Lonely Planet - Hong Kong

4. Fit for a tea at Hong Kong's legendary hotel

One of the world's great hotels, the Peninsula is both a landmark and an icon of Hong Kong. Though it was being called 'the finest hotel east of Suez' a few years after opening in 1928, the Peninsula was in fact one of several prestigious hostelries across Asia where everybody who was anybody stayed, lining up with the likes of Raffles in Singapore, the Peace (then the Cathay) in Shanghai and the Strand in Rangoon (now Yangon). Taking afternoon tea at the Peninsula is one of the best experiences in town - dress neatly and be prepared to queue for a table.

While you're waiting, you can listen to the string quartet and salivate at the sight of everyone else's cucumber sandwiches, scones and dainty cakes. The price of afternoon tea, served from 2pm to 7pm daily, for one - how sad! - is $238 and it's $338 a couple.

It attracts a mixed clientele - from Japanese tourists to tai tais (any married women but especially the leisured wives of wealthy businessmen), who grab the most prominent tables, sip and gossip with their friends (mostly via mobile phones). When you're through (and to bring yourself back to earth) cross Nathan Rd and have a look round the shopping arcade of the rabbit warren called Chungking Mansions.

5. Indulge in some yum-yum cha

Yum cha (literally 'drink tea') is the usual way to refer to dim sum, the uniquely Cantonese 'meal' eaten as breakfast, brunch or lunch between about 7am and 3pm. Eating dim sum is a social occasion, consisting of many separate dishes that are meant to be shared.

The bigger your group, the better. Dim sum delicacies are normally steamed in small bamboo baskets. The baskets are stacked up on trolleys and rolled around the dining room. You don't need a menu (though these exist too but almost always in Chinese); just stop the waiter and choose something from the trolley. It will be marked down on a bill left on the table. Don't try to order everything at once.

Each trolley has a different selection, so take your time and order as they come. It's said that there are about a thousand dim sum dishes, but you'd be doing well to sample 10 in one sitting.

char siu bau - steamed barbecued pork buns cheung fun - steamed rice flour rolls with shrimp, beef or pork ching chau si choi - fried green vegetable of the day chun gun - fried spring rolls fan guo - steamed dumplings with shrimp and bamboo shoots fu pei gun - crispy bean-curd rolls fun guo - steamed dumpling with pork, peanuts and coriander fung jau - fried chicken's feet har gau - steamed shrimp dumplings loh mei fan - sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf pai guat - small braised spareribs with black beans san juk ngau yok - steamed minced beef balls siu mai - steamed pork and shrimp dumplings Dim sum restaurants are normally brightly lit and very large and noisy - it's rather like eating in an aircraft hangar.

6. Jump aboard floating history in Victoria Harbour

You can't say you've 'done' Hong Kong until you've taken a ride on the Star Ferry, that wonderful little fleet of electric-diesel boats first launched in 1888. With names like Morning Star, Celestial Star and Twinkling Star, the ferries are most romantic at night. The boats are festively strung with lights, the city buildings beam onto the rippling water, the frenzy of Hong Kong by day has eased (somewhat) and canoodling appears to be the only sensible thing to do. If possible, try to take the trip on a clear night from Kowloon side to Central; it's not half as dramatic in the other direction.

The trip takes about nine minutes (as long as it used to take to read the now defunct Hong Kong Star, a low-brow tabloid newspaper, it was said), and departures are very frequent. Indeed, morning and evening, the Star Ferry is a common way for local people to hop from island to mainland and back again.