Delightful to visit in any season, this Asian metropolis is imbued with an undeniable charm as the summer sun hits. Explore the many faces of this dynamic city through the recommended activities below.
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Man Ho Temple at the Hollywood Road
1) Pose Away on Hollywood Road
Whether it is the many antique shops selling quaint curiosities, or the 180-year-old Man Mo Temple that witnessed Hong Kong’s early colonial days, Hollywood Road’s historical aura has been a magnet to local and foreign visitors alike. But on a sunny summer afternoon, it is the best opportunity to turn on your camera and take pictures with all the colourful murals referencing traditional architecture and iconic pop stars. Towards the Central end, the former Central Police Station Compound (now a museum-heritage centre named Tai Kwun), with its colonial-style structure, is another mandatory spot for architecture lovers and Instagrammers. With your best images uploaded onto social media, head over to MICHELIN-Starred restaurants Mora, TATE, and Yardbird to indulge in some top-notch cuisine and take a few mouthwatering food shots — that is if you can resist to urge to dig in immediately.
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Dundas Street in Mong Kok. Snack shop hopping, lovingly called sou gaai in Cantonese, is one of the favourite pastimes amongst HK natives.
2) "Sweep" All the Street Snacks You Can Find
For however many upscale dining destinations epicures can find in town, there are just as many no-frills eateries dotting the bustling streets. Snack shop hopping, lovingly called sou gaai in Cantonese, is one of the favourite pastimes among Hong Kong natives. While it literally means “sweep the street”, the term originated from how Hong Kong folks enjoyed going from one end of the street to the other, patronising all the cart-pushing hawkers they could find.
Popular snacking sites scatter across different regions of the city. Those include Tai On Building, Sai Wan Ho (Hong Kong Island), Dundas Street (Mong Kok), and Lo Tak Court, Tsuen Wan (New Territories). As for the most beloved bites, sauce-drenched cheung fun (steamed rice rolls), fish balls and fish siu mai reign supreme. The chilled mung bean sweet soup and egg pudding at Ho Kee Dessert (To Kwa Wan) and the ice cream-based items of Owl’s are the perfect remedies for the summer heat.
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Dragon's Back Mountain within Shek O Country Park, Hong Kong.
3) Discover the Green Side of Hong Kong
Though Hong Kong is often called a concrete jungle, lots of country parks and hiking trails are just a stone’s throw away from the city centre. The pandemic gave residents a reason to stretch their bodies, while feasting their eyes on really spectacular natural landscapes, and the habit has stuck since then. The difficulty of the trails varies, but Dragon’s Back at Shek O Country Park boasts great views of the city’s eastern shorelines. Up north in Plover Cove Country Park, the Bride’s Pool Trail attracts hikers with the eponymous waterfall. Complete the natural rendezvous with a meal at Green-Starred restaurant Feuille, whose menu is inspired by the growth cycles of plants.
Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong.
4) Dive Into All Types of Water Sports
Clear water and fine sand make Hong Kong’s beaches a favourite summer haunt. The seafront of Deep Water Bay in Repulse Bay and Stanley is reachable by public transport from Central in less than an hour. The idyllic beaches there are matched by landmarks like Stanley Market and Murray House, an officers' quarters of the Murray Barracks built in 1846 and a living relic of the bygone era.
Another hotspot for beachgoers is Sai Kung in New Territories East. There, one can find the most dynamic marine ecosystems in town, tranquil coves for those seeking a carefree afternoon, as well as pristine beaches for swimmers. Adventure seekers can even pick up a paddle board, a canoe or scuba diving gear and play to their hearts’ content. But whichever activity you prefer, a Hong Kong-style seafood dinner is mandatory to close out a trip to Sai Kung. Few do it better than Chuen Kee Seafood (Hoi Pong Street) as it carries myriad choices of fish, crustaceans, and shellfish. Diners would be amiss if they did not order the moreish abalone in peppered salt.
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Night view from the summit of Garden Hill.
5) Night View from Above
With temperatures dropping after sunset and breezes flowing among the hills, the quintessential Hong Kong experience becomes even more pleasant in summertime. The skyscrapers on both sides of Victoria Harbour conjure up a night view often touted as the world’s most impressive, and the Peak captures such beauty like nowhere else. Across the harbour, Garden Hill on the Kowloon side offers a lesser-known vantage point and a less touristy atmosphere. The shorter distance between the hills and living space allows visitors to see the movement of the city more clearly.
Magnificent harbour-side vistas also make for ideal dining backdrops. Starred restaurants Chaat and Lai Ching Heen are two examples offering guests multi-sensory enjoyment.
Tai Hang for the fire dragon dance that takes place on Mid-Autumn Festival every year.
6) Celebrate Traditional Festivities
The slew of modernist skyscrapers only tells half of the story of Hong Kong. Throughout the year, the city’s time-honoured cultural customs and folklores are reenacted through various traditional festivals. Some of them, like the dragon boat rowing and the race to climb up a bun-filled tower, surely qualify as some the most colourful celebratory rituals in the world.
The Mid-Autumn Festival this year falls on 17 September. Those travelling to Hong Kong for a late summer trip should pick up a box of mooncake and head to Tai Hang for the fire dragon dance (the event takes place a day before and after the exact day of the festival as well). The featured “dragon” is a structure made of bamboo stick, metal wire, and straw with thousands of incense sticks attached to it. As it swerves up and down along the beatings of drums and gongs, the electric mix of sight, sound and smell will surely leave an impression on every spectator.
As a calmer, but no less aesthetically stimulating follow-up activity, walk to the adjacent Victoria Park to appreciate the festive lantern displays.
Traditional Cattle Depot Artist Village in Hong Kong
7) Immerse in the Arts Scene
Hong Kong’s arts scene is expanding through diversification, with exciting international and native arts events catering to a wide range of interests. While star-studded auctions and Art Basel return regularly, all eyes are on Tai Kwun this summer, as a retrospective of contemporary art master Bruce Nauman is taking place at the museum. Before art creation ventured into new media, Nauman had already experimented with sound, sculpture, performance and other channels in the 1960s to explore the meaning of language, body and identity and other concepts.
Cattle Depot Artist Village and Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre are both reclaimed industrial spaces to give burgeoning Hong Kong artists and craftsmen a hub to develop their creative endeavours. Get a glimpse of the kaleidoscopic perspectives of local art-making via the exhibitions, plays and workshops held at these two locations.
Waking up to the aroma of coffee is one of the best things in life.
8) Wake Up to the Aroma of Coffee
Being out and about in the summer can make you run out of energy. Thankfully, speciality coffee is a city-wide obsession, fuelling up coffee lovers with all kinds of preferences. Nothing beats sleeping in at sleek MICHELIN-recommended hotel TUVE before casually walking to the adjacent NOC Coffee Co. for a cup of highly-rated pour-over. In Kowloon, Sang’s Roastery roasts their beans on the site. Its past life as an old-fashioned dried seafood specialist adds to its neighbourhood charm. Yuen Long-based Accro Coffee is known for its technique-driven siphon coffee, prepared by baristas who have won multiple awards in international competitions.
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Sok Kwu Wan fishing village on Lamma Island
9) Live the Island Life
Glimpses of Hong Kong’s roots as a fishing harbour are still visible in Tai O, Lantau Island. There, visitors will find rows of charming stilt houses, built by the native Tanka people to help navigate the waterways.
At the southernmost tip of Hong Kong, Po Toi is an island of less than 100 residents. Its rugged, primitive beauty is epitomised by a collection of cool rock formations and carvings dating back to the Bronza Age.
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Joining a guided tour is a good way to explore the city in depth.
10) Join an Offbeat Guided Walking Tour
There has been a surge of interest amongst Hong Kong’s younger generation to take a deeper look at the social fabric of their home. In response, guided tours revolving around common housing estates, site-specific superstitions and other aspects of life were born to dissect the development of every district.
Some of the most intriguing tours organised by Walk in Hong Kong, for instance, trace the working-class life in the 20th century or revisit the filming locations of the most famous local movies. Alternatively, there are many tours available to explore the street food offerings of various districts or craft beer breweries.
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K11 Musea’s dramatically sculpted spaces provides respite from the unrelenting summer heat.
11) Shop Till You Drop
A wide selection of glamorous malls and bustling, vendor-filled street markets contribute the city’s reputation as a shopping paradise. Among them, K11 Musea’s dramatically sculpted spaces provides respite from the unrelenting summer heat. An eye-catching set of artworks also make it the coolest (no pun intended) recent addition to the high-end shopping centre scene. In addition, staying at mall-based hotels Rosewood Hong Kong and Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong will give you quick access to the deluxe shopping spaces directly downstairs. On the street level, the unassumingly neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po has found a new mojo through the independent bookstore to Japanese homeware shop to leather good workshop moving into the area, garnering the favour of those seeking a more curated lifestyle.
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