Hiking in Hong Kong is possibly the city's most popular hidden activity.
Tourism campaigns for Hong Kong rarely champion its hiking trails and yet 300 kilometers of designated trails, varying in length and difficulty, traverse the territory and many locals hike religiously.
Hong Kong came 31st on a list of the world's best city's to live in.
Melbourne is now the world’s most liveable city, ending Vancouver’s nine-year reign on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) bi-annual Global Liveability Survey.
Vienna was rated the second best place to live, and Vancouver the third. Toronto and Calgary rounded out the top five. In another coup for Australia, Sydney jumped ahead of Helsinki to sixth spot.
While the Chinese government is headlining the world press with its bullet trains and submarines, ordinary citizens, on the other hand, have grabbed global attention for creating some most unusual vehicles.
Here are a couple of examples: Wu Yulu (吴玉禄), a peasant from the suburb of Beijing, has created a robot rickshaw, and Wang Qiang (王强), a former barber from Sichuan, has built an aircraft from scratch.
Cathay Pacific will introduce premium economy seats to its fleet in the second quarter of 2012.
The premium economy seats will be laid out like the Hong Kong-based airline’s regional business class seats, but will be cheaper than business class.
"We'll have great recline and plenty of leg space," said Cathay Pacific chief executive John Slosar. "The meal service will be improved and little extras will leave anyone who chooses Cathay Pacific’s premium economy feeling they really got value for their money."
The new premium economy section will be fitted on all of the airline’s long-haul routes to Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East.
A proposal to build a "Hong Kong Eye" will be submitted today to the Harbourfront Commission by The Hall Organization and Great City Attractions Global, the people behind the Singapore Flyer.
Great City is hoping that Hong Kong will follow in Singapore's footsteps and set up a 60-meter-high observation wheel on reclaimed land near the Star Ferry pier in Central.
"The wheel will definitely become a focal point of the harbor, offering postcard photo opportunities," the prospective operators claim.
We asked Hong Kong people where they would go if they had a door that could open up to anywhere at all.
This door would be similar to popular Japanese cartoon character Doraemon's dokodemo door ('anywhere door'), which can take its user across time and space.
We parked our camera at the junction of Sai Yeung Choi Street and Shantung Street in Mongkok and fielded some surprising answers from passersby.
The Avenue of Stars along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui is named one of the world’s 12 worst tourist traps by CNNGO. While I think reports like this are subjective and for attention grabbing only, I do agree that the Avenue of Stars is not a worthy place to visit. The reason is two-folded.
First, it is full of mainland tourists and the locals like me have stopped going there. That is a shame, really. It is such a nice harbourfront.
Second, it is too “artificial”. The Avenue of Stars is obviously an imitation of Hollywood’s Walk of the Fame, with local movie celebrities’ autographs and hand prints set in cement as plagues. The whole thing was set up just to promote Hong Kong’s tourism, not a natural outgrowth of the local culture. I never like visiting places like this.
I still go to Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront from time to time though, not to see the celebrity plagues, but to visit Hong Kong Museum of Art. The exhibitions put up there often give me delight surprises. The Museum has benches facing a glass wall at each of its floor (except the ground floor), allowing visitors to take in the harbour for a respite after appreciation of art works, a much better space than the noise and excitement on the Avenue of Stars. To go there, make sure that you take Star Ferry. That is something not only tourists but also locals enjoy doing.
We love our siu mei -- Cantonese-style roast meats -- and consume 66,000 tons of them every year.
According to a survey of 1,706 people by healthyD.com, on average Hong Kong people eat Cantonese-style roast meats once every four days.
The most popular meat is char siu (barbecued pork). Siu yuk (roast pork) is second; siu ngor (roast goose) is third most popular.
But eating these meats are really bad for you. Registered dietitian Sally Poon Shi-po said that consuming siu mei -- high in saturated fats -- more than once a week raises the risk of coronary heart disease and strokes.
