🇭🇰 Hong Kong | Places to Visit, Eat, Stay

[RickRooney]

What’s so boring about HK? I suspect there is a lack of sites to take selfies with, such as that pink church in Vietnam that every Taiwanese visits but actual Vietnamese haven’t even heard of…

[user86]

@OrangeOrganics

The whole geography of Asia has changed in the last 5 years.

HK was the real hub of Asia for a long time, and where you went for the good jobs and doing China stuff. Now nobody wants to go to China

Come on, you’re comparing pre-Covid Asia to now? Most cities just barely lifted restrictions and there hasn’t been enough time to get back to normal yet.

[Gain]

What is interesting about HK? I can’t name anything. Weak tourist attractions, ugly streets, mediocre food, rude locals … definitely not impressed.

[OrangeOrganics]

HK and Shanghai arent going back to 2019

[OrangeOrganics]

Good food
Good nightlife
Used to be good shopping, but not really anymore
Metropolitan stuff you cant get elsewhere
Its a fun weekend trip or a layover

[TT]

@Gain

What is interesting about HK? I can’t name anything. Weak tourist attractions, ugly streets, mediocre food, rude locals … definitely not impressed.

@Gain

Idk why Westerners all seem to like Hong Kong very much. Every time there’s a survey on about “most boring travel destination” or “a place you would never visit again” on PTT or whatever, Hong Kong always wins by a landslide, followed by Singapore and Korea.

Hong Kong isn’t very exotic for Taiwanese because in many ways it is just like home

[Gain]

Well, yeah. Kind of. Though people love Japan and in many ways the two are also similar.

[user86]

@Gain

What is interesting about HK? I can’t name anything.

Most people like the skyline from Victoria Harbour and the view from the Peak Tram. I also found SoHo/Hollywood Road areas pretty interesting but might be boring to some people. I used to live in Western, and that whole area was pretty interesting.

I also liked Lamma Island and Tai O. Cheung Chau was pretty cool too. I found it interesting that cars were not allowed at those places.

Chungking Mansions was pretty cool too, although I wouldn’t want to stay there again. The food was great though. I had a Nigerian friend who took me to an underground Nigerian restaurant there once. That was pretty cool.

But I live in Kaohsiung now, and it beats Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, snd Shanghai! Love this city.

[RickRooney]

Ghost in the Shell montage sequence HD 1080p

HKs visual aesthetics are second to none, how many movies has it influenced? Incredibly dense and vertical. Best skyline in the world. The British influences are nice too (if you are a brit like me) such as the buses and the old tram that is still running (and useful). Its gritty but its nice on the eyes, unlike Taipei which is gritty but just offends the eyes.

The tourist sites are great, the food is class and interesting - love the cha can tings and the local HK interpretations of western food. They still have traditional chinese culture -markets, temples and whatnot much like Taiwan - alongside the modernity. The vibe there is just amazing. Whenever I have been to HK I basically just aimlessly roamed the streets and took in the vibe.

[user86]

@Gain

What is interesting about HK?

Almost forgot to mention another interesting part.

I used to live by the harbor front at Shao Kei Wan. It was like Aberdeen but without all the tourists. My neighbors were fishermen who lived on boats docked in the harbor, and I used to visit those boathouses. I would just walk through all the boats with families living in them, and nobody seemed to mind.

That area has since been filled up with land though.

[Gain]

@RickRooney

Its gritty but its nice on the eyes

I think it just looks nightmarish.

@RickRooney

unlike Taipei which is gritty but just offends the eyes.

There’s a lot more greenery (trees) in Taipei especially in Tianmu and Da’an. The city is not nearly as oppressive as Hong Kong.

[user86]

@RickRooney

the old tram

Ah how could I forget the double-decker trams! I took that to school when I was a kid.

Even as someone who grew up in HK and took the tram every day, I found them interesting.

[user86]

@Gain

There’s a lot more greenery (trees) in Taipei especially in Tianmu and Da’an.

What’s so interesting about green areas?

[Gain]

@RickRooney

The tourist sites are great, the food is class and interesting - love the cha can tings and the local HK interpretations of western food. They still have traditional chinese culture -markets, temples and whatnot much like Taiwan - alongside the modernity. The vibe there is just amazing. Whenever I have been to HK I basically just aimlessly roamed the streets and took in the vibe.

I think this is why westerners like Hong Kong while Asians find it incredibly bland. It’s very orientalist.

[Gain]

@user86

What’s so interesting about green areas?

Probably not interesting per se, but it looks a lot better.

[user86]

@Gain

Probably not interesting per se, but it looks a lot better.

I see. Well HK actually has a lot more green areas than Taipei. 70% of it is protected national parks. It also has lots of ocean cliffs and beaches which Taipei doesn’t have.

But I suppose I can’t compare Hong Kong to only Taipei. Maybe Taipei + New Taipei City would be a more appropriate comparison.

[OrangeOrganics]

@user86

Well HK actually has a lot more green areas than Taipei. 70%

Taipei has better nature than Hk. Worse beaches but on the whole way better than Hk

[Gain]

Yangmingshan is in Taipei too.

And my point is inside the city, it feels a LOT more oppressive in HK than in Taipei. Taipei feels very spacious in comparison and road trees are everywhere. The only kinda shitty district is Wanhua.

[OrangeOrganics]

Taiwanese used to like going to Hk

[user86]

@Gain

And my point is inside the city, it feels a LOT more oppressive in HK than in Taipei. Taipei feels very spacious in comparison

I mean, Manhattan is the same as Hong Kong in that regard, but nobody would find the Cleveland, Ohio skyline more interesting than Manhattan’s because of more open space and tree-lined roads.

That’s usually not what tourists are looking for in a travel destination. That’s what we’re discussing, right?