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Home > Sightseeing > Districts > Hong Kong Island > Central Central District Central is our central business district in Hong Kong. You can find the best hotels, brand name shops, businessmen in their smartest suits. Various countries' consulates and headquarters of all major banks can be found in Central too. You can thus imagine living in Central is expensive. From 500 square foot flats near the town or 2000 square foot seaview flats on the Peak, they cost a lot. As a tourist, however, you still have a choice of staying in posh 5-star hotels or guest house run by organization like YWCA. And if you know where to shop and eat, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Where to stay: Click here for a list of Hotels to stay in Central: Shopping: To name a few, Landmark, Lane Crawford, Prince's building and the International Finance Centre (IFC) are where you find quality and brand name shops. Look for Li Yuen Street East and Li Yuen Street West for export outlets and bargains. These two little lanes are full of boutiques, souvenir shops, cheap junk shops and stalls and they are targeted at tourists. That means they are not frightened to speak English and you should get ready for bargaining with the stall owners. If you miss Marks and Spencer (the English department stores), you may find it on Queen's Road Central. Chinese crafts:
Book shops:
Dining: Up above D'Aguilar street is Lan Kwai Fong. You can find pubs and trendy restaurants serving international cuisine. This is considered a very westernized place for many expatriates love to come here to meet their friends in pubs and dine. SoHo - Look for Shelley Street and Staunton Street on the Pedestrian Escalator (see Walk and Leisure below). It's another Lan Kwai Fong where you can find fine small western cuisine restaurants. Dim Sum and Chinese Restaurants can be found in:
Walk and Leisure: City Hall located right next to the old Star Ferry pier. Besides performance, you can also look for new couples for there is a marriage registration office. Sometimes the brides may wear traditional Chinese red gown instead of western wedding dress! Time allowed: within half an hour. Next to the City Hall is the City Hall library. General Post Office: You can find the General Post Office near to the Star Ferry for complete postal service, philatelic counters and all year round philatelic exhibition. Time allowed: 15 - 30 minutes The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is in Central and is really worth a look as a tourist destination on it's own right. Though it's very expensive to stay there! Well, maybe if you are much richer than me! Situated near the old Governor House, the Botanical Garden is a nice and pleasant place for the whole family. You can find mammals, birds, reptiles to plants and Chinese herbs here. Time allowed: 1 hour The Peak: Victoria Peak is almost a must for tourists, It provides a good view of Victoria Harbour and the tallest building in HK are in sight. Pedestrian Escalator - The escalator starts at the junction between Cochrane street and Queen's Road Central. But before you get on to the longest pedestrian escalator in town and go up to the Mid-Levels district, take a look of the Central Market for a little taste of the real local shopping. You may surprise to find that the butchers don't put the meat in the refrigerator! Along the escalator, you will find residential buildings mixed with antique shops at Hollywood Road, Victorian style police station and SoHo the new trendy dining district. When you pass Caine Road on the escalator, you will start to see some of the expensive apartments in town (around Robinson road and Conduit Road) We are talking about HK$5 million (US$650k) and up for these 1,000 sq ft flats. Time allowed: 30 - 45 minutes
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