For first-timers, the most striking feature of Hong Kong is likely its dramatic topography, which provides a natural backdrop for the city’s sleek skyscrapers. It might be surprising but most of the verdant mountains surrounding downtown remain out of the limelight.

At 532 meters, Mount Parker is the second highest peak on Hong Kong Island, covered in thick rainforest. An extensive network of roads and trails links various points of interest at its base. The primary route uphill, Mount Parker Road, runs from north to south, beginning at the Tai Tam Country Park Entrance in Quarry Bay. This green trail is a wide asphalt path that meanders through the dense jungle.

As you ascend, you’ll come across several scenic lookouts at different heights, offering sweeping views of Hong Kong’s densely packed neighborhoods from above. Next, you’ll come across the Quarry Bay Management Center, where an intersection connects the main road with the Hong Pak Country Trail.

This unpaved, earthy path cuts through the woodland and thus offers a wilder alternative route to the summit from downtown Hong Kong (as detailed in this guide). Both pathways eventually lead to Mount Parker’s peak. Over there, visitors are rewarded for the strenuous hike with a breathtaking vista of the city and its surrounding hilly forests.

As a key gateway to East Asia and an appealing destination in its own right, Hong Kong experienced seamless growth in air traffic during the 1990s, putting immense pressure on the already overcrowded Kai Tak Airport. Congestion wasn’t the only issue; the airport’s proximity to populated areas caused perpetual noise pollution and limited the maximum height of new buildings – a draconian restriction in such a tightly packed district as Kowloon.

Thus, in 1998, Hong Kong International Airport was relocated to Chek Lap Kok, something which left a large and empty plot of land just waiting to be redeveloped. Somewhat ironically, the surge in cruise ship passengers and the strain it placed on existing facilities led to the construction of a new terminal over the site where the former airport once stood.

Designed by illustrious architect firm Foster and Partners, the new terminal is a state-of-the-art building, home to copious restaurants and shops. While most tourists won’t visit the terminal unless they have a trip booked, I would argue that it’s worth a visit regardless.

The building’s rooftop garden has a pleasant park that offers scenic views of Victoria Harbor and the CBD. Spanning across a whopping 23,000 square meters, the garden features small ponds with native vegetation alongside seating areas facing the city. It regularly attracts shutterbugs eager to capture Hong Kong’s iconic skyline, especially at night.

In Hong Kong, you’ll find a different kind of bazaar: thematic marketplaces that focus almost exclusively on a single type of item. Throughout these labyrinths are stands and small shops that offer myriads of products which all share something in common.

At the intersection of Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street lies the wholesale fruit market of Yau Ma Tei. Formerly known as the Government Vegetables Market, it used to be a typical agricultural market until 1965, when all stalls except those selling fruits moved out.

Today, Yau Ma Tei handles about 80 percent of the fruits sold in the city as evidenced in its endless array of produce. Among them are Southeast-Asian fruits like durians and mangosteens, as well as more ubiquitous ones, including Tasmanian cherries and large, juicy grapes, each of which is neatly wrapped within a plastic mesh.

Though primarily a wholesale market, everyday shoppers and local Instagrammers also frequent its premises on a daily basis. In fact, this fruit mecca is famous for its architecture too, with some of the buildings tracing their origins to the 1920’s, as indicated by the various gables that bear the names of the market’s first merchants.

The southernmost island of Hong Kong, Po Toi is one of the territory’s least visited and most difficult to access places. But don’t mistake the low visitor numbers for a lack of attractions – as it is home to a series of oddities, including unusual rock formations and scenic promontories.

Connected to Blake Pier at Stanley by a limited ferry service, this remote speck of land provides a much-needed escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown Hong Kong. While every part of Po Toi has its own fair share of things to see, it is the island’s southern edge, Ngong Chong Cape, that truly stands out for its sights.

Ngong Chong can be explored on foot via the Po Toi Country Trail, along which are various landforms and oddly-shaped boulders. A notable one is Buddha’s Hand Rock, a formation sculpted like a palm by centuries of rain and wind erosion. Right next is the aptly named Turtle Rock – a large boulder reminiscent of an oversized tortoise.

Perching on the tip of the cape, which marks Hong Kong’s southernmost point, the Po Toi Lighthouse was constructed in 1970 and remains operational today. While architecturally simple, the lighthouse is still regarded by many as the island’s most iconic landmark. The precipice on which it sits is a great vantage point of the South China Sea.

Excluding the skyline, there isn’t anything more synonymous with Hong-Kong than its dim-sum, with numerous eateries whose menu revolves entirely around this Cantonese staple food dotting the city. Originally crafted as a savory snack for merchants traversing the Silk Road, dim sum soon gained a widespread popularity across China, particularly in its southern regions, including the area of modern-day Hong Kong.

Named after the old tradition of pairing dim sum with tea, Yum-Cha is a Hong Kong-based restaurant chain with four locations across the city. What sets this culinary institution apart is the unconventional presentation of its edibles, chief among them are the animal-shaped dim sums that have since become an Instagram sensation.

While all of Yum-Cha’s dim sums boast flamboyant designs, it’s the buns that steal the spotlight. They’re fluffy, colorful, and incredibly scrumptious, as each adorned with a cute facial expression. Some are so adorable that customers deem them “too beautiful to eat”. Probably the most popular ones are the pinkish pig-shaped buns aptly filled with BBQ pork, and the doggy sausage rolls – hot dogs wrapped in dog-shaped buns.

Also, make sure not to miss the custard buns that whimsically ooze hot custard sauce from their “mouths”, along with the pineapple bird-shaped buns in a cage, Yum-Cha’s playful take on Taiwanese pineapple cake.

Home to over 7 million people, Hong Kong is well-known for its glass towers, bustling streets, and claustrophobia-inducing apartments. Yet, in stark contrast, there are also several hamlets that still dot the landscape, where day to day life maintains a far slower pace.

Tucked away near the border with mainland China, Ping Yeung village is a small rural community set against the ever-evolving skyline of Shenzhen. Many of the buildings throughout the hamlet are adorned with colorful murals more commonly found in urban areas.

You might be wondering why this otherwise unassuming village became a hub for local street art. The answer may surprise you. In an effort to alleviate Hong Kong’s overcrowded conditions, the government initiated plans to develop some of its less populated parts into clusters of modern housing, including Ping Yeung and its surrounding area.

Against this looming threat of demolition, nearly every house in Ping Yeung turned into a canvas for artists to leave their mark on. The guerrilla art project wasn’t just a silent protest against this very threat but also part of a sophisticated plan to transform the village into a tourist attraction, thus making it too attractive to be bulldozed in favor of generic neighborhoods.

As intricate and convoluted as it can possibly get, Hong Kong’s 723 km long coastline is the longest of any major city worldwide, awash with hidden coves and capes.

Located at the far reaches of the New Territories, the peninsular cape of Wong Chuk Kok Tsui—literally translated as “Yellow Bamboo Point Cape” – is truly an off-the-beaten-path spot. It’s difficult to access but definitely rewarding for those who make the journey.

Part of both Hong Kong National Geopark and Plover Cove Country Park, Wong Chuk Kok Tsui, also known as Bluff Head, boasts a treasure trove of geological oddities. Among them is perhaps the cape’s most iconic natural sculpture – the Devil’s Fist. As its name suggests, it is a sandstone rock shaped like a clenched hand, formed over millions of years by rain, wind, and the splashing breakers that sculpted its wrist.

The craggy fist at Wong Chuk Kok Tsui gazes upon one of Hong Kong’s most unusual natural phenomena: vertical cross bedding created by the folding of the earth’s crust. This rarity features red and grey layers sandwiched together, marking it as the oldest rock formation in Hong Kong, with an estimated age of 400 million years.

If you’re an adventurous soul, consider concluding your journey by climbing to the hilltop pile of stones known as the Wong Chuk Kok Beacon, dating back to the Qing dynasty era. Access to the cape’s coastal area is highly challenging by land, thus making a boat trip the only viable option to get there. This can be either booked online or through a travel agency.

It’s common to associate WW2 dark tourism with concentration camps in Poland or military cemeteries sprinkled with white gravestones. However, despite not being intuitively linked to the devastating war, Hong Kong saw intense fighting between Japanese and Allied forces that left a couple of hidden scars in its wake throughout the city. One of which is Mount Davis Fort, situated at the western tip of Hong Kong Island.

Standing 269 meters tall, the mountain played a pivotal role during the war as a fortified position defending the city against naval attacks. Strategically positioned, its hilltop housed artillery batteries deployed to thwart any Japanese incursion by sea.

Facing overwhelming numbers of Japanese troops, the British army eventually surrendered, handing control of the city to Emperor Hirohito’s forces. Remarkably, some military structures on the mountain were left almost intact, with the exception of ammunition storage facilities preemptively demolished by the British prior to their defeat.

To visit the mountain’s WW2 remnants, just follow Mount Davis Path, an asphalt trail that leads to these vestiges of the war. Winding through a dense rainforest, the tarmac pathway intersects with several unpaved trails, distinguished only by the frequent foot traffic they bear. Those trails eventually lead from the main road to a variety of abandoned military ruins, each of which is worth exploring.

Two must-see spots include the first and second artillery emplacements at the mountain’s peak, where British troops fiercely defended Hong Kong by targeting Japanese warships with Mk IX – X naval guns. Decades later, these concrete structures remain largely undamaged, offering a historic glimpse into the city’s forgotten past.