Hong Kong islands

Hong Kong islands overview : The Lay of the Land

Hong Kong encompasses Hong Kong Island, the city of Kowloon, the New Territories, and a few hundred islands. Technically speaking, what we commonly refer to as Hong Kong is now part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but because it has separate but equal status, its address is written as “Separate Administrative Region,” or “SAR” (not to be confused with SARS, the disease).
When people discuss addresses in the Hong Kong area, they may cite a particular number on a particular street, but more often than not, you’ll hear your fellow travelers simplifying directions by just naming a building and a neighborhood. And they play fast and loose with what constitutes a neighborhood. Some people call all of Victoria Island “Central” and all of the Kowloon Peninsula “Kowloon.”

Shopping in Hong Kong concentrates heavily on two areas:
Central, the main business “downtown” area on the Hong Kong Island side, and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Central is very upscale, civilized, businesslike, and modern. Tsim Sha Tsui (often written TST) is grittier and more frenetic. As real estate continues to sky rocket, there is new interest in Mong Kok, the area of Kowloon beyond TST, which now has some luxury hotels, a mall, and Elements, a new deluxe mall in the Western- Tunnel side of Kowloon.
See Shopping Neighborhoods for a detailed discussion of Hong Kong’s shopping and commercial districts.