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Lamma Island

Advice about getting around and about in Hong Kong

Arriving at Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport:

Having cleared immigration you will collect your luggage and head out to either Arrival Hall A or B, both exits spill out into the one huge Arrival Hall.

Purchasing an Octopus Card

Given that you have already exchanged your country’s currency to HK$ (there is a Chartered Bank ATM available near Arrival Hall B area) head straight to the centre of Arrivals to the Customer Service Centre (see image on the left)  where you can purchase an Octopus card ($50 for the card – refundable when you leave HK and then $100 minimum credit) – it is credit-card sized and can be used on any form of Hong Kong transport – trains, buses, ferries and trams and for small purchases at convenience stores. Ask for the free MTR system Map. It is a convenient wallet sized fold-away map of all the MTR lines and stops.

When purschasing an Airporter ticket you will find it is cheaper if you are traveling in 2s, 3s or 4s to purchase a multiple ticket and therefore receive a discount, which means there is no need to use an Octopus card for the Airporter Express trips.  The Octopus card can be purchased and used for public transport in and around HK.

An alternative to an Octopus card are MTR Tourist Pass cards (for use of four days) that include the Airporter trips to and from the airport, and unlimited MTR travel. One includes a Cross-boundary (crossing into China) Pass, for those who intend to take a trip (50 mins) from Kowloon, from Tai Po (20 mins) to the Lo Wu MTR station – end of the blue line. having cleared immigration into China it is a short walk to the shopping centres of the mainland China city of Shenzhen.  Many Hong Kong residents go up to Shenzhen to shop or have a cheap massage.

If you wish to do this arrange a visa single or multiple entry to China with your travel agent in your home country.

Other MTR Tourist Passes are inclusive of discounted entries to a number of HK’s attractions (good value for families that want to go to DisneyWorld, Ocean Park, the Big Buddha etc).

Check these Tourist Pass options out at:

http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/train/products_index.html

Travelling to your Accommodation

Access the Airporter Express train by walking immediate beyond the Customer Service Centre in the Arrival Hall A & B and straight onto the train platform.  The train departs every 10 mins.  It is a very convenient and economical means to travel to either Hong Kong Island (25 mins) or to the Kowloon side  of Hong Kong (20 mins) – Kowloon Station is the destination for hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui – where the Holiday Inn Golden Mile and The Salisbury YMCA hotels are located. Both are serviced by the Complimentary Airport Express Shuttle Service to/from hotels to the train stations. Information available at:

http://www.mtr.com.hk (or pick up the leaflet in the luggage collection hall along with other tourist information leaflets).

YMCA guests can alight at the Kowloon Hotel/Peninsula Hong Kong hotel stop as the YMCA is right next door. Alternatively most Kowloon hotels are just a short taxi ride from the Kowloon Station.

[Kowloon & Hong Hong Airport Express stations also offer airline check-in facilities for your departure.  You simply show your Airline ticket and an Airporter Express ticket, and  you will be able to check your luggage in up to 12 hours in advance of your departure time. You also receive your boarding pass. This leaves you free of luggage for the rest of the day/evening and time to do last minute things in Hong Kong without your luggage.  You simply return to the Airport Express Station to catch the Airporter Express in time for your flight].

For conference participants making their way from the airport to the Hyatt Regency or the Royal Park hotels in Shatin (sometimes written as Sha Tin), in the New Territories, the alternatives are either a bus (very reasonably priced) from the airport or a taxi (fine if you can share the cost between two or three).

Reasonably priced buses -A41- $21HKD or E42 a little slower for $13.60HKD ( up to 60-80 mins to reach your destination but you certainly get to see a good view of Hong Kong as you drive in, especially if you get a front row seat on the top deck) – alight at the Shatin bus exchange for both hotels. English announcements are made for each stop. Participants heading to The Hyatt, in Shatin will need to take a taxi from a taxi rank right outside the bus exchange depot and ask to be taken to the Hyatt Hotel. Show the Chinese address to the taxi driver:

香港沙田凱悅酒店

中國香港新界沙田澤祥街18號,

電話： +852 3723 1234    傳真: +852 3723 1235
電子郵件： hongkong.shatin@hyatt.com
地圖與路線指引);

Participants staying at the Royal Park hotel can take the short walk to the hotel from the bus exchange. Go to the hotel’s website for a diagram of its location.

Airport buses all look the same except for the number which indicates the destination – see below.

To access buses and taxis at the airport walk beyond the Customer Service Centre and down the internal ramp from the arrival halls to the exit where it opens up on the left to bus bays where signposts showing each bus’ departure position.

On the right is the official taxi rank.  Avoid offers of a ride to your destination from unofficial persons who may approach you as you exit the Airport via the ramp.  If travelling to Hong Kong Island or Kowloon – take a red taxi (40-50 mins). For destinations in the New Territories – e.g. Tai Po (where the conference venue is) (60/90 mins) or Shatin (40/60 mins) for the Royal Park or the Hyatt hotels – take a green taxi – although a red taxi can travel to New Territories destinations as well.

Check prices for taxi rides to various destinations at

http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/transport/to-from-airport/taxi.html

Travelling to and from the conference venue

For your convenience the conference organisers will run buses from the two main hotels:

From HKIed to your accommodation (6-9 Jul)

Getting to the campus by yourself

The HK Institute of Education has comprehensive details about how to get to its Tai Po Campus at this website:

http://www.ied.edu.hk/co/eng/get_to_our_campus.php

If you are catching a taxi to the institute it is always advisable to have the Chinese name of your destination as many New Territory drivers have little English and only know locations by their Chinese names.  Here is the HKIed’s logo which will get you there (and not to Chinese University which is often the result if you say you want to go to the University!).

If you wish to take a taxi from the Conference venue to downtown Kowloon it must be a Red taxi as there are restricted zones for Green taxis. If there isn’t a Red taxi waiting at the Taxi bay at HKIed then the Green taxi can take you to the MTR University Station where you can then take a Red Taxi onto Kowloon or Hong Kong Island.

Travelling around Hong Kong

The MTR is a very convenient means of transport in and about Hong Kong -especially when using the Octopus card, which can be topped up at any station. From The Hyatt to Hong Kong Island- take the MTR (blue line to Hung Hom) at University – that is the name of the train station – 100 metres from your hotel, to Kowloon Tong (5 stops) change trains from the blue line to the green line at Kowloon Tong and at Mong Kok just walk from the train across the platform to the red line travelling to Central – which is on Hong Kong island – the whole trip it can take 30 mins.  For those participants staying at The Salisbury YMCA at Tsim Sha Tsui take the  MTR Red line at Tsim Sha Tsui to Central (10 mins) or the much more leisurely ferry trip at the Star Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui again also just 10 mins (go on the upper deck).

Hong Kong now offers visitors the services of the THE BIG BUS COMPANY open-top sightseeing tour buses – check the routes out at http://www.bigbustours.com It’ll be quite hot in July so be appropriately prepared for an open top journey.

Alternatively you can take trips by yourself on public transport. At Exchange Square near Central station take the No 6, or 6A bus to Stanley Markets  ($8.50HKD).  On the journey of 30 mins. you will see a fantastic view of Hong Kong as you climb up high on your way to the other side of Hong Kong island, and you will also see the lovely beachside areas of Hong Kong

e.g. Repulse Bay, Deep Water Bay and Stanley Bay. Or check out Shek O beach where there are good Thai/Chinese open air restaurants.  Again try to get a front row seat on the top deck for the best opportunities to take in the views and photo opportunities. The bus terminus is at Stanley Market. A short stroll down the hill and to the left gets you to the covered market area or down the hill and to the right takes you to a promenade overlooking the water that has pubs and restaurants to suit all tastes.  Buses depart for the return journey to Central on a regular basis.

Make sure you take a trip on Hong Kong Island’s trams to have a good view of the CBD city, or on the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour,  for a very reasonable cost.

Travel to Hong Kong’s Outer Islands

On Lantau Island – accessed via MTR – there are attractions such as Hong Kong Disneyland, and the Cable Ride to Ngong Ping Village home of the world famous Giant Buddha.

Take short ferry rides from Hong Kong side to other outer island such as Tai O Fishing village on Lantau, and to the islands of Cheung Chau and Lamma – where good restaurants, bars, good hiking and beaches can be found.

Further top tourist tips can be found on Tom Grundy’s incredible resourceful Global Citizen blog at:

http://www.globalcitizen.co.uk/wp/hong-kong-travel-tips/

Tom is a Hong Kong NET (Native English Teacher)  in Hong Kong.

Save travelling.  See you all at the conference on the 6th July

at

Hong Kong Institute of Education, is located at Tai Po in Hong Kong’s New Territories.