Hong Kong Travel Guide

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Cuisine

Hong Kong is one of the great centers for international cooking. Apart from several Chinese cuisines, there are also many Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Singapore/Malaysian and Thai restaurants. It is the home of authentic Chinese food from all the regions of China, which may be sampled on a sampan in Causeway Bay, on a floating restaurant at Aberdeen, in a Kowloon restaurant, in a street market or at a deluxe hotel. Hotels serve European and Chinese food but there are also restaurants serving every type of local cuisine.

Chinese regional variations on food include Cantonese, Northern (Peking), Chiu Chow (Swatow), Shanghai, Sichuan, and Hakka.

Things to know: The Chinese do not usually order a drink before dinner.

Regional specialties:
• Cantonese specialties include dim sum (savoury snacks, usually steamed and served in bamboo baskets on trolleys), such as cha siu bao (barbecue pork bun), har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings) and shiu mai (steamed and minced pork with shrimp).
• The emphasis in northern food is on bread and noodles, deep frying and spicy sauces. Specialties include Peking duck and hotpot dishes.
• Chiu chow cuisine is from a part of Guangdong province. It uses light, slightly vinegary sauces and is strong on seafood and roast goose.
• Hakka food is generally simple in style with baked chicken in salt among the best dishes.
• Sichuan food is hot and spicy with plenty of chillies. A specialty is barbecued meat.

Regional drinks:
• Zhian jing (a rice wine served hot like sake).
• Liang hua pei (potent plum brandy).
• Bai jiu (a fearsome white spirit).
• Kaolian (a whisky) and Maotai.
• Popular beers are the locally brewed San Miguel and Tsingtao (from China).

Tea culture: Yum cha (drinking tea) is an integral part of Hong Kong's culinary culture and is the perfect compliment to most dishes. There are many tea houses in Hong Kong where tea can be drunk accompanied by bow law yau, a steaming hot bun stuffed with melted butter, or yau char gwai, a deep fried dough. In tea houses, you are expected to pay at the counter; a tip is not required.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: Most hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge and an additional 5% gratuity is also expected. Small tips are expected by doormen and washroom attendants.

Nightlife

There are many nightclubs, hostess and karaoke clubs, theaters and cinemas. Cultural concerts, plays and exhibitions can be seen at Hong Kong's City Hall, which also has a dining room, ballroom and cocktail lounge.

The Hong Kong Cultural Center, including a 2,100-seat Concert Hall, 1,750-seat Grand Theater, a studio theater with 300 to 500 seats and restaurants, bars and other facilities, has become the major venue for cultural concerts, plays and operas.

Hong Kong Art Center in Wan Chai supplements the City Hall's entertainment with culture in the form of Chinese opera, puppet shows, recitals and concerts. American, Chinese, European and Japanese films with subtitles are shown at a number of good, air-conditioned cinemas.