Hong Kong and Macau City Guide by Lonely Planet book review

Title:

Hong Kong and Macau City Guide - 13th edition
(Lonely Planet, 2008) ISBN 978-1741046656

Theme:

This Lonely Planet guide book provides insider tips, highlights and suggested excursions for Hong Kong, Kowloon, New Territories, Lantau, Lamma, Macau, Coloane and Taipa Islands. Readers find information about where to stay, restaurants, stores, things to do for adults and children and how to get around with local buses, trains, trams and ferries.

Sample Items:

The Macau section provides addresses, phone numbers and websites for 10 of the 27 casinos in Macau, as well as information on free shuttle service to the casinos. Visitors interested in gambling in Macau will find a sidebar listing games. They include baccarat, blackjack, boule, roulette, daai-sai (a dice game), faan-taan (played with an inverted silver cup and buttons) and paai-gau (Chinese dominoes similar to mahjong). The 388-page guidebook also includes information on dog racing at the Macau Canidrome, horse racing at the Taipa Racetrack and the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix held in November.

What can you do if you only have one day in Hong Kong? A sidebar, Hong Kong in a Day, suggests a one-day itinerary that explores Hong Kong island by bus from Central to Stanley Market, with bargain souvenir shopping, Victoria Peak sightseeing, Kowloon cultural highlights along Nathan Road and electronics shopping at Mong Kok in Aberdeen. Alternative day trips include Lamma Island, Macau or a spiritual experience at Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island.

Notable Elements:

Visitors looking for restaurants in Macau will find a guide to Portuguese and Macanese cuisine. A sidebar describes typical Macau dishes like caldo verde (Portuguese kale soup), sautéed bacalhau (dried salted cod, cooked in olive oil with garlic) and minchi (minced beef or pork with potatoes).

Meet the Locals features interviews with an executive chef and Hong Kong citizens involved in politics, real estate and the nightclub scene.

An excellent, removable fold-out map at the back of the guide book provides detailed street maps of Hong Kong and Macau, with Cantonese phrases, transportation routes and emergency telephone numbers.

Tone / Style:

Lonely Planet's Hong Kong and Macau City Guide is well organized with plenty of sidebars. Going shopping? Find lists of stores selling items from arts and crafts to records and kung fu supplies. Want to shop like a local? Consider the suggestions in the Mighty Micromalls sidebar. The Macau Shopping section describes the main shopping streets and malls like the Venetian Macau and Wynn Macau. Readers learn where to shop for antiques, cheap clothing and postage stamps.

The first page of each chapter contains a list of Top Picks, followed by information on Hong Kong and Macau lifestyles. The Eating sections describe Chinese cuisine, etiquette, dim sum, vegan influences, cooking courses and grocery stores, with practical restaurant information such as hours, cost, reservations and tipping. Restaurants are alphabetically listed and referenced to a street map, with types of food, prices, phone numbers, transit directions and brief descriptions.

A Cantonese language guide provides translations for phrases like "Where is the local Internet café?" It also lists the English names for Chinese dishes and dim sum.

Visuals:

Color photos illustrate the Introduction, Highlights of Hong Kong and Macau, and Meet the Locals sections. Maps illustrate major streets in regional sections, with symbols for attractions like Shinto temples, beaches and lookouts.

Author:

Andrew Stone, Chung Wah Chow and Reggie Ho

More things to see and do in Hong Kong and Macau:

Guide to Hong Kong

Guide to Macau

Chinese New Year

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car

Hong Kong Fall Festivals

Free PDA Hong Kong Leisure Guide

Hong Kong Shopping Festival

Buddha's Birthday, Tin Hau, Tam Kung & Cheung Chau Bun Festivals in Hong Kong

Hong Kong – Cultural Tours and Cruises

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