Star Ferry

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.

Publishes at : 07-06-21 06:57

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