Daily 6.30am-11.30pm, every 6-12 min. Lower deck $1.70, airconditioned upper deck $2.20. By far the best way to arrive in Central is by riding the Star Ferry over from Tsim Sha Tsui: the sight of Central’s skyscrapers, framed by the hills and looming up as the ferry makes its seven-minute crossing of busy Victoria Harbour, is one of the most thrilling images of Hong Kong. The portly vessels have been running since 1898, and the current 1950s-style green-and-cream livery and wooden decks and seating are charmingly anachronistic. This isn’t just a tourist sight though - the double-decker boats carry about 100,000 passengers a day, mostly locals, so come prepared for crowds.

Connaught Rd and Finance St. Just west of the Star Ferry Pier is the International Finance Centre, a business and shopping complex overlooking the Outer Islands Ferry Piers; the complex’s IFC2 Tower is currently Hong Kong’s tallest structure at 420m high - even higher than the Peak Tram’s upper terminus. Home to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, IFC2’s 88 floors are so well proportioned that its height is disguised until you consciously measure it against adjacent structures, or see its upper storeys hidden by cloud.

Inland from the International Finance Centre, and accessible by a raised walkway, are the three pastel-pink, marble and glass towers of Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange, sprouting from Swiss architect Remo Riva’s Exchange Square.

The adjacent open piazza has sculptures by Henry Moore and Elizabeth Frink, while the interior is entirely computeroperated: the buildings’ environment is electronically controlled, and the brokers whisk between floors in state-of-the-art talking elevators.

The pedestrian underpass from the Star Ferry concourse emerges into Statue Square, heart of the late nineteenth century colony, though now uncomfortably bisected by Chater Road. The northern segment is bounded to the east by the members-only Hong Kong Club, housed inside a modern, bow-fronted tower; this is faced by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which hides an opulent interior inside a dull, box-like casing.

Across Chater Road in the southern half of Statue Square, the statue itself is that of Sir Thomas Jackson, a nineteenth-century manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. This area is a meeting point for the territory’s 200,000 Filipina amahs, or maids, who descend en masse on Central each Sunday to sociably picnic, shop, read, sing and have their hair cut.

The most important of Central’s surviving colonial buildings sits on the eastern side of Statue Square. Built in 1898, the former Supreme Court (now the LEGCO building - home of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council), a granite edifice with dome and colonnade, is the only colonial structure left in the square. This is the SAR’s nearest equivalent to a parliamentary building, though its locally elected members must be approved by the Chinese authorities in Beijing, and so it hardly constitutes an independent government.

Crossing the southern half of Statue Square and the busy Des Voeux Road puts you right underneath Sir Norman Foster’s Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) headquarters, which opened in 1986. The whole battleship-grey building is supported on eight groups of giant pillars and it’s possible to walk right under the bank and come out on the other side - a necessity stipulated by the feng shui belief that the old centre of power on the island, Government House, should be accessible in a straight line by foot from the Star Ferry.

You look up through the glass underbelly into a sixtymetre-high atrium, with floors suspended from coathanger-like structures and linked by long escalators that ride through each storey, and open offices ranged around the central atrium. The public banking facilities are on the first two floors, so you can ride the first couple of escalators from street level to have a look.

The bronze lions at the front were saved from the bank’s previous incarnation - one is still scarred from World War II shrapnel wounds.

Next door to the HSBC is the headquarters of the Standard Chartered Bank, a curiously stepped tower squeezed between opposing blocks that - by design - just overtop the HSBC’s building. A more serious conceptual rival to HSBC is I.M. Pei’s 315m-high Bank of China, across Garden Road to the east. Completed in 1990, Pei’s angular, dark-glass building is visually striking and overtowers the HSBC building by 145m, though the knifelike profi le pointing skywards off ends feng shui sensitivities (see above) and the building is disliked by many locals. The Old Bank of China, which the new Bank of China Tower superseded, still stands next to the HSBC. A solid stone structure dating from 1950, it’s now occupied by another bank and, at the top, the China Club, a wealthy members-only haven, reputedly home to some very risque artworks.

Queen’s Road has been Central’s main street since the 1840s, when, prior to land reclamation, it was on the waterfront. Running south from it, just west of HSBC, Ice House Street was named after a building that once stored blocks of imported ice for use in the colony’s early hospitals; following it uphill brings you onto Lower Albert Road, where the early-twentieth-century Old Dairy Farm Building, in brown-and-cream brick, today houses the Fringe Club and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, a retreat for journalists, diplomats and lawyers.

Running west, Queen’s Road and parallel Des Voeux Road (with its tramway) take in some of the territory’s most exclusive shops and malls. These include The Landmark shopping complex, on the corner of Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road, which boasts a fountain in its huge atrium and is a key hub in the pedestrian walkway system that links all Central’s major buildings.

Whether you follow Queen’s Road or Des Voeux Road west from here, look out for the parallel alleys which run between the two, Li Yuen Street East and Li Yuen Street West; both are packed tight with stalls selling women’s clothes, silkwear, children’s clothes, fabrics, imitation handbags and accessories.

Southwest of these alleys, over Queen’s Road, Pottinger Street’s steps are similarly clogged with stalls selling ribbons, flowers, locks and other minor items. In contrast, nearby on Queen’s Road is Lane Crawford, one of the city’s top - and most staid - department stores.

Just west of Central Market, at 99 Queen’s Road Central, is The Centre, designed by architect Denis Lau, and by night one of the most eye-catching features of the island’s skyline. The building’s horizontal bars of light change colour constantly and perform a dancing light show nightly at 9pm: the best place to view the spectacle is from the Peak or from the Kowloon waterfront.

The network of streets south of Queen’s Road contains a burgeoning array of trendy pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs, at the heart of which is a sloping L-shaped lane whose name, Lan Kwai Fong, is now used to refer to the whole area. The entertainment kicks off midafternoon, with many places remaining open until dawn. Lan Kwai Fong is mostly frequented by expats and Chinese yuppies - a good district to meet young, aspiring locals.

Entrances on Glenealy and Albany roads. Daily 6am-7pm. Free. Perching on the slopes south of Upper Albert Road, overlooking Central, are the low-key Zoological and Botanical Gardens, which opened in 1864.

There’s a nice mix of shrubs, trees, and paved paths here, with spectacular close-ups of the upper storeys of the Bank of China Tower and the HSBC, but the main draw is a small aviary, home to cages of rare cranes, songbirds, and all kinds of ducks.

West across Albany Road (via an underpass) is a collection of apes, including gibbons and orangutans, along with one jaguar.

Upper Albert Rd. Gardens and parts of the house open six times a year; dates announced in the local press.

Free. Government House was the residence of Hong Kong’s colonial governors from 1855 until the SAR’s return to China in 1997. Hong Kong’s current Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, has also taken up residence here despite the building’s colonial associations and notoriously bad feng shui. The house is a strange blend of styles (the turret was added by the Japanese during World War II), and the gardens are notable for their rhododendrons, azaleas and huge fish pond.

Daily 6am-11pm. Free. South from the Bank of China across Cotton Tree Drive, Hong Kong Park is beautifully landscaped in tiers up the hillside. Amongst the trees and boulders are ornamental lakes and waterfalls stocked with turtles and pelicans, alongside which a continual procession of brides pose for wedding photographs. Specific sights include a conservatory with dry and humid habitats for its orchids, cacti and trees, and the superb Edward Youde Aviary (daily 9am-5pm; free), designed as an enormous walkthrough mesh tent, covering a piece of semi-tropical forest which is home to some eight hundred tropical birds. Despite their bright plumage, these can be surprisingly hard to spot amongst the canopy, even with wooden walkways at branch height. Elsewhere in the park, look for flocks of noisy cockatoos, which are white with yellow crests; escaped pets, they have a habit of damaging trees by ripping off branches and bark.

At the northern corner of Hong Kong Park, the elegantly colonial Flagstaff House was built in 1844 as the office and residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong. Today, it stands in defiance of the surrounding skyscrapers, its cool white walls, shutters, high ceilings and polished wooden floors the epitome of understated colonial charm. Its survival is down to the donation by one Dr K.S.

Lo of his fine collection of traditional Chinese teapots, cups and wooden tea trays, which the SAR authorities have put on display inside Flagstaff House as the Museum of Teaware (Mon & Wed-Sun 10am-5pm; free), a suitably refined subject for such a building.

Queensway. The Lippo Centre is an eye-catching, segmented structure of mirrored glass designed by American architect Paul Rudolph. Supported on huge grey pillars, interlocking steel and glass spurs trace their way up the centre’s twin hexagonal towers, creating an unmistakeable landmark - though there’s nothing of interest inside.

The 552-metre heights of the Peak - officially Victoria Peak - give you the only perspective that matters in Hong Kong: down, and over Central and the magnificent harbour. Property on the Peak, which is clad in woodland and is a popular retreat from the high summer temperatures, has become the prerogative of the colony’s elite: residents include politicians, bank CEOs, various consulgenerals and assorted celebrities.

The best way to ascend is aboard the Peak Tram (daily 7am-midnight, every 10-15 min; $30 return, $20 one-way), a 1.4km-long funicular railway which has been in operation since 1888. The eight-minute ascent tackles 27-degree slopes, forcing you back into your wooden bench as the carriages are steadily hauled through the forest. The ride begins at the terminal on Garden Road and finishes at the Peak Tower, an ugly concrete structure generally referred to as the Flying Wok. Its sole virtue is the superb views from the top terrace, which encompass the harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui’s land reclamation projects and lowtech concrete tower blocks, right into the New Territories.

Further vistas can be savoured across the road, from the upper terrace of the Peak Galleria, a touristy shopping complex full of shops and restaurants. It’s a panorama that’s difficult to tire of - if you can manage it, come up again at night when the lights of Hong Kong transform the city into a glittering box of tricks.

You’re not yet at the top of the Peak itself: four roads pan out from the tower, one of which, Mount Austin Road, provides a stiff twenty-minute walk up to the landscaped Victoria Peak Garden. A circuit of the Peak via shady Harlech Road takes around an hour. First views are of Aberdeen and Lamma; as you turn later into Lugard Road, Kowloon and Central eventually come into sight. You can also walk back to Central from the Peak Tower in around forty minutes, via a path through the forest which emerges onto Robinson Road near the Zoo.

Blanc De Chine

Floor 2, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder St. Elegant and expensive designs loosely based on traditional Chinese clothes, mostly in silk or cashmere.

CRC Department Store

Chiao Shang Building, 92 Queen’s Rd. A good supply of Chinese specialities such as medicines, foods, porcelain and handicrafts.

Dymocks

Star Ferry Concourse. Cramped store but very strong on books about Hong Kong and China, from glossy coffee-table works to novels, local maps and hiking guides.

Joyce Boutique

16 Queen’s Rd. Hong Kong’s most fashionable boutique offers its own range of clothing, as well as many top overseas designer brands.

Cafe Deco

Peak Galleria, 118 Peak Rd, The Peak T2849 5111. Mon-Thurs 11.30am- midnight, Fri & Sat 11.30am-1am, Sun 9.30am-midnight. Exceptional views and a stylish Art Deco interior that extends through to the toilets. The menu includes pizzas, curries, noodles, grilled meats and oysters, or you can just have cake and coffee - there’s often also live jazz.

The location ensures relatively high prices. Book if you want window seats.

Chippy

51A Wellington St, entrance down the steps on Pottinger St; no phone.

Mon-Fri 11am-3pm & 6-10.30pm, Sat 11am-7pm. The last authentic British fish and chip shop in Hong Kong, whose tiny interior offers a couple of tables if you don’t want a takeaway. Fries are great, though fish is sometimes a bit mushy. A large plate of battered cod and chips costs $85.

Luk Yu Tea House

24-26 Stanley St, just west of D’Aguilar St T2523 5464. Daily 7am-6pm. A snapshot from the 1930s, with old wooden furniture and ceiling fans, this self-consciously traditional restaurant’s mainstay is dim sum. Despite its local fame, the quality of the food barely justifies the tourist-inflated prices. Upwards of $100 a head; reservations essential.

Bit Point

31 D’Aguilar St T2523 7436. Mon-Sat noon-2am, Sun 4pm-late; happy hour 4-9pm. German theme-bar, concentrating on meals until around 10pm, after which the bar starts selling industrial quantities of lager and schnapps as the jukebox blares.

Bulldog

Ground Floor, 17 Lan Kwai Fong T2523 3528. Mon-Thurs & Sun noon-2am, Fri & Sat noon-4am; happy hour 5-8pm. Fourteen-metre-long bar, plasma screen TVs tuned to world sports and a dart board - this bar and grill is for kicking back in and getting rowdy over a game of soccer.

California

Ground Floor, California Tower, 30-32 Lan Kwai Fong T2521 1345. Mon, Tues & Thurs noon-1am, Wed, Fri & Sat noon-4am, Sun 6pm-midnight.

Expensive American bar and restaurant with a tiny dance floor on which yuppies strut their stuff . It’s been around for too long to be at the cutting edge of anything, but can still be fun on occasion.