Hong Kong has plenty of superlative hotels, amazing food, and cool shopping. That's why we've narrowed down a few picks from our editor at large, Hanya Yanagihara—to make it easier for you.
What to Do
Explore the Sheung Wan District: One of the earliest British-settled areas, Sheung Wan, in the northwest of Hong Kong Island, is one of the city’s most bustling spots…as well as its most evocative and picturesque. Here you’ll find dozens of little low-slung shops selling incense, souvenirs, and genuine antiques. Despite the skyscrapers that loom around you, you’ll find certain corners where you can close your eyes—and find yourself yanked back to the early twentieth century.
Shop: Paris has Le Bon Marché. New York has Barneys. Tokyo has Isetan. And Hong Kong? Well, Hong Kong has Lane Crawford, the ultimate in chic designer clothes, accessories, housewares, and beauty products. Even if you’re not in the market for a statement necklace, you won’t be able to resist gazing at the local PYTs who trot, gazelle-like, through this glittery department store (IFC Mall, Level 3, 8 Finance St., Central). And if a $5,000 exotic-skin handbag isn’t your idea of a fun souvenir, head over to G.O.D. (Goods of Desire), a cheerful, eclectic emporium of affordable (but just as covetable) largely made-in-Hong-Kong goods, from paper fans to blazing-neon qipaos (48 Hollywood Rd., Central).