It's about time I posted up some of my HK pics on here. I visited for 3 days on my way to Melbourne early last month. I've posted quite a few already on the HK and world forums and had quite a good response coz I've stayed away from posting the usual Skyline shots.
I've got lots to say about Hong Kong....to visit there and stand next to some of the most impressive and recognisable skyscrapers on the planet was unreal. My lasting image of HK is from my first night there, we went into Central and the cloud cover had fallen so low that the tallest buildings disappeared into it. Everywhere you looked there were giant LED screens advertising the usual brand products courtesy of some stunning Chinese females. It was so atmospheric and actually reminded me so much of the city from the film Bladerunner.....I was just lost, staring around in wonder at these huge neon emblazoned 1000ft towers vanishing skyward into the mist while my senses were being pounded by countless giant LED advertising screens screaming at me in cantonese......and I didn't take my camera taht night, Blagghh!

Start with the current tallest, 2 International Finance Centre 413.8 m

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0103.jpg

Looking up :uh:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0108.jpg

As part of the Central Skyline....there's that low cloud I was on about as well
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0262.jpg

Next tallest, Central Plaza 374 m to the spire. This is not part of the main Central kyline and is situated a couple of kmto the east in the Wan Chai district. This is a beautiful skyscraper and we could do with something like this in Birmingham.....even if it is reduced to 120 m :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0200.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0208.jpg

View from Causeway bay (a tad further to the East)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0190.jpg

Even though the weather looks shite in the photo's it was quite sunny while I was there, I've got photo's of my sunburnt slaphead to prove it. There was always a thin layer of low cloud hovering around though which added a greyness to the sky, very bizarre. As mentioned already, it looked spectacular at night coz it actually created a halo affect around the tallest buildings when they were lit up. I didn't take too many night photo's because I didn't want to carry my camera around at night (I tend to lose cameras when I go out) and on my last night my batteries ran out at the worst possible time....I'll tell you more about that later. I have got this shot though of 2IFC from the Mid Levels.....it almost captures the image I'm trying to portray to you, but at the same time falls way short.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0231.jpg

nice pics there mate! HK really is the Slyscraper paridise,

There are many more to follow when I can be arsed

Hope more visitors to Australia will transit through Hong Kong and explore our streets. :)

Bank of China Tower 367.4 metres to the top of the spire. Probably one of the most recognizable and certainly most beautiful skyscrapers in the world. If you think it looks fantastic in pictures you ought to see in personhttp://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/smilies/drool.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0216.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0217.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0186.jpg

Reflecting The Cheung Kong Center
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0175.jpg

Great pics Smiley.
I really want to pic my arse up and get over there asap.
What are the hotel prices etc like?
I feel I'd like Melbourne alot too.
Cheers.

Thanks Northbeach. HK's definitely worth a visit as you can probably tell by my witterings but I would recommend it as your first destination of a two centre break. Choose somewhere nice and relaxing for your second break coz HK does take it out of you. Then again HK has got many secluded spots and beaches which unfortunately I never got round to visiting.
The Hotel I stopped in was the 4 Star Eaton Hotel on Nathan Road in Kowloon, it worked out about £38 a night which is definitely more than reasonable. The food out there I also found very reasonbly priced and the public transport was (literally) pennies. I actually had money left over from what I'd designated for myself in HK so that was all the more for me to spend in Australiahttp://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/smilies/beer.gif

Cheers for that Smiley.
Will start investigating this further.

I'd go in springtime or Autumn if possible coz I found the heat even in early April to be quite oppressive.

oooohhh!! Nice pics

Another classy building, The Center 346.00 metres to the tip of the spire. In the photo near the top of the page, with helicopter in, it's the second tallest in the pic after 2IFC.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0131.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0133.jpg

Next, The Cheung Kong Centre at 283.00 metres. It's just a box really but looks really impressive on the HK skyline especially at night. It is situated next to the Bank Of China tower and you can actually see it's reflection in one of the pics above.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0169.jpg

Looking up
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0174.jpg

Hong Kong looks awsome! Some great pics there as well.

Cheers Andrew, Hong Kong is awesome and it goes without saying that if you're a bit of a skyscraper nut you've got to visit HK at least once.

The tallest of the Sorrento Apartments at Union Square comes in at 256 metres. This is one of my first views of Hong Kong because Kowloon Station, where I alighted the Airport Express train service, is situated under the Union Square developement. It's a bit of a shock to the system when you this developement first hand. There's still a lot of construction going on including the nearly completed Arch at 231 metres and US7 which at 474metres will be HK's highest when completed in 2007

Sorrento Apartments
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0018.jpg

These next few are obviously not my own photos (SanMiguel was lucky man on the helicopter) but I've posted them to show the scale of the Union Square project....my photo's of it were a little wanting.

http://www.micpix.de/gallery/data/media/26/TSTWest-04April05-1.jpg

The Arch...all 231 metres of it :uh: :uh:
http://www.micpix.de/gallery/data/media/72/US-Ph3-04April05-1.jpg

WOW :eek: lovely photos smileyface, well done.

Enough of towers for a while.....Hong Kong's street scenes are just as impressive

Central
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0118.jpg

An early Sunday morning photograph of mainland Hong Kong's main thoroughfair through Kowloon, Nathan Road.....believe me pedestrians outnumber the traffic 1000 to 1 later in the day
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0090.jpg

wow just look at the signage!!!!

What do you think were the best and worst aspects of Hong Kong?

Great pics :)

What do you think were the best and worst aspects of Hong Kong?

I'll start with the worst; The heat.....bloody hell it was stifling I dread to think what it's like now in high summer....and that's about it really from me. If you don't like fast paced, noisy, smoggy cities then stay away from HK's urban areas especially Kowloon. I love city life, the faster and noisier the better and believe me HK didn't disappoint.
The best aspects; The sheer craziness of the place is awe inspiring, as I think I've mentioned before, anyone who's into their skyscrapers has just got to visit HK sometime in their lifetime. The people are also fantastic and really friendly, for such a manic, crowded city it's safe to walk the streets at night and is fairly safe as large urban areas go. Hong Kong has a fantastic natural setting as well; mountains, lakes, beaches and secluded islands make up the majority of the Hong Kong area. Public transport is reliable, frequent and cheap and there are probably loads more I could say in its favour, fantastic place and I can't wait to go back there agiain

You've put me in the mood for more pictures......this is the Star Ferry probably one of the most famous ferry crossings in the world. It crosses Victoria Harbour countless times each day and connects the ferry terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui, on the Mainland, with Central and Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. This is part of the Central skyline in the background

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0023.jpg

Another famous mode of transport is The Peak Tramway which connects the Central District with The Peak. Here's a pic taken in the tram as it starts it's climb, again you've got part of the Central Skyline in the background

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/HKfromtram.jpg

The worlds longest escalator is in HK, it connects the Central area to the Mid Levels which is a densely populated area situated on the hillside above and beyond the central skyline. The connecting roads are narrow and winding so they built this mass people mover to help locals commute to their jobs in Central. During the morning rush hour it moves downwards, after dinner time it moves upwards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0141.jpg

A few pics of the apartments around the mid levels area
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0146.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0165.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0150.jpg

Visiting the midlevels was probably one of my favourite experiences of my HK visit. It's not really a visitor destination but it's worth it just for the esculator ride. The area is a mixture of upper/middle class residential apartments and fascinating side streets
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0136.jpg

.....and there are some fantastic views of some well known skyscrapers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Hong%20Kong/PICT0154.jpg