Lonely Planet Hong Kong: Condensed (Lonely Planet Hong Kong Condensed) (Paperback)

~ Patrick Witton (Author) "This is Hong Kong: Your mobile phone rings while you're shopping for dried fish stomach at a cluttered stall shadowed by a gleaming skyscraper..." (more)
Key Phrases: pacific place, harbour view, night market, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this one gets down to business...it packs witty writing, abundant maps (detailed neighborhood views and a citywide pullout) and informative photos into 288 pocket-sized pages." -- San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2007

"...Encounter guides...discreet in size, but generous enough on page count to provide a fuller city experience minus the hefty guidebook load." -- Sherman's Travel, April 2007

"...a complete city guide boiled down to its essences, a sort of text-messaged guidebook with photos and quotes from locals geared to a savvy weekend visitor." --Chicago Tribune, August 5, 2007

Sherman's Travel, April 2007
'...Encounter guides...discreet in size, but generous enough on page count to provide a fuller city experience minus the hefty guidebook load.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

This informative and savvy guide captures the best that Hong Kong offers in a practical, easy to use format. With opinionated reviews, essential travel tips and detailed fold-out maps, Hong Kong Condensed has all the information the discerning visitor needs - for a day or a week, for business or for pleasure.

• yum cha: expert food reviews from local dim sum specialties to succulent crème brulee
• nightlife options: raver scene, Cantonese Opera extravaganzas & kid-friendly outings
• shopping strips & tips: where to go, how to bargain & how to avoid rip offs
• slim pocket-sized format

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 2nd edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740592964
• ISBN-13: 978-1740592963
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,715,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LP's Hong Kong Condensed is Highly Recommended, March 20, 2004

By	J. Mah (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

My wife and I spent one week in Hong Kong during March, 2004. We found the 2nd edition (published March, 2003) Lonely Planet Hong Kong Condense pocket guide to be a great reference source.

Because the guide is pocket-sized, it fit conveniently in my jacket and looked inconspicuous when I carried it in my hand. I found the fold-out maps on the covers to be handy and easy to use when I navigated the streets of Kowloon and HK Island.

The guide is well organized and broken into categories such as "Highlights," "Sights and Activities" in addition to the obvious ones such as "Shopping, "Places to Eat," and "Places to Stay."

We found the places to visit recommended under "Highlights" and "Sight & Activities" to be worthwhile. For instance, our son, who is spending his junior year of college studying at the University of Hong Kong, suggested we visit two obscure sights: the Chi Lin Nunnery (which has a beautiful Japanese-style garden) and the Wong Tai Sin Temple (a large colorful Taoist temple and garden bustling with activity). Both sites were listed in the guide.

The huge shopping malls such as Pacific Place (on HK island in Admiralty) and Harbour City (in Tsim Sha Tsui) were fun to wlak through.

If I had a single complaint, it would be that some of the recommended restaurants under "Places to Eat" were duds [such as Luk Yu Tea House (past its prime and overrated) in Central and Peking Restaurant(overrated) in Tsim Sha Tsui]. In other words, take the recommended eating establishments with a grain of salt. On the other hand, some of the eateries such as the "Happy Garden Noodle & Congee Kitchen" (located across from the Harbour City shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui) and "Yung Kee" (a famous roast geese restauant located in Central)were great. It should be noted that restaurant meals are quite expensive in Hong Kong. My wife and I found the food courts in shopping centers (where the locals dine) to be good places for inexpensive and delicious Chinese food).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good maps, April 23, 2008

By	K. Teel (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Hong Kong Encounter (Lonely Planet Encounter Series) (Best Of) (Paperback)

For my week in Hong Kong, I used Frommer's guide as my main guide, but took this as a secondary guide because of its maps. It has very good local area maps for the neighborhoods it covers, showing sights, hotels, restaurants, and shops. I found it most useful for locating shops and sights.

Unlike the other HK guides I looked at, this one includes the written Chinese names of the places it covers. This could be useful if you need to give a taxi driver written destinations.

The book's coverage is very limited. I would not recommend it as your only guidebook. I found it worth it for the maps, but it's a bit expensive just for that.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great and small, but don't follow restaurant advice!, January 26, 2008

By	blink888 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Hong Kong Encounter (Lonely Planet Encounter Series) (Best Of) (Paperback)

Hong Kong was one of the stops on our 4 week Asia trip, and we only had a weekend to spend there. So since it was the only stop not included in our comprehensive SE Asia guide, we decided to get this small pocket guide to help us navigate the city and check out the top spots during our short stay.

Overall, this book is very helpful in terms of outlining major sites, detailed transportation information, and even includes a full-size fold out map. The only issue we had with it were the recommended restaurants listed. I don't know if this applies to all the recommendations, but we checked out 3 spots that were highlighted and ALL 3 were mediocre.

Bottom line, this is a great guide for a weekend visit, but don't follow the restaurant recommendations.