Note: The following entry was originally written at Christmas. The people of Hong Kong, unfortunately, are not in the habit of going out on the town dressed as Santa Claus every night for no apparent reason. If they were, and Hong Kong displayed its Christmas lights every night of the year, I'd be there all the time. At 6.30 last night, there were a group of potentially drunken Santa Clones, dressed in big red santa suits and fluffy beards, ready for the annual ...

A trip to Hong Kong Island is never complete without at least one visit to a local street market, of which the best balance between ethnic and tourist are to be found by going on the MTR to Mong Kok or Sham Shui Po where the stall holders are happy to bargain with you as most of the prices are hugely inflated to start with. The best and most extensive market on the island for tourists is at Stanley, and this is where you can get hold of all those local handicraft...

The nightlife hub of Hong Kong Island is Wan Chai, an area which once gained notoriety as the red light district due, in part, to a book called The World of Suzie Wong. Published in 1957, the book tells of a young man seeking his fortune as an artist who unknowingly checks into a brothel in Hong Kong believing it to be a legitimate hotel. He then goes on to befriend the bargirls and become infatuated by the charming "hooker with a heart of gold" Suzie Wong. The ...

Hong Kong consists of three main areas - Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Lantau - and a number of smaller islands. A short ferry ride from Discovery Bay on the famous Star Ferry takes me across to Central which is the main hub of Hong Kong and from where buses, trains, taxis and rickshaws will happily take you wherever you want to go. The Star Ferry, in fact, is one of the highlights of the whole Hong Kong experience for me. Staying in Discovery Bay, I have no choi...

The last time I was in Hong Kong prior to '98 was for the Chinese New Year in '97, months before the much publicised take-over of the region by China. On that occasion, I was stopped several times in the street and asked by schoolchildren taking part in a project whether I thought the take-over would be good or bad for Hong Kong, and my immediate reaction was to say that I didn't think the region would change much. All in all, I think this has so far turned out t...