Where to stay in Hong Kong

The Kowloon waterfront: the Avenue of Stars (the Hong Kong film industry walk of fame, Bruce Lee statue, free - the best view of the Hong Kong Island skyline across the harbour). The Symphony of Lights (free, 8pm nightly - a building light and laser show synchronized across the harbour). The Temple Street Night Market (free entry - Cantonese opera performers, fortune tellers, and hawker food stalls from 7pm). The Golden Mile (Nathan Road) for shopping. The 1881 Heritage building (the former Marine Police headquarters, free to enter the courtyard).

The most densely populated area on earth: Mong Kok is the real Hong Kong - the flower market, the bird garden (songbirds in bamboo cages, free), the Ladies Market (bargain clothing and accessories), and the Goldfish Market (hundreds of plastic bags of fish hanging outside shops). Yau Ma Tei has the Jade Market (semi-precious stones and jade, free to browse) and the Temple Street market. The Mong Kok McDonald's (infamous for having the longest opening hours and most interesting customers in Hong Kong) is a local landmark.

The financial heart of Hong Kong Island: the HSBC Building (Norman Foster's 1985 masterpiece, still the most advanced building of its era), the IFC towers, and the colonial Legco Building. The Central-Mid-Levels Escalator (the world's longest outdoor covered escalator, 800m long, free - runs uphill 10:30am-midnight, downhill until 10am) connects the business district to SoHo (the bar and restaurant strip on Staunton and Elgin streets). Sheung Wan to the west is older and more Chinese - dried seafood shops, paper offerings for the dead, and the Man Mo Temple (incense coils hanging from the ceiling, centuries old, free).

The nightlife and restaurant district on Hong Kong Island: Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is a small warren of bars and clubs that operates at full volume from 6pm to 4am, dominated by expats and finance workers. SoHo on the escalator above it has the best international restaurants in Hong Kong - at every price point. Wyndham Street connects them. The Peel Street jazz bars and the Elgin Street terraces are the finest spots for a drink. The neighborhood is most alive on Thursday-Saturday nights.

The neighborhood between Central and the typhoon shelter: Wan Chai has the best dai pai dong (street food stalls) in Hong Kong Island - the Wan Chai wet market and the cooked food centre above it (some of the cheapest and best Cantonese food in the city). The Blue House (the last inhabited tong lau - old Chinese apartment building - in Hong Kong, a blue-painted heritage conservation project). Causeway Bay is the busiest shopping district in Hong Kong: Times Square, SOGO department store, and the Japanese chain restaurants.

The 552m peak above Hong Kong Island: the Peak Tram ($88 HKD return - the historic 1888 funicular, the steepest gradient of any urban cable railway in the world, 48 degrees at the steepest point) or the 2-hour hike up via the Governor's Walk (free). The 360-degree view from the Peak Tower ($50 HKD for the rooftop) or the Lugard Road circular walk (free) is the finest urban panorama in Asia. At night, the harbour lights and the skyscraper skyline below are extraordinary. The Peak Galleria (free) has cafes and the view without the tower entry fee.