Best Walk in Hong Kong
For tourists coming to Hong Kong, the sheer scale of the city and its impressive skyline is often overwhelming. At street level, it is sometimes impossible to get a real feel for the city and the buildings. You are bombarded by the thronging masses, flashing neon and colorful street life scenes whirling around you. Tourists can and should go up to the Peak to get a good, overhead view, but to really see the skyline from a unique perspective you should plan to spend a dusk and early evening walking Bowen Road.
Situated about a third of the way up the Peak, Bowen Road is one of the flattest parts of Hong Kong Island, this makes it a favorite place for locals to walk and exercise without the hills, traffic and congestion. At a height of about 15 stories, Bowen Road also gives those who walk on it an unrivaled view of the skyline that is relatively middle way with many buildings, not too high and not too low. It is also considerably closer to them than the top of the Peak, so some of the buildings appear so close you feel as though you can reach out and touch them.
The path is roughly three kilometers from the beginning in the Midlevels, near the intersection of Garden and Robinson roads, to the end in Happy Valley. The Bowen Road path is designed for walkers and joggers so auto traffic is limited and not a worry. The road boasts clean air (relatively speaking) and a forested walkway with bathrooms and rest stops along the way. It is also amazingly quiet, compared to the cacophony of sounds that fill the lower streets, Bowen Road lets you feel like you are actually in nature, while passing so close to the cityscape.
Bowen Road lets visitors and locals experience some of the oddest architecture, most extravagant houses and up close looks at some of the city’s best skyscrapers. The highlight is the Hopewell Centre, Hong Kong’s first skyscraper. Covered in a computer controlled neon lighting system with a revolving restaurant on top, the Vegas-style light show on the Hopewell is magnetic as you walk past.
Bowen Road is also a must-do view for anyone wanting to appreciate the skyline and people watch the locals. Getting there is a breeze; take a taxi to “Midlevels, Bowen do” (pronounced ‘Doh’) and get out as soon as the cab turns onto the road. There are signs and you’ll likely notice the residential feel of the street immediately. Along the way there are several streets that shoot down into Admiralty or Wan Chai. Taking the one by the first bathroom takes you a cool reservoir stuck on the side of the hill and all the way into Wan Chai and Pacific Place 3.
