Hong Kong: vertical city, tropical city, last-train city

It’s 7:11 p.m. on the Star Ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui and the Hong Kong skyline is doing what it does at this hour — the buildings flicking on their lights one tower at a time, the LED facade displays on three of them coordinating into a single show that’s been running, with periodic updates, since 2004. The HK$5 ferry fare has not changed materially in two decades. The seven-minute crossing remains the best urban view in Asia for the price of a banana.

Why I keep coming back

Hong Kong is the most vertical city on earth. Manhattan is denser by some measures; Hong Kong is taller. The Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island — the residential band climbing from Central up the side of Victoria Peak — are a 200-metre staircase of buildings serviced by an 800-metre-long covered outdoor escalator that runs uphill in the morning and downhill in the evening. The cumulative effect of working out the layered urban infrastructure is one of the great pleasures of the city.

The food is one of the most consequential urban cuisines on earth. Cantonese cooking at the street stall level (the cha chaan teng, the diners), at the dim sum level, at the fine-dining level. The street culture, the markets, the wet markets, the hawker neon. The 7-day week.

Where to base yourself

Sheung Wan / Central for the heart of the island; convenient and walkable.

Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon side) for the harbour view and the cheaper hotels.

Mong Kok for the market and street-life density.

Sai Ying Pun for a slightly quieter, residential, increasingly chic neighbourhood, still walkable to Central.

What to actually do

Ride the Star Ferry at dusk. Central to Tsim Sha Tsui, then back. The HK$5 lower deck is the proper Hong Kong experience.

Take the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak. Then walk the circular path at the top (the Lugard Road loop) and walk back down. The taxi back is the easy alternative.

Eat dim sum at 10 a.m. on a Sunday. Lin Heung Tea House (the older, push-cart version, now largely retired but pockets remain) was the institution; Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons is the three-star modern version. Tim Ho Wan is the Michelin-starred budget version; queues are part of the experience.

Walk the Mid-Levels escalator. Start at Central, ride up through the Soho and Mid-Levels, get off at random levels for cafés and shops. Walk back down in the late afternoon as the escalator reverses.

Take the train to Mong Kok and walk the Ladies Market and the Goldfish Market. Markets specialised in single categories — birds, goldfish, flowers, shoes, electronics. A century-old Chinese urban institution.

Ferry to Lamma or Cheung Chau. The outlying islands, 30–60 minutes by ferry from Central. Lamma has a famous seafood village (Sok Kwu Wan); Cheung Chau has the longer walking trails and the small Bun Festival in the spring.

Hike Dragon’s Back. A 5-km ridge walk on the southeast of Hong Kong Island ending at Big Wave Bay beach. The most accessible of the city’s many serious hikes.

Where to eat

Lung King Heen — Three Michelin stars, the world’s first three-star Chinese restaurant. Tim Ho Wan — Michelin-starred dim sum at budget prices; the BBQ pork buns. Mak’s Noodle — Wonton noodles, four ingredients in the bowl, perfectly executed. Joy Hing Roasted Meat — The Cantonese roasted meat shop standard; the soy chicken. Sister Wah (Tin Hau) — Beef brisket noodles. Australia Dairy Company (Jordan) — The most efficient cha chaan teng on earth; eggs, macaroni soup, milk tea, in and out in 15 minutes. Yardbird — Modern yakitori (Japanese, but Hong Kong’s most-talked-about restaurant for a decade); walk-ins. Bar 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo — The fine-dining Italian option.

When to come

October through early December is the season — pleasant temperatures, low humidity, clear skies.

January and February are cool and grey but workable.

June through September is brutal (35°C+, very high humidity, typhoon risk).

Chinese New Year (January or February) is festive and crowded; many restaurants close.

Practical notes

• Visa: Hong Kong remains separately administered from mainland China for visa purposes. 90 days visa-free for most Western passports.
• Money: Hong Kong dollar. Card universally; the Octopus card is the city transit card and is used at convenience stores, cafés, and many shops as well.
• Transport: The MTR is excellent; trams (the historic double-decker on Hong Kong Island) are slow and atmospheric and HK$3.
• Language: Cantonese is the local language. Mandarin is widely understood. English is the second official language and signage is bilingual.
• The post-2020 city: Hong Kong has seen significant changes since 2020 — the national-security law, the pandemic, demographic shifts. The visible tourist city is largely unchanged; the political conversations have changed. Be aware before discussing politics in public.

A final thought

Hong Kong is one of the cities I have visited most often over twenty years and remained most consistently impressed by. The infrastructure works at a level rarely matched. The food culture is layered in a way that rewards a fifth visit as much as a first. The vertical urban experience — riding an escalator past a 60-storey apartment block while the harbour glitters below — is genuinely unique.

The Hong Kong of 2026 is different from the Hong Kong of 2006 in ways that go beyond the headlines. The skyline has continued upward. The residential rents have stayed punishingly high. The political settlement has changed. The city’s particular blend of Cantonese cultural depth and global commercial energy remains.

For the visitor, the technical advice is: walk more than you think you should; ride the cheap trains and ferries rather than the taxis; eat at the cha chaan teng for breakfast and the dim sum houses for brunch; spend at least one evening at a working dai pai dong (the open-air food stall) before they finally disappear. The city, layered and vertical, rewards close attention. Look up. Look down. Keep moving.