Even though I didn’t have many expectations when I visited Hong Kong for the first time this year, I have to admit that not only did the city blow me away completely, but it also surprised me in many ways. I noticed these things during my first visit earlier this year, and when I returned to Hong Kong last month, I wanted to see if I still felt about them the same way, especially #8, which I found mind-boggling! And yes, I was still just as surprised about the following Hong Kong facts as I had been back in January – so here they are, twelve things that surprised me about Hong Kong:
1 A busy city
Arriving in Hong Kong from Stockholm, which had felt eerily empty during my visit, was absolutely overwhelming. There were crowds everywhere, and I hadn’t experienced large numbers of people in this way since leaving New York last November. Especially in the Kowloon neighborhood, where I was staying in the beginning, the streets were always packed with people. The subway was just as busy as the tube in London at rush hour, and most streets felt as busy as the streets around Times Square in Manhattan. It took me a few days to get used to how crowded Hong Kong felt.
2 Hong Kong is hilly
I have to admit that I had no idea that Hong Kong was that hilly! There aren’t a lot of hills in Kowloon, the part of the city that is connected to mainland China, but on Hong Kong Island, I found myself huffing and puffing up and down steep hills constantly. That’s why on Hong Kong Island, you find the world’s longest covered outdoor escalator, the Central–Mid-Levels escalator, which transports more than 55,000 people every day from the lower Central neighborhood to the mid-levels. The escalator has a vertical climb of 443ft (135 meters) and is 2,600 feet (800 meters) long. Since the financial district of Hong Kong is located in Central (at the bottom of the mountain), the escalators and walkways move downwards in the morning to transport workers from the higher located condominium buildings to their offices. After the morning rush hour, the escalators move upwards.
3 Bamboo Scaffolding
Considering how modern and developed Hong Kong is, it struck me as surprising that all the scaffolding I saw around town was made from bamboo. I hope the skyscrapers were built with more sturdy scaffolding.. but bamboo seems to be much more robust than I thought – who knew! This was probably the most surprising Hong Kong fact for me.
4 Hong Kong is hip
Who knew Hong Kong was so hip? Especially the Poho neighborhood (short for Po Hing Fong, in the Sheung Wan District), filled with trendy boutiques, independent coffee shops, hip restaurants and chic bars seemed to be the favored hangout for Hong Kong’s 20something trendy professionals. Street art was ubiquitous here, and young entrepreneurs keep moving into the neighborhood, opening artisan bread shops and organic bistros and other businesses.
5 Hong Kong is international
I was surprised to see so many different nationalities in Hong Kong – not only Westerners, but also a lot of other Asian nationalities and Indians. When I was walking through the Financial District on a business day, I usually encountered more Westerners in suits than Asians!
6 Hong Kong is smoggy
I know that Beijing and other Chinese mega cities are notorious for their air pollution, but I didn’t know that Hong Kong was just as polluted. The skyline pictures I had seen prior to my trip, taken from the famous ‘Peak’ viewpoint high over Hong Kong, usually made the city look like it had clear skies. During both my visits, however, the air was polluted and the city was constantly covered in a cloud of smog. I later read that air pollution has become a serious problem in the past 20 years and the number of asthma and bronchial illnesses has soared considerably.
7 Hong Kong is green
While the air might be polluted, Hong Kong is still home to an amazing amount of green spaces. Trees are everywhere, the city is infused with little parks and within minutes you can get to a green space to go on a wilderness hike. I was amazed to see how green the city was when I hiked up to the top of Victoria Peak through a number of parks, and when I ran along the Bowen Road Fitness Trail high above Wan Chai, the woods gave me an idea of the jungle this island used to be covered with, before it was changed for a massive concrete jungle. For me as someone who loves the outdoors, this was one of the most awesome Hong Kong facts I discovered during my visit.
8 There are no bicycles in Hong Kong
Considering that Beijing supposedly has 9 million bicycles, it was an astonishing surprise to not see any bikes in Hong Kong. I had even seen cyclists in the crazy traffic of Bangkok – only a few, but still – there surely must be cyclists in Hong Kong?! I paid more attention to it on my second visit, convinced that I must have overlooked the bikes the first time around, but still: no bicycles! I was ecstatic when I finally spotted a bike in Wan Chai, but I didn’t see any cyclists anywhere, neither in Kowloon nor in Hong Kong Island.
(Note: I am sure there are bicycles somewhere in Hong Kong, but I just haven’t come across them, which is why I included it here. Please don’t take it too literally 😉 ).
9 A city of coffee lovers
A pleasant surprise, and one of the Hong Kong facts that nobody’s ever talking about! Having heard from travelers that it is hard to find good coffee in China, known as a tea nation, I wasn’t expecting much on the coffee front in Hong Kong.. only to find more specialty coffee shops, coffee roasters and coffeehouses than I could possibly try during my stay. I was ecstatic about the amount of excellent coffee shops in Hong Kong and will share all my favorite places for a caffeine fix in my next post.
10 Hong Kong is expensive
The first time I visited I came from Sweden, a pretty expensive country by European standards – and Hong Kong still felt more expensive. The second time I came from Thailand, where everything is cheap, and Hong Kong felt shockingly expensive in comparison then. Hong Kong didn’t just feel expensive to me though – it was pricey even compared to New York. I have yet to visit another place in the world where I pay more than $6 for a Flat White (coffee), and the price of a pizza at Pizza Express was £13.53 – the exact same pizza in a London Pizza Express is £12.50. Motorino’s charges $17.80 for a Margherita Pizza in Hong Kong, while it charges $15 for the very same pizza in Manhattan. Alcohol was pricey too, with a glass of wine or a beer usually starting at around $9. Hotels and hostels are also very expensive, as are clothes – the only thing that is surprisingly (and disproportionally) cheap is public transportation, with tram rides costing $0.30 and subway rides averaging between $0.64 and $1.55, depending how far you go. This was a Hong Kong fact that really surprised me.
11 The culinary scene is incredibly varied
This probably goes along with #5, how international Hong Kong felt: the food scene was much more varied than I thought. In some parts of the city I came across more international restaurants than traditional Chinese eateries. French bakeries, American-style brunch places, British chain restaurants like Pizza Express but also an outlet of New York specialty pizza joint Motorino’s, Italian pasta places and bagel cafes – in Hong Kong, you can find it all. For someone like me who isn’t the greatest fan of Chinese food, Hong Kong’s varied food scene was heavenly.
12 Hong Kong has super fast wi-fi
I understand now why Hong Kong sees such an influx of visitors from mainland China: the internet is super fast, and there aren’t any websites blocked, unlike in China, where you can’t access sites like Google, Facebook or Twitter. Hong Kong also offers free wi-fi in many public spaces and parks, and almost all restaurants and coffee shops offer free wi-fi. After having been dogged by bad luck with well-working wi-fi in Thailand, it felt amazing to be connected at all times again, and to be able to even stream movies!
Have you been to Hong Kong? What are the things that surprised you? Or do you have any fun Hong Kong facts you can add to my list?
PIN IT!
Instead, I failed miserably at Hong Kong. I was already off to a bad start when I found myself frantically searching online for a hotel only a few hours before my flight to Hong Kong would depart from Istanbul. What I found, didn’t look great. Prices were outrageously high and the rooms that were still available for my arrival date the following day were all subpar. When all the reviews are only 2 out of 5 stars or 5 out of 10 points, that’s bad news. I finally settled for a place in Kowloon that sounded somewhat questionable but not too shady and was close to the Avenue Of The Stars (Hong Kong’s version of the Walk Of Fame) and the waterfront with its famous views over Hong Kong Island. I even invested in an upgrade from a 3 m
By the time I exited the plane I wasn’t worrying about my accommodation anymore, however. I had arrived in Hong Kong on a sunny afternoon, bright blue skies and terrific views over the city from the plane. I was buzzing with excitement.
I found my hotel right away, my room was bigger than expected, and the city was electrifying. I headed out to explore my neighborhood and to find some food before I settled in for work. Fail #1: finding food. I just couldn’t find anything vegetarian. The signs were literally Chinese to me, and I had no idea how to order something vegetarian. In the end, I only got me a coffee before I headed back to my room to catch up on work. I could’ve saved me the frustration about the food fail had I just looked up a place on 
Back in the hotel, I made sure NOT to beat my jet lag with the absolute rookie mistake: instead of going to bed at midnight when I should have, I stayed up because I wasn’t tired. Next thing I knew was that it was 6.30am! Fail #2. I had totally screwed myself, because now it would take me days to get into a proper rhythm.
The next morning, I was equipped with loads of tips for what to do and see, but I had yet to change hotels. The night before I had figured I’d just change to another guesthouse in my building, since I was staying in one of these huge apartment blocks that had a number of hotels on each floor, and I had seen several of the other ones online as well.
I finally went to a coffee shop to consult the 
When I saw the signs for by-the-hour hotels and all sorts of massage parlors outside the building, I already knew I would hate the place. Once I found the hotel in the maze of countless hotels inside the giant apartment block with several entrance doors, it took them an hour to check me in. By now, I had wasted nearly half a day on looking at hotel rooms, searching for a room online, moving across town, and waiting to be checked in. When I saw the room, I wanted to cry. I was pretty sure that the sheets had not been changed, the bathroom door was broken and i found a big pile of black hair in the shower which was right above the toilet.
Instead of crying, I headed out to explore – this time better prepared with a vegetarian restaurant marked on GoogleMaps and a coffee shop I wanted to check out (what I realized is that Hong Kong has some amazing coffee shops!).
However, I didn’t get my jet lag under control and I didn’t make it to half of the places on my to-see-list. If you’re wondering why most of my photos are taken in the dark .. That’s because I was awake mainly during the night.
I know that I’ll see all the sights eventually when I return in April and I will make sure to be better prepared. And on the bright side: other than my first day, when the sun was out, it was a bit grey and cloudy during my stay – so it’s probably better anyway that I didn’t have to rush up to the Buddha and the Peak which are all about the views.
Ultimately, my visit to Hong Kong taught me a few things:
Curious to see how my second visit to Hong Kong went? Read: 
Some of my favorite things in Hong Kong: taking the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor, strolling along the Avenue of the Stars, watching the cheesy light show that’s displayed on the skyscrapers of Central every night at 8pm, enjoying the views from the Peak and going souvenir hunting in the Ladies Market.
If you’re planning to use public transportation a lot, consider buying a 1-day tourist pass for HK$55 (US$7.10). There is also the option to buy an 
Have you been to Hong Kong? Feel free to share your tips for visiting Hong Kong in the comments below!
I’ve got two big posts coming up this weekend, which is why I am sharing my 
With all these things in mind, I tried to do everything else in Hong Kong as cheap as possible, and I think I succeeded. Transportation is very cheap, you can do a lot of sightseeing for free, and you can eat cheaply if you forgo Hong Kong’s fancy eateries (but then there’s still Tim Ho Wan, where you can sample Michelin star cuisine for around $10?).
So here are my tips on how you can experience Hong Kong on a shoestring:
My first trip to Hong Kong was made pretty miserable by the poor accommodation choices I had made (and by not booking anything in advance for the entire duration of my trip, leaving me with very few and very bad hotels to choose from when I had to move hotels). I stayed in Kowloon on my first visit, but enjoyed staying in Central more, which I did during my second visit. I also found the hotels to be nicer in Central.
Other main attractions that are completely free? The Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong’s answer to LA’s Walk Of Fame, is free, as is the Symphony of Lights, the world’s ‘Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show’ (according to the Guinness Book Of World Records), which takes place every night at 8pm and is best seen from the Avenue of Stars. Strolling over the markets, such as the Ladies Market or Temple Street Market, is also free (and great for cheap souvenir shopping!), the beaches are free and only cost the ferry tickets to get to them. Also: wandering the streets of Kowloon and Central is an excellent way to get to know Hong Kong, and it doesn’t cost a penny. In Central you can also ride the world’s longest escalator for free and pop into the Chinese temples, which are all worth a visit.
Two pricey Hong Kong activities you can easily replace with free versions: Instead of visiting the Sky100 observation deck (cheapest ticket is HKD169 /~US$22), visit the sky lobby on the 46th floor of the Central Plaza skyscraper which can be visited for FREE! Instead of taking the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus (tickets start at US$57), take a much cheaper sightseeing tour on a local bus – it’s much better for people watching, too, and it’ll only cost you a couple of bucks. 
Cheap local fast food chains are Café de Coral and Maxim’s MK – you can get a meal here for less than US$5 and they have English menus. A meal at McDonald’s starts at around HKD30 (around US$4). A beer in a bar / restaurants starts at US$7, a glass of wine at around US$10. Beer and wine in a 7-11 convenience store or supermarket are much more affordable. Tap water is drinkable, so if you’re visiting Hong Kong on a shoestring, there is no need to spend money on bottled water.
However, while further researching the hotel, I discovered that the Pennington was part of the Rhombus group which had three more hotels in Hong Kong – the Bonaparte, Hotel Panorama and Hotel LKF. LKF stands for Lan Kwai Fong, which is a popular nightlife area in Hong Kong, and so I didn’t need to think long: I wanted to stay there, right in the middle of Lan Kwai Fong, a neighborhood made up of a maze of little streets and alleyways that are home to more than 90 restaurants and nightclubs.
The first thing I noticed upon arrival was the elegant and classic theme of the hotel which runs like a thread through the entire hotel, from the lobby to the rooms and the stunning rooftop bar (more on this later).
All rooms at the LKF are equipped with illy espresso coffee machines and tea making facilities, a 42-inch LCD TV (which admittedly I didn’t have time to switch on once!), mini bar and comfy bathrobes and slippers. For a city like Hong Kong, where space is sparse, the rooms are unusually large – the superior rooms are an enormous 500 square feet and the suites are almost twice as big with a size of 950 square feet.
The spacious bathroom doesn’t only come with high-quality toiletries, a hairdryer and a scale, but also with a bathtub, and indulging in a bubble bath after a long day of sightseeing felt glorious.
My favorite feature of the room? This would be a tie between the incredible views over Hong Kong and the super comfy king size bed that made me wish I had an extra day, or a rainy day. I swear I wouldn’t have left the bed – the crisp cotton linens and Flexi pillows lulled me into a sound sleep as soon as I hit the sheets after a late night cocktail at the Azure Bar on the 30th floor of the hotel.
While I didn’t have time to try the restaurant up there, I had to at least take in the night views over the city at Azure, which was ranked as one of ‘The World’s 20 Best Sky Bars’. Azure sure lived up to my expectation, even though it was rather quiet on the weekday evening I visited, but I can imagine how busy it gets on a weekend night. And have I mentioned these views?
If Azure isn’t enough to quench your thirst for a good night out, fear not: staying at LKF means that you literally have dozens of restaurants and bars right at your doorstep. Lan Kwai Fong is by far the best neighborhood to be in if you are looking to sample Hong Kong’s nightlife, or just to eat your way through the seemingly infinite number of restaurants. Staying here also means that you are in walking distance to Central’s endless shopping facilities and the yummy eateries of the trendy Sheung Wan neighborhood. I also walked up to the Peak from the LKF, which was an excellent workout thanks to the steep hills, and the road up the hill is easy to follow from the hotel.
If you prefer a more conventional workout, the LKF has a small, but functional gym, to make sure you won’t feel too guilty when indulging in the fabulous breakfast buffet, which is served in the Azure restaurant every morning – no better way to start the day than with these sweeping views and a buffet style breakfast that includes fresh fruit, yogurt, a selection of bread, and hot dishes.
Speaking of views – almost all of the rooms have stunning views, and the large panoramic windows allow you to fully enjoy them. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and even though I was looking hard for things I thought could use some improvement, the only flaw that I could find was that the gym could have a bit bigger.
The LKF was named one of ‘Asia’s Top 5 Business Hotels’, has received several ‘Certificate Of Excellence Awards’ by TripAdvisor, won ‘Best Boutique Hotel’, ‘Best Business Hotel’, ‘Trendiest Hotel in China’, to name just a few, and these awards are well deserved – the topnotch facilities and excellent service make staying here a stress-free, pleasant experience that I’d like to award with the Globetrottergirls Stamp Of Approval!
Tip: Check the LKF website for special room packages that include complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres or exclusive discount prices!
The swanky, bright and spacious lobby has hands down one of the funkiest designs I’ve ever seen in a hotel. The waved wooden lines that cover parts of the ceiling and walls paired with bright red furniture reassured me immediately that I had made a good choice with this hotel, and I hadn’t even seen my room yet.
I’d wanted to stay in Wan Chai, a neighborhood of Hong Kong that I wanted to explore more of, and the location of the Ozo seemed perfect. A tram station and several bus stations right outside the house, two subway stations (Admirality and Wan Chai) are each a a five-minute walk away. The other thing that had spoken to me was that their website promised ‘stylishly designed urban accommodation for on-the-go global nomads’. Well if that’s not the perfect hotel for this globetrottergirl, then I don’t know!
The check-in was efficient and quick, and within five minutes of arriving I found myself opening the door to my room on the 18th floor, and yet again, was pleasantly surprised about the comfort and the design. Hong Kong is, similar to New York, known for its tiny hotel rooms, but the Ozo manages to make the most of every single inch – there is even a small desk next to the bed. The blue and grey painting of the city skyline that covers the entire wall behind the bed adds to the nifty and modernistic feel of the hotel.
Last but not least, my favorite part: the sofa reading nook in the bay window! I started looking forward to the occasional downpours because it meant I could make myself a cup of tea (every room has an electric kettle and tea) and relax with a magazine in my little nook, or draft some articles. It was my favorite little detail of the hotel.
However, the reading nook isn’t even what the Ozo is all about – the Ozo is all about getting decent sleep. Everything in the rooms is designed for guests to have the best possible night’s sleep, the best ‘dream experience’. This means super comfy beds, thick curtains that block out the sunlight in the morning, double glass windows to keep out the city noise, and even includes a sleep timer on the TV that comes with sheep jumping across the screen. I couldn’t help but smile every night when I turned the TV on, eagerly awaiting the friendly sheep to put me to sleep with their monotone jumps.
And my sleeps at the OZO were indeed always uninterrupted, and the bed was so cozy that I was tempted to spend all day in it, instead exploring Hong Kong. But after a good night’s sleep I was way too energized to stay in bed. Another thing I loved about my room was the fact that I opened the larger-than-your-usual-minibar fridge and found it EMPTY!
Finally a hotel that understands that most guests are tired of paying for overpriced minibar drinks and snacks and rather go to 7-11 to stock up on exactly the items they want. The OZO gets it, and instead of forcing you to empty the minibar just so that you have room to store your snacks and drinks, and then putting all the minibar items back in before check-out, they leave you an empty fridge to begin with. Marvelous! And for those who don’t want to go out to get snacks or drinks, there’s still the 24-hour cafeteria in the lobby that has things like cookies, chips, fresh fruit and drinks.
On my first day at the OZO, I went for a run on the Bowen Road fitness trail, which I had discovered thanks to googleMaps, was only a short run up the hill from the hotel. Once you’re up there, you can run for miles straight along the rocks of the hill, surrounded by lush jungles, and with splendid views over Hong Kong. This became one of my favorite running routes in Hong Kong, but the hotel is also just a short run away from the Central and Western Distric Promenade which goes along the water all the way to the harbor, another scenic running route.
When I woke up to rain on my second day, I decided to check out the hotel gym instead and was stoked to see a rather big gym, fully equipped with cardio machines and weights. I’ve noticed that when a hotel states it has a gym, it can be hit or miss – sometimes it’s okay, but often it’s tiny and neglected. This one was definitely one that was well taken care of and equipped with modern machines.
The one thing you need to refuel your batteries after a morning workout? A strong cup of coffee. And the OZO has exactly that: instead of simply providing a coffee pot in the breakfast room, like many hotels do, it offers two coffee machines that make exactly the coffee you want, either a simple espresso or americano, or cappuccinos and lattes. The other parts of breakfast were absolutely sufficient for me: fresh breads, cheese and cold cuts, jams and peanut butter, yogurt, a selection of juices and salad. The only thing I wished I would have had a larger selection to choose from was fresh fruit, especially since the hotel is making a point of serving healthy breakfast.
Overall, I think the hotel is perfectly located to explore Central, Wan Chai and Sheung Wan, and Kowloon is just a quick subway ride away. As I said before – I was never too upset when it rained because I was looking for an excuse to spend more time in my room – and that barely ever happens!
