After dark, the Temple Street Night Market hums with fortune-tellers, sizzling dai pai dong woks and opera singers — a slice of old Kowloon that no mall can imitate. For altitude of a different kind, the Ngong Ping 360 cable car glides 25 minutes over Lantau Island's ridgelines to the Tian Tan Buddha, a 250-tonne bronze colossus reached by 268 steps beside the Po Lin Monastery. Families get their own icons too, from Hong Kong Disneyland to the marine thrills of Ocean Park.
Local tip: the Star Ferry has crossed the harbour since 1888, and at a few Hong Kong dollars it remains one of the great travel bargains on Earth — take it at night, with an audio guide telling you what you're gliding past.