Aberdeen lies tucked away on the southern reaches of Hong Kong Island. Two centuries ago it was a refuge for pirates. Later it became a centre for incense production. Later still its name - Heung Gong, or Fragrant Harbour was anglicised and applied to the whole city. More recently it was a simple fishing village. Today Aberdeen is a modern town, with streets full of high-rise buildings, and its vibrant waterfront home to the yachts of Hong Kong's rich and famous.

Traditional and often impoverished ways of life still prevail, however, none more striking than the harbour's hundreds of junks and sampans, old-fashioned boats which provide floating homes for thousands of people. Taking a ride on one of the boats is a popular activity - you will inevitably be approached by people trying to sell you a trip - but try to stick with licensed operators. Alternatively take a shuttle boat to one of the harbour's famous 'floating restaurants', vast and gaudily decorated affairs aimed unashamedly at tourists, but fun nevertheless.

Other things to see include the traditional boatyards of Ap Lei Chau across the harbour (access by boat or bridge) and the Tin Hau Temple (1851), the
latter dedicated to the Queen of Heaven (or Goddess of the Sea), protector of seafarers. A statue of the goddess stands inside the temple flanked by two generals: one who can hear clearly and another who can see clearly. Hung Hsing, another small temple at the southern end of the main street, is also worth visiting.

Victoria Peak, imposingly towering in the west of Hong Kong Island, is the highest peak in this island and the most enduring tourist attraction in Hong Kong, featuring the city's oldest mode of transport, the 112-year old Peak Tram and Hong Kong's most unusual building and icon, Peak Tower.

The top of the peak is 1,805 feet above sea level. In the early period of colonial rule, Victoria Peak was open to the people of upper strata of society only and normal people were forbidden to visit the peak unless getting a special permission from the governor of Hong Kong. Today, Victoria Peak has already become a scenic spot noted all over the world. Ascending the peak enables you to experience the dazzling panorama of Hong Kong Island, the harbor, Kowloon and the hills beyond.

What's more, the peak offers visitors a multitude of fantastic entertainment, dining and shopping options. The Peak Galleria shopping mall and the Peak Tower have a wide selection of restaurants and boutiques selling souvenirs, clothes, and gifts.

Peak Tram

The best way to get to the top is via the Peak Tram, a funicular railway that carves a steep 373-metre (about 1224 feet) swathe up the lush mountainside. It carried its first passengers in 1888 and has, over the last century, served as one of the city's most vital transport links. The track itself is 1400 meters (4592 feet) long and is the shortest yet most scenic route to the Peak taking approximately 7 minutes. The steepest gradient of the tram track, which is at May Road, is 27 degrees to the horizon. The Peak Tram is quick and safe, it is environmentally friendly due to its microprocessor-controlled electric drive system. The tram is computer-controlled with an automatic system check on all safety devices before its journey begins.

The Peak Tram runs every day, including Sundays and public holidays, between 7:00am and midnight. The tram departs every 15 minutes.

Peak Tower

As the Peak Tram pulls up into its final destination one could enter directly into the Peak Tower. Regarded as the icon of Hong Kong, the striking and unusual Peak Tower sits at an elevation of over 396 meters (about 1299 feet) overlooking the spectacular Victoria Harbor, Kowloon and the New Territories. Commissioned in 1993 and completed in May of 1997, the tower serves as a center of combining catering and recreation, which contains dining hall, wonder hall and some of the best entertainment attractions in Hong Kong. Among them, the most special is the wonder hall which is called "Believe it or not". It is the chain museum unique in the world, which was constructed by Robert L. Ripley in 1930. Inside the hall there exhibited the adventurous events experienced by Ripley, primitive forest, beauty taking sun bath, frenzied car, turning tunnel, shark aquarium, ultimate cruel torture, marvelous spectacles of human race and animals, complete works of tongue twister and mass media fun station etc.

If you have enough time, you may go around the Harlech Road and the Lugard Road on both sides of the peak, which is the best spot to look down at both shores of Victoria Harbor, Kowloon Peninsula and even the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir and Island district on the southern part of Hong Kong.

Ocean Park, lying between Aberdeen and Repulse Bay, is the largest leisure paradise in Southeast Asia, and one of the largest marine parks in the world. Covering a total area over 200 acres, the park was built on both sides of the mountain with a Cable Car system linking the lowland and headland sections.

There are over 40 major attractions in this park.

The Star Ferry has linked Hong Kong Island and Kowloon since 1898. For just a couple of dollars you are treated to one of the world's most spectacular ferry rides, the robust little green and white boats dodging the intense water- borne traffic on what was once the world's finest and busiest deep-water anchorage.

Strictly speaking there are several Star Ferries, each plying slightly different routes across the harbour. The route everybody rides, however, is the one between the piers on Kowloon close to the Cultural Centre and the heart of the Central district on Hong Kong Island. The trip takes around seven minutes, and you can choose between upper and lower decks, the upper deck costing a few cents more. You enter the quay via coin-operated turnstiles, so be sure to have some change, and then wait with the chaotic-looking crowds for the next boat (queue at a ticket office by the turnstiles if you have no change). If boats are full - and numbers are monitored - simply wait a few minutes for the next ferry.

Once underway it's difficult to know where to look. Behind and in front of you skyscrapers rise from the water- front, combining with the hills behind to produce one of the world's most spectacula city skylines. Below and all around you the water is alive with countless boats, while on board the massed ranks of passengers provide a people-watching spectacle in their own right.

Shopping and high-rise modern architecture can only hold your attention for so long, which makes Hong Kong's principal park a welcome and rather unexpected relief from the city's many urban distractions. Spread over 10ha, the park opened in 1991 on the site of the old Victoria Barracks, and in its layout deliberately avoided a strictly naturalistic appearance in favour of a partially artificial approach to landscaping (much of the area's original vegetation had long-since vanished in any case). Skilful design work has artfully folded the park into the contours of the surrounding hillside, dramatically juxtaposing the ranks of skyscrapers on one side with almost open hilly slopes on the other.

Among the park's many features are lakes, artificial waterfalls, numerous plants (look out for the giant bamboo in particular), a visual arts centre, children's playground, restaurant, viewing tower, tai chi garden and the outstanding Museum of Tea Ware in Flagstaff House at the park's northern tip. Museum aside, the park's highlights are its many peaceful corners, a large aviary and a modern conservatory, the last - the largest in Southeast Asia - home to 200 plant species divided into tropical and semi-arid varieties. The still more impressive aviary repli- cates a tropical rainforest habitat, tree-high walkways bringing you into close contact with some 150 species of (and 500 individual) exotic and brightly coloured birds as you drop down through the complex.