Hong Kong's best-kept secrets

Hong Kong is full of fabulous experiences like marvelling at the street art in Old Town Central, meditating at Tsz Shan Monastery and so much more.

Hong Kong is full of fabulous experiences like marvelling at the street art in Old Town Central, meditating at Tsz Shan Monastery and so much more.

Hong Kong is full of fabulous experiences like marvelling at the street art in Old Town Central, meditating at Tsz Shan Monastery, Disneyland, Temple Street Night Market and the Tian Tian Buddha, are as essential on a visit to the city as eating a big bowl of steaming dumplings. Enjoy them by all means, but don’t stop there.

This former British colony, on the southeast corner of China’s mainland, has its fair share of East-meets-West history and culture, a big dose of culinary flair and plenty of youthful creativity. To really get under the crackling pork belly skin of the place you need to side-step the tourist trail, jump on public transport and deep dive into the secret venues of some of the city’s most charismatic neighbourhoods. Wan Chai Once a coastal village, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, is one of the city’s busiest suburbs, a chaotic urban enclave combining skinny concrete high-rises, bumper-to-bumper red taxis, old shophouses and new malls. For something a bit different, hit the side streets to walk through Wan Chai’s wet market, a grid of marvellously crowded pedestrian-only streets with stalls selling everything from cheap factory kids’ clothes and red and gold festival decorations to live fish, pig trotters and pyramids of fresh dragon-fruit.

From here, it’s a short walk to the vibrant Star Street Precinct, made up of five main streets: Star, Moon, Sun, St. Francis Yard and Wing Fung with outliers including Sau Wa Fong Street. This tranquil hillside neighbourhood is nestled among tropical foliage and populated with low-rise design-led shops, outdoor bars and eateries with tables on the footpath. Edgy boutiques include homegrown Kapok, which stocks arty objects, gadgets and unisex clothes, tote bags and backpacks, and Sarto Lab, a sartorially inclined tailor shop specialising in bespoke suits with a hint of vintage design.

You can stop by Ted’s Lookout, an after-work hangout with outdoor seating, Japanese craft beers and an arm-length gin-heavy cocktail list, before dining at Francis a middle eastern eatery putting as much effort into its mezze plates and baked halloumi as it does its rum, date and ginger ‘stormy date’ cocktail.

Ted’s Lookout, 17a Moon StreetKapok, G/F 6 St Francis YardSarto Lab, 6 St Francis Yard

Tai Hang Hong Kong’s ‘Ding Dings’, the characteristic old two-storey heritage trams that rattle an east-west route along Hong Kong Island’s northern side, are one of the cheaper, more local ways to get around. A ride costing just HK$2.30 (AU$0.37) will get you from Wan Chai to charming little Tai Hang in about 15 minutes.

Once a hub for auto-repair garages, Tai Hang’s grid of low-rise buildings has quietly gentrified to become a cruisy neighbourhood ripe for strolling around. The old school joints are still here - Tak Shing Tea Stall sells fresh baked pineapple buns and Bing Kee dishes out pork chop noodles, but they’re tucked in beside modern venues.

Among the mix of esoteric one-off shops are local sweet eats Papabubble, a boiled sweet shop where you can watch staff rolling out the colourful candy shapes, and Lab Made Ice Cream where ice cream is made using extremely cold liquid nitrogen to freeze the ingredients in just 60 seconds. The queue here is legendary on the weekend.

Another neighbourhood crowd-pleaser is celebrity chef May Chow’s Second Draft gastropub). It serves up 20-something craft brew tap beers, many of them from local Young Master Brewery. Chow’s spiced up Asian menu pairs perfectly with the amber liquid.

In a quiet back street nook, Lin Fa Kung, built in 1863, is an octagonal shaped temple with lotus lanterns and dragon murals on the ceiling, but it is best known as the starting point for the traditional Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, an energetic performance that plays out on Tai Hang’s streets at night during the mid-autumn festival. It’s a must if you happen to be in town in September.

Bing Kee, 5 Shepherd StMay Chow’s Second Draft, 98 Tung Lo Wan RdLin Fa Kung, Lin Fa Kung StTak Shing Tea Stall, 96 Tung Lo Wan Rd

Sham Shui Po Across Victoria Harbour on Kowloon side, Sham Shui Po is a working-class neighbourhood lauded for having retained its old-school trades and humble character. Once home to factories that produced textiles and leather, the area is now known for its market streets with shops like Yen Chow Street Hawker Bazaar selling fabrics, along with ribbons from Nam Cheong Street, leather over on Tai Nan Street, buttons on Ki Lung Street and beautiful beads from Yu Chau Street.

It’s not only artisans and craftspeople that flock here. Apliu Street is lined with shops selling electronics and techy gadgets and Pei Ho Street has fresh market produce. Music tragics will appreciate Vinyl Hero, which is squirreled away on the fifth floor of a residential building. It’s jam-packed with boxes of vintage vinyl, obscure artists and anything that has taken collector Paul Au’s fancy over the years. Similarly, Sunfafa is on the eighth floor of an old Chinese tenement building. It’s the love child of Christy Ng and Dick Cheng who sell ethnic accessories, leather handbags and Japanese inspired vintage skirts and dresses.

While Hop Yik Tai eatery is not hidden, it certainly blends anonymously into the streetscape – look for hungry patrons standing on the pavement eating plates of slippery rice noodle rolls that are doused in plum sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It’s a secret that is hard to keep.

Vinyl Hero, Wai Hong Building, 239 Cheung Sha Wan RdSunfafa, 108 Ki Lung StHop Yik Tai, 121 Kweilin St