36 Hours in Hong Kong

Time travel in Sheung Wan, a charming neighborhood where traditional stores sell tea and spices, just as they did more than a century ago, when the city was a colonial trading outpost. One shop, Cheung Hing Tea Hong, sells a wide variety of Chinese, European and Ceylon black teas, as well as coffee beans. Its tea master, who has worked there for more than six decades, nimbly folds and tucks the shop’s signature tea variety, tieguanyin (about 160 Hong Kong dollars, or $20.50, for 150 grams), into an artful, palm-size paper package, using no tape or string. Midway down a wide outdoor stairway, Yuan Heng Spice Company offers all manner of spices, including Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon bark and aged citrus peels. The shop’s majestic cats are neighborhood fixtures. (Check out @hongkonghistoricalshops on Instagram for more gems.)

For a refined Chinese dinner near Tai Kwun, head to the Fringe Club, a performing arts space in an oval brick building that served as a dairy warehouse in the 19th century. Ascend neon-lit stairs to reach its restaurant, Nove at the Fringe, where you can order watermelon in a numbing mala chile sauce (65 dollars) and honey-glazed char siu pork (165 dollars, half portion). Afterward, go to Penicillin, a sustainable cocktail bar that ferments food scraps in its “stinky room” and invents new drinks in its laboratory using unlikely ingredients like cacao husks, soy sauce and charred chive sprigs (cocktails from 125 dollars). The name of Lockdown, a new bar from the same owners, refers to Hong Kong’s pandemic restrictions, and the offerings include experimental versions of American Prohibition-era cocktails (from 120 dollars) served in an elegant space (in spite of the toilet displayed in its front window).

Begin your morning with a stroll past ponds full of koi, turtles and water lilies at Hong Kong Park, a family-friendly, 20-acre green space converted from British army barracks. On the ground floor of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, a Greek Revival mansion in the park where the commander of British forces in Hong Kong once lived, is LockCha, a tranquil teahouse with dark wood accents and elegant grooved panels. Choose from more than 100 kinds of white, yellow and green tea (starting at 58 dollars; each customer orders their own pot). Vegetarian dim sum options are limited in Hong Kong, so LockCha’s fully vegetarian menu is a rare treat. Try the black truffle vegan siu mai (48 dollars, two pieces), steamed custard buns (35 dollars, two pieces) and the black fungus salad with sesame sauce (48 dollars).

See one of the world’s largest collections of contemporary Chinese art at M+, a museum that opened in 2021 amid pandemic restrictions (entry, 120 dollars). Shaped like a giant inverted T, the 700,000-square-foot museum has more than 8,000 works in its permanent collection. Even with the ongoing crackdown on free expression, the museum offers bold and nuanced critiques: The satirical installation “Old People's Home,” by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, shows life-size wax figures resembling world leaders riding in motorized wheelchairs and colliding into one another. Some artists capture political disillusionment in China, such as in Fang Lijun’s large painting of a man sinking into azure water. The museum also has a library lounge devoted to video works. Visit the rooftop garden for an expansive view of the harborfront.

Stroll or take a taxi to Yau Ma Tei, a former fishing port where shops still sell incense and wood sculptures originally used by fishermen in rituals to protect them. Start at Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop, a classic Cantonese diner with cheery yellow walls and décor that pays homage to famous diner scenes in Hong Kong films, like with a cardboard cutout of the actor Maggie Cheung’s character from Wong Kar-wai’s film “In the Mood for Love.” Try the egg tart set (58 dollars); they come in several unorthodox flavors. The owner has commissioned illustrated maps of the historic shops nearby, available at no charge. Nearby, Cheung Shing Fans Factory sells incense sticks and essential oils (300 dollars per vial) and pricey sandalwood fans. See the artisans at Kwok Kee Wood Ware Sculpture who often sit outside the shop, carving and painting figures traditionally used by fishing families for ancestor worship.

Hong Kong is hot and humid for the greater part of the year, but in the winter long lines form outside Hing Kee at Temple Street (there are several restaurants with this name in Hong Kong), a no-frills restaurant that specializes in clay pot rice, a comforting dish cooked over a charcoal fire with aromatic toppings like Chinese sausage and seafood (starting at around 60 dollars, cash only). Pour a generous amount of sweet soy sauce and enjoy the satisfying crunch of the rice at the edge of the pot. Although the semi-outdoor restaurant sprawls across five storefronts, you can still expect a wait during peak meal times; the turnover is relatively fast.

Spend half a day exploring Sharp Island, a tranquil sanctuary northeast of Hong Kong’s center that offers verdant hiking trails, volcanic rocks and pristine beaches. Other destinations like Lamma Island and Cheung Chau Island are more accessible, but Sharp Island’s beauty and relative privacy make the 60- to 90-minute journey worth it. At the public pier in Sai Kung (15 miles from the city center, accessible by public transport), find a private boat operator going to Sharp Island (tickets around 40 dollars) then pick up pineapple buns at Sai Kung Cafe and Bakery (13 dollars, cash only) as you wait to board. Get off at the Hap Mun Bay stop and follow the signs for the hiking trail to Kiu Tsui Beach. Along the trail, look for small ceramic sculptures inspired by the island from the Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival. When the tide is low, cross the Sharp Island Sand Levee, a path filled with monzonite boulders nicknamed “pineapple bun” rocks for their resemblance to the crust of the local pastry. It’s the perfect spot to break out those treats you brought along.