http://www.backpatters.com
http://www.backpatters.com/blog
http://www.backpatters.com/forums
http://www.backpatters.com/gallery
http://www.backpatters.com/chat
http://www.backpatters.com/explore/explore.htm
Hong Kong
Discover Hong Kong

Hong Kong itself is actually 4 basic areas, Hong Kong island to the south, Kowloon, New territories, and the outlying islands (i.e. Lantau, airport etc).

Hong Kong and Macau are awesome. Friendly, polite people and too many bargains to pass up. Maybe the people were so friendly because we towered over them. Who knows

Things to Do

Go up to the Victoria Peak on Hong Kong island for a fantastic view of the city.  Strangely enough, they also had the cheapest postcards up there.

Go to Lantau island and see the big Buddha.  There are several monastery scattered among the hills in Lantau, they serve some amazing Chinese Buddhist veggie meals (but the Big Buddha's monastery's meal isn't very good). Along the harbor, there are a bunch of seafood standshave a vegetarian lunch at one of the monasteries on the island (though I wouldn't recommend the one in the big Buddha itself)

If you have the time, take the hydrofoil to Macau for a day trip.

If you want a taste of "old Hong Kong" you need to get beyond the reach of the Subway. West of Sheung Wan is Sai Ying Poon, especially around 1st street there are still some old style Hong Kong buildings & shops.  Go to Tai Po in the New Territories. There is a "village" in the midst of the big apartment towers in there. Of course you can get the same thing at Stanley (on the south side of Hong Kong island), but it's geared for western tourists. You can get better shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui.

A must do is take the Star Ferry between Kowloon & Hong Kong. Choose the "cheap" seats which are on the lower deck. Locals prefer the upper deck because it's air-conditioned, but it's enclosed, so you don't get the good views.  It's a short ride across the harbor, but it's fantastic

Also, another cheap way to see Hong Kong island is to take the trolley (it runs east-west on the island) and enjoy the ride.  The signature green double decker trams are slow, have no air conditioning, but it's a great way to see the city from the front of the top deck

Another interesting site in HK is Tiger Balm Garden that depicts what a "hell" is supposed to be like. It was built by the person who invented Tiger Balm. It's not scary, but interesting as it is the Chinese interpretation of hell.

The buildings are pretty awesome, especially the Hong Kong/Shanghai Bank and the Bank of China. Quite impressive.  Go up to Hong Kong University...good example of Colonial architecture.

Then there is Monkey mountain.  I thought it was just a name, until I saw all the monkey jumping around!!

The go-kart track at Macau comes highly recommended.  They hit about 40mph and the track must be about a Km long.

Going Out

As for clubs/bars, try the Hong Kong side under the big escalator.

Timeout.com has a Hong Kong guide that has some monthly events, a lot of pub listings and tons of restaurant listings.

Shopping

There are *tons* of places to shop including various markets which are often quite interesting to Westerners.

HK is a fantastic place to shop: Hollywood Rd for antiques, Tsim Sha Tsui & Mong Kok for clothes. There is a whole street on the Hong Kong side that sells just silver jewelry for REALLY cheap (3 pairs for around $10 CDN).

There is nothing like buying shirts for $15 that sell for $125 in the US.

4 yrs ago $100 could buy enough clothes that you can barely hold the bags and a lot of the times the clothes are "ahead" of the trends in North American, because it's getting shipped out for the next season.

There are still some old fashion villages in the New Territories, some times only a few blocks from the mega apartment villages but it can be a bit hard to find

Better shopping can be found in Tsim Sha Tsui. Not the crap on Nathan Rd, but on a side street.  It's somewhere between the Jordan & Tsim Sha Tsui subway stop.  You will probably have to ask a local for the exact street. Lot's of cheap clothing shops, mostly stuff that are meant for export overseas so they have western sizes. Not fake stuff, it's stuff that "fell off the back of a truck" most are the next season stuff. Example CK Dress shirts are around $7 USD. Another street that similar street is Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok (Tsim Sha Tsui have better stuff though).