The Hong Kong lights glows at night. The many buildings brighten the skyline. From our hotel room we enjoyed wonderful views of the lights of Hong Kong. The rather shabby apartment buildings around us looked different at night. Their shabby exteriors were darkened by the warm lights from the many apartment windows.
To get the most enjoyment from these lights, there are a couple of night time activities that show how much Hong Kong lights up. The first experience is A Symphony of Lights, the nightly light show over Victoria Harbour. This long running show starts at 8:00 every night and involves many of the tall buildings around the harbor. A music accompaniment plays on speakers in some places, or observers can listen on the radio.
The show involves a number of different elements including lasers shining up into the sky and light displays on the front of buildings. The show is on both sides of the harbor which makes it a bit of a challenge to see all of it. However, there are boat tours that will take you out into the center of the harbor so you can see all the lights.
We viewed the show from the Tsim Sha Tsui area. We arrived abut 45 minutes before the show started as I wanted to make sure we got a good spot. Since it was night, I took my tripod to be able to get pictures with less movement in them. The area was pretty empty when we arrived, but it filled up by the time the show started and was fairly crowded. I was glad I had arrived early enough to set up my camera in a good spot.
The show is not long, but it is worth the time to go and see it, and do make sure you see it. I read a comment once regarding photographers which said not to get so involved behind the camera that you miss the experience of being in that place. This is a good example. I really had to take the time to look up and see the whole picture from time to time and stop taking photos. The viewfinder can easily narrow your perspective, and you can miss the overall impact of the show.
The other must-see night activity is to view the Hong Kong lights from Victoria Peak or simply The Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island. Yes, you can go up during the day and see the view then, but the night view is really the more interesting view to see.
The first challenge is getting up to the peak. The more common way to go is on a tram that goes up the mountain side. There is usually a long line to take the tram up, but it is not really expensive to do this, about $6.75. There can also be a long wait coming back down.
We chose to go up on a bus. This is definitely a cheaper way to go, about $1.60. Check The Peak site for transportation options. The bus goes up a rather windy road, and it can be quite full as it gets closer to the evening. It is not a non-stop tourist route, but a regular route. Many people got on and off as we went up the mountain, but it was an adventure. It gave us the opportunity to see the other side of the mountain not typically seen from downtown.
At the top of the mountain there are various choices of places to view the lights. Hong Kong built a large modern building, The Peak Tower, that has rooftop views. Many people pay to go up to the Sky Terrace 428 and take in the view from there. In the picture below notice all the people crowded around the top barrier.
However, if you are not interested in paying to see the view of Hong Kong’s lights, there are alternatives. There is a trail that goes to the right of the building that will give you views of the city. We did find that trail pretty crowded.
The better option is to walk to the left of The Peak Tower on the road. From there you will see a trail just a little ways away. Walk this trail, and it will eventually open up to wonderful views of the Hong Kong lights below. Some views are better than others along the trail, and realize you will not be alone. Since it is a well documented trail, many people will use it to observe the city lights.
I again had my tripod trying to take a good photo of the city, but this time it was more of a challenge to get a good spot to set up my tripod and take photos. I had to be patient, but eventually I was able to get some shots. In these kinds of situations, it’s important to be gracious and not monopolize a place.
As 8:00 rolled around, we were able to again see The Symphony of Lights. We could see both sides of it from here, but it was pretty small. We were also unable to hear the music as we had no radio.
After our walk down the trail we returned to The Peak Tower. Being hungry we decided to check out the restaurants there expecting them to be very pricey. However, they weren’t really that bad so we decided to go ahead and eat at one of them. It was a good decision. While we did not have a window seat, we could still see out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the restaurant. The views were quite spectacular. Unfortunately since we were seated away from the windows, it seemed inappropriate to take a picture of the view.
After dinner we took the bus back down. This time, however, there was a long line of people waiting to leave. However, the buses kept rolling in fairly quickly so the wait was not too long. Fortunately we were one of the first ones on our bus so we were able to grab seats. We were glad to not be standing as we were tired from our busy day.
Hong Kong is a busy, bustling city. It is not a city we would want it live in, but we felt it was a great experience to have visited it even for just a few days. Now we wait and see what’s next for this city as it tries to figure out how it fits in with the rest of China.
If you have not done so, be sure to subscribe to Battered Suitcase to receive weekly notification of new posts. You will receive a new post each Wednesday.