Hong Kong and Macau - a traveller's guide

With a population of 7 million packed into 1,100 sq km, over 150 years of British colonial influence and 5,000 years of Chinese tradition, Asia's world city is like nowhere else on earth

In one day we looked at gnarled '1,000-year-old' eggs (actually a month or so old) and duck tongues (bigger than you think) at stalls packed in teeming narrow streets, explored incense-filled temples and flexed the plastic in upmarket malls filled with designer western fashions.

And that's before the lights went down, metaphorically speaking of course, and we haggled at a night market in a rather pathetic English fashion before downing a few restorative cocktails in a sky-high bar overlooking thousands of neon lights.

Not surprisingly, a stop at one of Hong Kong's many teashops was called for the following morning and £1.20 was a small price to pay for 'multiflorum and ganoderma' tea, with its cure-all promise of boosting energy, helping insomnia, stalling signs of ageing and even preventing hair loss.

If you can summon up the energy Hong Kong is a full-on fun-filled 24-hour destination, becoming even more colourful with year-round events like February's Chinese New Year, May's Cheung Chau Bun Festival, June's Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid Autumn Lantern Festival.

Whenever you visit certain things are non-negotiable - a 17p trip across the harbour on the iconic tub-shaped Star Ferry and a tram ride up 396m Victoria Peak (www.thepeak.com.hk). With a track gradient of up to 27 degrees there's literally nothing you can do but sit back until you reach the top. A £4 return ticket includes entry to Sky Terrace offering fantastic views of the cityscape on clear days.

Hong Kong is divided into four areas - Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, the New Territories and Outlying Islands. Given the population density you'd think it would amount to human and traffic gridlock, but it's easy to get around on ultra-cheap, clean and efficient public transport.