Our trip to Hong Kong happened by accident. When I checked in for our flight to Tokyo, I was told I needed an exit flight from Japan before I could board the plane. This led to a quick scramble, minimal research, and then quickly booking a flight to Hong Kong because it was cheap, and I planned to visit it at some point anyway. Luckily, Hong Kong does not require visitors to have a Chinese visa (which is a real pain to get, believe me). Other than some less-than-stellar accommodations (more on that below), Hong Kong is so much fun!

Ideally, if you want to explore the surrounding area of Hong Kong, go on a few amazing hikes, and visit some beaches (or maybe Disneyland?) 5-7 days is a good amount of time to visit. We spent three days in Hong Kong. It was enough time for a good introduction, but it wasn’t enough time to stray far from the main area. With that said, below is a list of the experiences I think everyone should have during a trip to Hong Kong.

What to not miss while in Hong Kong

Dim Sum for Breakfast

No trip to Hong Kong is complete without visiting a traditional teahouse and eating dim sum for breakfast. We got our fix at the Lin Heung Tea House, and boy was it an experience. How it works: share a table with other locals, and wait for ladies with carts of dim sum to emerge from the kitchen. Once they appear, run over there and hope you can grab something good. Be brave – you’ll really have to fight! I befriended a local who kept cheering and pushing me forward, yelling “Go! Go! You have to get some!” I won some pork dumplings, and emerged from the crowd feeling rather triumphant.

Hiking up Victoria Peak

Once you’ve had your fill of dumplings, it’s time to break a sweat. We started the hike up Victoria Peak directly from the Lin Heung Tea House. I suggest using Google Maps to get started, and then just follow everyone wearing athletic clothes up the trail. Sure, you could just ride up the hill, but then you wouldn’t get amazing views like this along the way:

Lunch: Roast Goose at Yat Lok Restaurant

Flavor explosion right here. This goose is smothered in over 20 spices (including cinnamon, and maybe clove?) and then roasted until crispy. (They’ve also been awarded a prestigious Michelin star, which I noticed once we were sitting in the restaurant.) We had our roast goose served over a bed of rice (to catch that flavorful juice!) and washed it down with some Yuenyeung (Hong Kong-style milk tea with coffee). This is the perfect lunch in Hong Kong.

Ride the Star Ferry

This ferry takes people across Victoria Harbor (which separates two main areas of Hong Kong). Not only is it a cheap method of transportation, but it also comes with amazing views!

If you ride the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui, I highly recommend walking a few blocks from the pier to The Alley. Their Brown Sugar Deerioca fresh milk drink is the most delicious boba beverage I’ve ever had. The boba balls are homemade and are served warm in a brown sugar sauce. There was a twenty minute line for a reason – it was that good.

Where Not To Stay: The Chungking Mansions

The Chungking Mansions are a great place to visit if you’d like to get a SIM card, exchange some currency, buy illegal drugs, tailor a suit, find a knockoff Rolex, and eat curry, all in the same place. It also happens to be… where we stayed.

This is my first major travel screw up. I booked our lodging at the last minute, so most options were already fully booked. After stressing a little (a lot), I finally found a motel that looked decent enough online. After taking the HK Airport Express and arriving at midnight, we proceeded to walk down the streets of Hong Kong looking for our motel. This is when I realized that it wasn’t located next to the Chungking Mansions (like the internet led me to believe), it was one of the floors inside the building.

What are the Chungking Mansions?

It’s a high-rise building originally built for residential purposes, but it got taken over by budget motels and shops. Upon arrival I kept wondering, “What is this place? Is it a brothel?” It’s tough to describe, without visiting yourself. (Really, it’s fascinating. Just don’t book your accommodations there.) The elevators have a long queue at all hours, the weight safety restriction for the elevator doesn’t work (I saw people work around it every single time we rode the elevator), and the walls are lined with cardboard. We happened to arrive during a rat eradication project. Fun. The stairwell was lined with trash, and every night before bed I thought “if this building catches on fire I’m going down with it.” The building is a major safety hazard bursting at the seams with people.

(No pictures of our filthy room, the ugly elevators lined with cardboard, stairs lined with trash, or the people loitering, because I’m trying my best to forget about this experience.)

Turning lemons into lemonade:

One evening I was researching restaurants nearby and an Indian restaurant with great reviews kept popping up. When I mentioned to my husband that there was a nearby restaurant worth looking into he looked at me with wide eyes and asked “How close?” As it turns out, the best Indian food I’ve ever had in my life is from The Delhi Club located on the third floor of the Chungking Mansions. Every single dish was incredible. And the cheese naan was generously stuffed, like a naan quesadilla. Need I say more?

If you missed my first travel recap from Japan you can see that here. Next stop: Vietnam!