Hong Kong Travel Guide

Hong Kong (香港 Hēunggóng in Cantonese) is a place with multiple personalities. The population is mainly Chinese, but British influence is still quite visible. It has absorbed people and cultural influences from places as diverse as Vietnam and Vancouver and proudly proclaims itself to be Asia's World City. Hong Kong is a global financial hub, and has been a major destination for tourists and business people from around the world for at least a century. Today it is also a major tourism destination for mainland China's increasingly affluent population. Hong Kong is much more than a harbour city with crowded streets: this territory with its cloudy mountains and rocky islands also offers rural landscapes with breathtaking views. Much of the countryside is classified as Country Park and, although 7.4 million people (2021) are never far away, it is possible to find pockets of wilderness that will reward the more intrepid traveller. Hong Kong has a subtropical climate with at least one season

Hong Kong maintains a separate immigration system from that of MainlandChina. Citizens of most Western countries do not need a visa to visit Hong Kong. The Hong Kong visa can be applied for at a Chinese diplomatic mission, but must be done so separately from the Mainland Chinese one; there is no single visa that serves both areas. A visa is required to enter Mainland China from Hong Kong and vice versa.Macauis also a separate jurisdiction with regards to visas. If you wish to re-enter Mainland C

Hong Kong has an excellent and cheap public transport system. Unlike in mainland China, Google Maps can be used in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world, with a large high-density population with diverse socio-economic backgrounds managed very effectively. The city experienced significant large-scale protests against new legislation with increasingly violent clashes with police between 2014 and 2019. The arbitrariness and broad applicability of theNational Security Lawimposed by China in 2020 has ended most public protest.

With more than 50,000 rooms available, Hong Kong offers a huge choice of accommodation from shockingly cheap digs to super luxury. However, budget travellers who are spoiled by cheap prices elsewhere inAsiaare often shocked that the accommodation cost in Hong Kong is closer to that of London and New York.