We got a great sample of Hong Kong, and now we are off to explore the elusive Beijing.  I am expecting it to be totally different from Hong Kong, and am excited to see what it’s like.  Our big sight for the day was the flag lowering in Tiananmen Square.

This video is part of our On-The-Go Series, videos shot, edited, and uploaded using only Mobile Devices.

When we were prepping the Goin’ Show: Hong Kong for free, we researched the best attractions in Hong Kong with the assumption that we would try them out in person when we arrived. Most of the advice was true to word, but we found some of the things to be a little less impressive than one would expect, leaving us with mixed reviews of the city. Here are the highs and lows of our HK trip:

Continue Reading

Hour by hour itinerary for the fast-travelers who want to pack it all in but still feel like it’s a vacation.

Pre-planning: Book two Cultural Kaleidoscope classes over the phone before you arrive, one on each day. Depending on your interests, decide on a neighborhood to stay; Kowloon (shopping and upscale dining) or Hong Kong Island (Mid-Level Escalators and The Peak). When you arrive, you’ll want to buy an Octopus card immediately. That will help with all transportation as well as refreshments from any McDonalds or 7/11’s.

Day 1:
9am- START YOUR DAY. Wake up and get ready for the day.
9:45am- BUDDHA. Subway to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha.
10:30am- Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car up to the Big Buddha. For a few dollars more per person, get the Crystal Car which has an open bottom so you can see the water and trees below you. You’ll want to start your day here because after about 12 noon, the line gets very long.
11am- ARRIVE AT BIG BUDDHA. There is a small village with shopping and Dim Sum. If you are hungry- grab some Dim Sum at one of the shops before walking to the Big Buddha. It takes about 20 minutes to walk up to it and then a bunch of stairs to see it up close. We went on a cloudy day, so you couldn’t make it out from any distance at all.
1pm- BUS RIDE. Take the Cable Car back down and find the local bus to the beach where the star ferry departs. This can easily be found by asking the bus ticketing agent. The bus ride takes you up and down the mountain side with great views from either side of the bus.
1:30pm-  STAR FERRY. Take the Star Ferry from the beach over to Hong Kong Island. You’ll see great views of Kowloon, HK Island and the nearby beaches.
2:30pm- MID- LEVELS. You’ll depart at Central and follow the signs to the Mid-Level Escalators. These are the longest escalators in the world and have tons of shopping and restaurants off them. We close a mexican place, El Loco Taco.
3:45pm- ZOO. After eating you’ll want to get back on the Mid-Levels and ride them all the way to the top. From there, you’ll see signs and arrows pointing to the Botantical Gardens and Zoo. Follow the signs and enjoy an hour walking around the Zoo for free!
4:45pm-PEAK TRAM. The exit of the Zoo will put you out within walking distance to The Peak Tram. This is quite an experience. You can get a single ride or a return ticket. I’d do the return ticket so you can see views of the city now and then later at night.
5:30pm- WIFI. At the top of The Peak there is a mall and tons of shops and restaurants. None of the shops are that great, but the area does have free WiFi to check your email. Afterwards, walk into the wall and find the Wonderfish store.
6pm- Wonderfish is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. You put your feet into a tub of small fish and they bite the dead skin off your feet. You can do it for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, but you’ll only need a few minutes for the skin crawling experience to happen to you. We went in for 20 minutes and it was more than enough time.
6:30pm- SNACK. Once it starts getting dark, head back outside for some night shots of the city and some ice cream in the square.
7:30pm- CITY VIEWS. Get in line and head back down to the city. The entire city will be lit up now and you’ll want to make your way down near the docks for the nightly light show.
8pm- Light Show.
8:30pm- DINNER. Central has a ton of noodle bars, pick the most crowded one so you know it’s good! And price should be cheap.
9:30pm- BED Head back to your hotel and get some shut eye!

Day 2:
7:15am- START YOUR DAY Wake up and make your way to the Museum of Art in Kowloon.
8am- CULTURE CLASS Tai Chi class with the Hong Kong Tourism’s Cultural Kalidoscope Program. The class is taught right next to the water with fantastic views of the Hong Kong Island. There were probably 30 people that joined in on our class and many more were welcomed.
9am-HONG KONG ISLAND PHOTOS Take in the views, snap a few photos and chat up the instructor.
TIP: If you need to use the bathroom after the class, hop into the theatre on the right. They have really nice, clean bathrooms open to the public.
10am- LUNCH Walk past all the “5th Ave” priced stores and find a Dim Sum restaurant for an early lunch. Prices are best at this time. (Later places will charge a lot more for the same food.)
11am-JADE MARKET Walk up {insert Road here} and follow the signs to the Jade Market. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the vendors and look at your leisure. They will try and pressure you, but keep your ground and stick to the price you feel comfortable paying. My Jade Bracelet started at HK $480 and we talked it down to HK $220 (which is about $25 USD.)
12pm- CHIN LIN NUNNERY Head to the nearest subway and take the journey out of the city and into the country side at Chin Lin Nunnery. The Nunnery is quite beautiful and peaceful compared to the rest of the city.
1pm- ICE CREAM The subway puts you out at a mall. We walked inside and most of the shops had great deals and we cooled off with a little ice cream before making the trip back to Hong Kong Island.
2pm- CULTURE CLASS Tea Appreciation Class with the Cultural Kalidoscope Program. We didn’t get to do this on our trip- but it’s only an hour long and after our experience with the Tai Chi class, I’d recommend any of these programs.
3:30pm- NAP Head back to your hotel for a nap and change clothes for a night out.
5pm- LADIES MARKET Take the subway and walk over to the Ladies Market. Even though there isn’t much that you’ll want, it is quite an experience and great for people watching.
6pm- DINNER Walk over to {insert terrace name here} and eat dinner at Heaven on Earth, a modernized chinese restaurant with delicious food. This whole area is really hip and cool, serving a wide variety of foods. Most of the bars and restaurants have happy hour details and because of the variety, you could bar hop drinking a different drink at every place!
7:30pm- 8:20pm- LIGHT SHOW Start walking back to the Museum of Art so you can watch the Light Show with a different view. Behind the Museum is a viewing platform and people will already be lined up. The show starts at 8pm and last about 15 minutes.
8:30pm- DRINKS/ NIGHT MARKET Take a subway over to Hong Kong Island if you are ready for after dinner drinks or if you want to haggle some more, stick around Kowloon and stroll the Night Market. We walked around the Night Market and found it to be very similar to the Ladies Market.

We only had 48 hours in Hong Kong, but as you can see, filled those hours with as much as we could.  We definitely didn’t get to experience as much night life as we would have liked because we were so tired after such a long day, but you could easily switch a few things around to cater to that too.  Below are some of our pictures from Hong Kong. Do you think we could have fit anything else in?  Or, have you been to HK?- Did we miss anything?!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]