The suggestions below are good to do by yourself or when you have visitors. Tours are offered by Gray Line (www.grayline.com.hk,  or visit their booths inside selected MTR stations, e.g. Admiralty) and via the government’s tourism website www.discoverhongkong.com.

Peace And Tranquillity

• Getaway islands for day-trips or camping out include: Tai Long Wan Bay and Tap Mun on Grass Island, both of which are accessible by ferry from Wong Shek pier in Sai Kung;Hap Mun Bay on Sharp Island – take a sampan for about $40–50 per person from Sai Kung; andTung Ping Chau – weekend-only ferries run from Ma Liu Shui Pier. Visit http://parks.afcd.gov.hk for more information. There’s more on best beaches in Chapter Eight, ‘Having and Raising Children’.
• Visit the Mai Po Nature Reserve far up in the New Territories with your binoculars. It’s a 380-hectare wetland area home to birds such as storks, egrets and endangered black-faced spoonbills migrating between Australia and East Asia. Join a tour with the YWCA or the World Wildlife Fund (tel. 9620 1824), or try calling 2526 4473 two weeks in advance of your visit to arrange a one-day permit.
• Visit the cemeteries in Happy Valley to learn more about Hong Kong’s Parsi and Catholic history. Browse the plant nursery inside and why not visit Moon House Chinese dessert cafe, near the tram terminus?
• Walk along the leafy Bowen Road from Mid-Levels to the top of Happy Valley and get a fabulous scope of the city. Stop off at the police museum en route or drop down to Wanchai if you’ve had enough.
• Visit Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (www.kfbg.org.hk; tel. 2488 1317) for a tranquil day out.
• Get off the beaten track on Lamma, Lantau, Peng Chau and Cheng Chau. Midweek is better, as the islands get busy at weekends and on public holidays. For details on where to find maps, see Chapter Twenty-Three, ‘The Great Outdoors’.
• Take the bus to Shek O, at the tip of the south-east finger of Hong Kong Island, or walk the Dragon’s Back trail down to the village. Enjoy the dramatic rocky scenery and admire the houses in this exclusive location.
• Go on retreat. Stay overnight at one of Lantau’s 100-plus monasteries and nunneries, or join a weekend yoga retreat – visit www.holistichongkong.com for details.
• Yuen Yuen Institute, Tsuen Wan – a ten-acre religious park of decorative gardens and ponds, strewn with temples, pavilions, monasteries and prayer halls dedicated to Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.
• Browse Aberdeen Harbour and see one of the few surviving boat communities in Hong Kong.

Urban Bustle

• Witness a little bit of history: the noonday gun immortalized in Noel Coward’s song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ is still fired at midday every day. Access is via the car park in the basement of the World Trade Centre (280 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay). If you can’t wangle an invite to lunch at the nearby Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, console yourself with pillow toast and banana custard at Pokka Café (9 Kingston Street).
• The Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Visitor Information and Service Centre (tel. 2508 1234) runs guided architecture tours of Central every Saturday morning. Local historian and author Jason Wordie also runs acclaimed walking talks in Hong Kong and Macau for the YWCA, AWA and other organizations.
• A day at the races : place your bets for as little as $10 on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons in Happy Valley or Shatin, which is also open on Sundays. Check the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s website for details of upcoming races at www.hkjc.org.hk. Soak up the atmosphere in the public stands or persuade a member to take you for dinner in the Member’s Lounge, where you can enjoy a superb view of the action. The Tourism Board also organizes racing packages that allow you into usually restricted areas. Please note, however, that there is no racing in July and August.
• Visit Wong Tai Sin Temple and have your face or palm read by the fortune tellers in the booths behind the temple.
• Mongkok day markets: take your pick from Goldfish Market (Tung Choi Street), Bird Garden (Yuen Po Street), Flower Market (Prince Edward MTR) or Jade Market (Jordan MTR). Refer to Figure 4.6 for the locations of these markets.
• Kowloon night markets: Temple Street Night Market (Yaumatei) is open between 5:30 pm and midnight, and is a ragbag mix of clothes, toys, electronics, luggage, opera singers, fortune tellers and food stalls. Ladies Street Market (Mongkok) keeps similar hours – go there for T-shirts, watches, copy bags, belts, scarves, etc. and lots of atmosphere. Again, refer to Figure 4.6 for the locations of these markets.
• Stanley Market: every visitor’s favourite. When you’re footsore and shopped out, wander over to Murray House for tapas or relax on the beach behind the bus station.
• Borrett Road Market: second Sunday of each month. 10 am to 5 pm in the car park of Island School at 20 Borrett Road. See artists, bakers and craftsmen.