Hong Kong can be one of the most engaging and unexpectedly beautiful urban spectacles on earth.

A two-minute walk from the bustle of Central reveals a harbour view that the architectural boom of the 1980s and 1990s has turned into a mixture of Manhattan and San Francisco, with added shipping bustle. After dark, it just gets better. The view of Hong Kong's glittering lights from the Peak by night is unforgettable, particularly at 2000 when the nightly Symphony of Lights laser and music show invigorates the towers of Central and Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui.

By contrast, the south side of Hong Kong Island, at Stanley or Repulse Bay, is an entrancing islandscape straight out of a classical Chinese ink painting. And any backstreet market provides folksy, ethnic charm by the barrow load. Lamma Island provides a picturesque (power plant excepted) getaway and some excellent seafood restaurants and vegetarian cafes.

Old colonial Hong Kong may have been short on grand monuments but the now famous Bank of China and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) give the place a 21st-century buzz suited to one of the Pacific Rim's most pivotal economic hubs. These buildings share the limelight with the rainbow-coloured light show of The Center skyscraper, the waterside steel wings of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the soaring International Finance Center complex, Hong Kong's tallest building.

Die-hard colonialists can content themselves with Government House, the Former French Mission Building, the Former Gate Lodge on the peak, the Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, the Former Kowloon British School and a host of other ‘Olds' and ‘Formers'.

There are far older relics of the region's past still surviving the relentless forward drive, especially out in the New Territories. These include the Causeway Bay Tin Hau Temple, Law Uk Hakka House, Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb, Sam Tung Uk Village, Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, Kun Lung Wai Gate Tower, Yeung Hau Temple and so on.

Hong Kong pinned much of its hopes as a tourist centre on Lantau Island's Hong Kong Disneyland, but it has failed to live up to expectations. Instead, the city's closer co-operation and transport links with neighbouring Macau, which is developing as a major casino tourism destination and potential low-cost airline hub in Asia, are more likely to yield tourist dollars.

Hong Kong Tourism Board Visitor Information Centre
Hong Kong International Airport (at Transfer Area E2 and Buffer Halls A and B)
Opening Hours: Daily 0700-2300. 

Star Ferry Concourse, Tsim Sha Tsui
Causeway Bay MTR Station (exit F)
Tel: 2508 1234 (daily 0800-1800).
Website: www.discoverhongkong.com
Opening hours: Daily 0800-2000.

The HKTB Museum Pass gives unlimited admission to Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong Science Museum, Hong Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, Hong Kong Museum of History and Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum as well as some discounts in the museum shops. Valid for one week, the pass is available from HKTB offices and participating museums.