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Me and a 10 year old in HKG
Hey All:
I have never been to HK or China; been to Japan many times. I'm taking my 10 year old daughter to Japan with me this summer and she said "Dad, I really want to go to China". So I'm flying into HKG and we are there for 3 days. My question is: What do I do? How hard is it to get into China and what would you not miss? I'm looking at doing a harbor tour on a junk and maybe a tour, but other than that, HELP ME OUT!!!
Thanks.
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Detroit Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone...
Ok.. Well if its just 3 days, I would stay in HKG and do the mainland another time (start with PEK - I'm biased but many will agree with me - I think).
What does the daughter like to do? You can do a lot of tourist things in a day, like the peak tram, big budda on Lantau etc. If you know anyone, renting out a junk boat is nice but that's like a whole day.
Does she like markets? hiking? fishing? shopping? eating? Give us some background on the lovely little lady and we can give you some specific advice...
As you are from the Stateside (I assume) you may like to miss out some of the attractions, namely Hong Kong Disneyland, its small and nothing special (as you may already been to Disneyland in LA or Disney World in Orlando). You may like to cross off Ocean Park off your list (if you been to Sea World already), though the cable car ride is fun.
Here are just a few suggestions
One thing I would suggest is to take a tram ride on the Hong Kong Island, from one end of Hong Kong Island to another, from the top deck, you will have a grand view of the fascinating Chinese lives of Hong Kong and some exotic smells. The cost? (You will have to change trams, but that is easy) For you its US$ 0.26 (yes, 26 cents or HK$ 2) per ride, for your daughter it will be US$ 0.13! http://www.hktramways.com/en/home.html
Go to Lantau Island to visit the monastery and to see the big Buddha. I would NOT recommend the veggie meal in the temple, but it is an experience some may like it, have a walk around the near by fishing village of Tai-O (I may got the spelling wrong). You may want to do the Lantau trip with a tour group.
The Peak Tram is not to be missed, go up there in the early evening, and you will see a fabulous display of city lights right in front of you.
Visit the Wnag Tai Sin Temple; (see entry in Wikipedia) it is just a MRT ride away, if you are lucky, you may see the offerings people bring for the Gods, including whole roast pig! May be your daughter like to have her fortunes told, either by an English speaking person, or a bird, or by shaking a bamboo tube (just between you and me, she will have a long, happy life and a bright future!), its all great fun and makes a nice day out for you both.
Make sure your ten year old have her own camera!
Jamoldo’s advice of not to go to China if you only have three days is a good one; go there on your next trip when you have more time.
Last edited by SQ4000; Mar 26, 09 at 5:22 pm.
Reason: Addendum
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10 year old would love disney land! a bit of advice on your stay there - it would be better to stay on hong kong island than kowloon as for a 10 year old i think the life there can be quite eye opening (in the wrong way), the ride upto Victoria Peak is awesome and absolutely breath taking... walking through to the moving escalators is quite nice as well... on kowloon side you will find Temple street market, starting just off nathan road (which in itself has a lot of shops) or you can take the MTR to mong kok for the ladies market..
The cable ride to the the buddha on lantau island is 40 mins ish but again an amazing experience as well!
I would pass on disney - get that back stateside. And totally agree that three days in HK isn't enough - so forget China this time. Or skip HK and fly straight to Beijing!
Also,
Consider the Star Ferry - it's much abbreviated from the good old days but still worth the visit.
Dinner on a floating restaurant (boat) - not sure if they still exist - but i remember doing it when i was a teenager and thought it was cool.
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There's nothing in China that's readily reachable from Hong Kong on a day trip that I'd consider a must see. Macau is fun, but I suspect a 10 year old wouldn't be interested. Shenzhen offers little to the tourist. There are cultural theme parks, but I don't consider them must see.
In HKG, I suspect a 10 year old would enjoy the ride across the harbor on the Star Ferry (I like it, too). As others have mentioned, the tram to Victoria Peak is a must see. Kowloon side, looking across the harbor at night, is stunning.
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OMG, Thanks for the Info!
First of, thank you EVERYONE for the great advice!!! To clarify, I took my son to Disney in Tokyo and he said it was the least favorite part of the trip; he has told his sister to skip it, so we are. Both my kids are pretty adventurous and like learning new cultures. She likes to hike, she is an awesome fishergirl, and shopping. So here is the $64,000 question: Can I do the Tram Ride, a harbor tour, the Peak Tram AND Lantau Island and have time to shop and explore a little?
Again, thanks for the help. You guys rock!
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Detroit Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone...
My suggestion for Lantau Island if you fancy a nice long day with some hiking:
(this only really works on Saturdays or Sundays when the cable car starts at 9am; other days it's 10am and that makes the schedule a bit tight)
08:15 from HK Station take the MTR to Tung Chung
09:00 Get the first Cable car to the Buddha & Monastery (an hour walking around covers both)
10:35 #21 bus to Tai O
11:00 Walk around and early lunch at a local seafood place in Tai O
12:15 Hike stages 7 & 8 of the Lantau Trail (16km) with pauses to explore the fort etc at Fan Lau
17:30 Arrive Shek Pik; take a #1 bus (or #2, but that's more expensive) to Mui Wo.
18:30 (or so, depending on how long you have to wait for a bus) arrive Mui Wo and proceed to the China Bear pub - sit outside taking a drink and some pub grub whilst waiting for
19:30 (Sat) or 20:00 (Sun) the slow ("ordinary") ferry back to Central (the slow one is much better for admiring the view from the open decks as you pass through the anchored ships and into Hong Kong harbour).
For the other days I would second what others have said above, but say that "harbour tours" aren't really good value. You can get to see all the same stuff by taking the Star Ferry from Central to Hung Hom and back. Try to time it so that you travel from Central just before sunset, then you'll have a 15 minute ride, a 20 minute wait in Hung Hom admiring the sunset (unless you really scoot round from arrivals to departures and catch the same ferry back - but why rush) and then get the ferry back after dark. Note that the last ferry is at 7pm on that route.
Get normal Octopus Cards (not the 3-day tourist ones unless you plan to use the MTR a lot) for use on the MTR, all the buses, and the ferries. Put maybe $200 of credit on each of the cards when you buy them - you can get it refunded (less a HK$7 handling charge) when you hand the cards back when you leave. Your daughter qualifies for a Child Card which gets her discounts on most services.
First of, thank you EVERYONE for the great advice!!! To clarify, I took my son to Disney in Tokyo and he said it was the least favorite part of the trip; he has told his sister to skip it, so we are. Both my kids are pretty adventurous and like learning new cultures. She likes to hike, she is an awesome fishergirl, and shopping. So here is the $64,000 question: Can I do the Tram Ride, a harbor tour, the Peak Tram AND Lantau Island and have time to shop and explore a little?
Again, thanks for the help. You guys rock!
The quick answer is 'yes' you will have plenty time to do all the other things, such a food, eat, shop, food, eat...
One thing you need to plan ahead is the choice of your hotel, location is all important, not only for the convenience, but also for the views. If you need suggestions, just let us know the price range you have in mind.
One thing you might like to consider is to have a 'chop' made for your daughter, its a Chinese name stamp, used in place of a signature. Tell them her name and they will carve it in Chinese, so she can show it to all her friends her name in Chinese when she get home.
The suggestion from christep is wow! I might even give it a try next time I am in HK.
One thing you might like to consider ids to have 'chop' made for your daughter, its a Chinese name stamp, used in place of a signature. Tell them her name and they will carve it in Chinese, so she can show it to all her friends her name in Chinese when she get home.
The suggestion from christep is wow! I might even give it a try next time I am in HK.
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Check her birthday to determine what animal in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, then when you get a chop, get it with head of the animal. For instance, if she is born in the year of the dragon, get a dragon shaped chop.
I think OP had already stretched about they are going to skip disneyland, what makes you think they want to go to Ocean Park instead ? If anyone from the states, there are much more nicer Aquarium and Oceanarium than Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Ocean Park is more for local and tourists from China, I wouldn't recommend anyone that is European or American to spend the time and money over there at all.
I would rather recommend to have a nice Chinese Dim Sum lunch at the nearby Jumbo floating restaurant, then take that free boat ride to Aberdeen and back watching those fishing boats along.
To the OP: If you staying in Hong Kong Island, you can start off at late morning go to Exchange Square in Central taking the no.70 bus, or if you are in a hotel near CausewayBay, no.72 bus, get to Aberdeen and go to the floating restaurant.
After lunch, take the same bus back back to central, take the no.15 bus or peak tram to the Peak, view of Hong Kong habor and also there is a shopping mall with cheap tourist gift, when you are done, take the bus or peak tram down the hill later afternoon, then onto a cheap tram ride, depends on how much time you have with the distance you want to travel on the tram through Hong Kong Island thru various neighborhoods.
OMG, Thanks for the Info!
