It has become a bit of a tradition for us to land in Asia’s World City (Hong Kong) at the beginning of a given year. We started or nomadic journey right here and hold it and it’s people near and dear to our hearts.
One of the things that we enjoy a lot here are the many green spaces, parks and river walks. In this post we share some of these city walks that we truly enjoy.
Getting Here
Flying in on Cathay Pacific business (50K points each from Toronto), we stayed our first night at the Hong Kong Sky City Marriott Hotel (which is right at the airport).
The hotel was free since we signed up for the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Card giving us 75K sign up bonus points (with a minimum spend) + a night free valued up to 35K points.
With Platinum membership we were upgraded to a suite , had free breakfast and access to the Lounge which serves food and drinks for free.
Country and City Parks
This time in Asia’s World City we decided to visit the Sha Tin area (north west part of the island).
It has a multitude of parks and beautiful boardwalks to visit and stroll including Ma On Shan Country Park (be ready for some uphill climbing and incredible vistas of the city and the jungle like park). Tai Mo Shan Country Park offers similar gorgeous views (after the payment of a strenuous uphill climb).
For those interested in a less strenuous stroll, the Shing Mun River offers miles of lovely boardwalk lined with beautiful parks including the Sha Tin Park featuring gardens and lagoons filled with exotic flowers, turtles and coy fish.
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum (also on the Shing Mun River boardwalk) has free entry and features many different exhibitions. There are modern art displays, interactive wings and some exhibitions showing off Hong Kong’s antiquities with stunning pieces that are thousands of years old.
There is a large children’s area and a wing dedicated to Bruce Lee which Rob thoroughly enjoyed.
While visiting the Sha Tin area we stayed at the Courtyard Hong Kong Sha Tin. This hotel is amazing – for only 12.5K points/night we were treated to a suite overlooking the river.
Because of our Platinum status with Marriott we were able to visit the Lounge which served free food morning and night (with fantastic wine and beer available in the evenings).
In addition, we would also have a free breakfast in the main restaurant which we visited closer to lunch. Basically, staying at this hotel we had free food and drink day and night (and a suite) for the measly cost of 12.5K points per night. We will definitely be back!
There are so many other wonderful green spaces and parks to visit here! Some of our other favorites include: Victoria Peak Garden, Tamar Park and Nan Lian Garden and Kowloon Walled City Park. Every time we return to these islands we just pick a few more to explore.
Wrap Up – Asia’s World City
Hong Kong is one of those places that we love to come back to and often! There are so many fun islands to visit and green spaces in the city.
Hong Kong was actually the beginning of our nomadic non stop international journey. We feel a kinship with this place and it’s people.
Have you visited any of these city parks? Which one is your favorite? We would love to hear from you.
