The Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau, 4th Edition [Paperback]

Jules Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau | Publication Date: September 1, 1999

The listings and maps in the fourth edition have been updated, and the guide contains a new section on SoHo.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An all-inclusive compendium. -- Far Eastern Economic Review

Extremely user-friendly, thoroughly researched and comprehensive. -- Sun-Herald, Sydney, Australia

The best book on Hong Kong. -- Loaded, UK

About the Author

Jules Brown first visited Hong Kong in 1989. He has also written and researched Rough Guides to Scandinavia, Barcelona, Washington DC and England.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 4th edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185828435X
• ISBN-13: 978-1858284354
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,429,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Travel > Asia > Macau

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's below the Rough Guide standard., May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau, 4th Edition (Paperback)

Unreliable information punctuated with annoying feminist innuendos. For the sake of political correctness the author lists gay spots which is OK with me, but he goes out of his way to label men who go into the girlie bars in Wanchai as "pathetic." This misses the point entirely. A typical Rough Guide would give the reason to avoid those places: one can unknowingly rack up a bar bill of US $500 within a few minutes just by buying drinks. They bill you on the way out and there's no getting out of it by arguing with the management. ([...]

The author chides prurient men in the streets of Macau whom he labels "creeps." Then he touts the Kingsway Hotel as "one of the newer and most glam of Macau's hotel creations," having a "sauna and health spa"! Had the phony actually BEEN to the hotel instead of just hearing that, he would have learned that the "Kingsway Sauna and Health Spa" is actually a brothel next door to the hotel, where one is presented with a crummy typewritten menu of services in the coarsest possible english, and that the entire second floor of the hotel itself is a sex club .This is inconsistent with the book's condescending, I-respect-women-as-people rhetoric.[...]

The Nathan Road addresses listed for accommodations in Tsim Sha Tsui (an area of Kowloon known as "TST" among English-speaking locals) are all wrong! I had *never* before seen a Rough Guide blow it in this regard! I got tired of trying to make sense out of his wacky directions, whipped out my credit card, and stayed at the Holiday Inn. The author probably had someone else garner address numbers for him; I wondered if he had really been to TST at all.

One more example of how this book falls short: I took the tram up to Victoria Peak --that was a great suggestion. It was dinner time, so I went to the expensive restaurant on the tram level and was told there was a 45 minute wait with little hope of getting a window seat (with a view of Victoria Bay). I found my way to another level (downstairs) and discovered a fast place simply called "Eat Noodles." It was inexpensive with good-sized portions, and the food was very clean and delicious. They brought it out to me on their spacious, uncrowded outdoor patio, where I enjoyed a *spectacular* unobscured view of the bay on a clear night and mingled with some neat people out there as well. It was a real find! But this peculiar, tongue-tied guide book makes no mention of any food at the tram terminal.

I give the book two stars for its lists of things to see and do. It should mention that Ocean Park is primarily an activity for families with children. The index could use more detail, but is adequate. I paid for a Rough Guide and got something else. For Hong Kong, I suggest giving another guide book a chance.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best guide around for the budget traveler to Hong Kong, June 27, 2007

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau - Edition 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I used the sixth (2006) edition of the ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU during a recent two-week stay in Hong Kong. Reading it before my trip, I found it to portray Hong Kong as a fascinating and immense place to visit, where one can spend weeks covering all manner of out of the way places. This was a great contrast to the Berlitz guide to Hong Kong I also took along, which make the region seem like a two-day stop where the only interesting thing is shopping.

There's a chapter each on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and the outlying islands. The description of each town or wilderness inside these divisions takes the form of a walking tour. The authors guide the reader through the streets well, and like all Rough Guides the maps here are clear and accurate. I unfortunately didn't visit Macau, so I cannot comment on that portion of the guide.

I didn't use the accommodation listings, as like many travelers I prefer to stay with local from hospitality associations for closer contact with the local culture. As the Rough Guide does not cover this option, I have removed one star from my rating. However, there does indeed seem to be an adequate amount of both budget and luxury accommodation, with the stops in between of course. The needs of shoestring travelers are not given short shrift here, as in the offerings of all too many guidebook publishers. I did use the recommendations for restaurants, which do a great job of steering travelers to hole-in-the-wall eateries with little English signage which might not look fancy, but which show you the real Hong Kong in a way flashier places don't.

At the end of the book one finds a history of the region, as well as some general information on Hong Kong culture. The history soberly discusses the uncertainty of Hong Kong's true autonomy after the handover, while other guidebooks I read gave only a rosy view. In these appendices there's also a list of films and books, fiction and non-fiction, about Hong Kong, letting the reader learn more about the place before he visits.

If you're an independent travelver going to Hong Kong, I'd certainly recommend ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU. I find it better than the Lonely Planet guide due to the range of its listings and the quality of its maps, and light years ahead of the paltry listings and assumption that the reader is a millionaire which one finds in many other guidebook lines.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good overall guide of Hong Kong and Macau, April 2, 2007

By 

Alexander McKelvey "Alexander" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau - Edition 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I recommend this guide, it was quite useful.

The descriptions of various areas were quite accurate, and the maps were mostly very good. The one of Macau seemed to have some minor errors, but that place is very confusing to walk around, so it could have been me. Anyway, you want the maps in this book or something pretty good, because the free tourist map is basically worthless.

I really like Rough Guides, because their reviews are very honest and balanced, and they are excellent about cross-referencing recommended locations, restaurants, hotels, etc and maps in each book. This guide is up to the same high standards, so it was very easy to use.

I would recommend that the walking tours guide (available for free at the airport, etc) is a good supplement to this guide. I used it extensively.