a small hill that used to be the PAGE 13 to wander around Yau Ma Tei. The communal heart Etiquette | Health & site of a military barracks. One of its preserved of Yau Ma Tei is the five-temple terrace of Tin Hau Vaccinations colonial buildings houses the Hong Kong Museum of Temple, a fine example of rural Chinese architecture. History, whose permanent exhibition is a fascinating PAGE 14 Also of interest are the area's two famed markets, the introduction to the history of Hong Kong. Communications | What to Pack Jade Market and the Temple Street Night Market. PAGE 15 Other highlights in the Kowloon area are the Hong On Tung Choi Street you will find the Ladies Market Shopping | Customs Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Bartering Hong Kong Cultural Center, Signal Tower, Clock (open during the daytime) and the Bird Market located on Hong Kok Street. PAGE 16-17 Tower and the Star Ferry Concourse. Food & Drinks NORTHWEST KOWLOON NEW TERRITORIES PAGE 18 Cheung Sha Wan, M.T.R. station is the nearest station More than 2.5 million people live in the New Culture & The Arts | Religion to one of Hong Kong's most ancient monuments - The Territories. Lei Cheng Uk Tomb (now a branch of the Museum of History) which dates back to the Han Dynasty (202 WAN CHAI AND NORTH WAN CHAI BC-AD220). "Old" Wan Chai, long loved as the fictional home of Suzie Wong retains much of its former image as a The architectural and artistic glories of China's Sung sailor's paradise. Its many bars, dance halls, hostess Dynasty (AD960-1279) have been re-created in the clubs and side streets of turn-of-the-century Chinese Sung Dynasty Village, a walled township graced with townhouses now co-exist cheerily with grand new willows. It is a "living" museum in which costumed shopping centers and a dazzling range of inexpensive villages illustrate the dynasty's lifestyles and crafts. ethnic restaurants. Its other attractions include a nobleman's house, a restaurant and a wax museum. Your tour guide can easily arrange a visit to the Sung Dynasty Village.