Kowloon

Considered as Hong Kong’s ‘tourist mecca’, Tsim Sha Tsui is packed with tourist hotels, shops and markets. Nathan Road is a smart and fashionable shopping street, considered the equivalent of Fifth Avenue or the Champs Elysées.

The epitome of urban, close-quarters Hong Kong. Tsim Sha Tsui is loud, crowded, and very much a 24 hour kind of place. It's also one of Hong Kong's most cosmopolitan areas and many large hotels are found here. The district occupies the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula and enjoys unrivalled views across the harbour.

Ferry routes run to Central, Wan Chai and Cheung Chau, and from China Ferry Pier, to faraway destinations in the Pearl River Delta. In everyday conversation, Tsim Sha Tsui is usually referred to as 'TST'

Near to the star ferry pier stands the old Clock Tower – the remaining piece from the Kowloon-Canton railway station that was re-located to Hung Hom in 1975.

Worth visiting are the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which has exhibitions of jade, ceramic and calligraphy, and the Hong Kong Space Museum, with a Space Theatre. Kowloon Park features a Sculpture Walk with local and international exhibits, as well as Chinese and ornamental gardens.

For a more spiritual retreat, tourists should visit either the Chi Lin Nunnery, a spectacular Tang Dynasty-style complex, or Wong Tai Sin Temple, built in honour of a shepherd who earned immortality. Many fortune-tellers congregate here.

Further into Kowloon City, Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei offer unique bustling markets. In Yau Ma Tei, Temple Street is a normal commercial road until 1400 when makeshift stalls and carts appear for the Night Market, selling everything from electrical goods to incense sticks.

Mong Kok (thought to be the world’s most densely populated urban area) heaves with selling and buying. Exotic fish and amphibians are sold at the Goldfish Market, and near the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, intricate bamboo birdcages and songbirds can be purchased.

Top of Kowloon
Hong Kong Travel