Season 2 of Discover China takes us to Hong Kong: four packed days of neon markets, a glass-floored cable car to the Big Buddha, a stilt-house fishing village and the Monster Building. It's a city of contradictions that you have to see at least once in your life.
Across the border by van
We went from Shenzhen to Hong Kong in two vans, because only one of the two Didis we booked showed up and we had far too much luggage. Our hotel in Kowloon was tiny for six people, but cosy and central. The first stop was the K11 mall, very modern but nothing special. Then we walked for an hour around the city. After mainland China we were spoilt: on a Friday night we couldn't find a single taxi, so we learned the metro fast. It turned out to be very easy.
A fun fact: the MTR is one of the very few metro systems in the world that makes a profit. Instead of relying on subsidies, it builds and manages malls and residential towers on top of its stations, a model called "rail plus property".
Ladies' Market and bamboo scaffolding
Ladies' Market in Mong Kok is one of Hong Kong's most famous street markets. It's busiest after dark, under the neon, and bargaining is part of the fun: never pay the first price. All around we noticed something unique: skyscrapers are still built with bamboo scaffolding, just poles and plastic ties with no bolts. Take a good look, because it's slowly being replaced by steel.
Ngong Ping and the Big Buddha
Ngong Ping 360 is a 25-minute cable car ride over the mountains of Lantau Island. We chose the Crystal cabin with the glass floor, much to my "delight" given my fear of heights. From up there you see the airport, the South China Sea and then the Big Buddha appearing through the clouds. The Tian Tan Buddha is 34 metres of bronze, and with the kids you can make a game of counting the steps up to it. I was out of breath. Totally out of shape!
From up there we also saw the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea crossing.
Tai O (not Tai Po!)
A confession: I typed "Tai Po" instead of "Tai O" and we spent an hour on a bus to the wrong place. We made it to Tai O on another day (bus 11 from Tung Chung). It's a fishing village on stilts known as the "Venice of Hong Kong", full of dried seafood stalls that you can smell in the air. We took the boat to look for the rare pink dolphins. We didn't see any, but they're real, not a legend.
Temple Street, Avenue of Stars and the Monster Building
Temple Street Night Market has street food, fortune tellers and singers performing Cantonese opera. It's like stepping into an old Hong Kong film. On the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong's own Hollywood Walk of Fame, everyone strikes a Bruce Lee pose. The Monster Building in Quarry Bay is five blocks squeezed around a tiny courtyard, home to more than 10,000 people. My family really wanted to see it, but honestly it left me with a sad feeling: a crowd of tourists photographing other people's homes. We finished at the Goldfish Market and on Apliu Street, a treasure hunt of old film cameras and vintage electronics.
What bugged me (and why we loved it anyway)
Three things: air conditioners dripping on the pavement (avoid the puddles), almost no rubbish bins, and almost no benches. But Hong Kong is a fascinating mix of cultures, more Western than the mainland, with a kind of order in the chaos. Four days are not enough. If you can, stay longer.