Visa Free to Hong Kong and Macau

Upon arrival, you will be picked up by the tour guide at the airport and sent to the hotel. After check-in, you are free to do anything you like, expecting a wonderful Hong Kong Visa Free Tour during the next five days.

After breakfast, you will be taken to Wong Tai Sin Temple, one of the most popular temples in Hong Kong. Set up in 1921, it's a Taoist temple featuring magnificent structures with rich colors. It’s believed that Wong Tai Sin Temple is responsive to the prayers of its visitors, including for peace, promising career, marriage, and resolutions to all kinds of trouble and problems. You can know your fortunes in a year by drawing divination sticks at the temple. Therefore, crowds of visitors will come here to worship, especially during the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year. Legend has it that Wong Tai Sin was initially a shepherd boy. After years of monasticism, he became immortal and gave guidance to others on how to become immortal. Afterward, the temple was established to enshrine him. Gradually, more and more people come here to worship and ask for help from him.

Next, you will head to Victoria Peak. As the most renowned tourist attraction in Hong Kong, Victoria Peak boasts spectacular landscapes, delivering great shopping and eating pleasures. Here are many unique scenic areas where you can have diverse tourism experiences and get an in-depth understanding of the life and culture of Hong Kong. To reach the top of Victoria Peak, you will take a peak tram, the most ancient and famed one in the world. You will overlook the gorgeous view of Victoria Harbour along the way in the peak tram rising from 28 to 396 meters above sea level. The Peak Tower on the top was designed by Terry Farrel, a famous British architect. It offers the best favorable position to appreciate the enchanting landscapes of the metropolis. What's more, you can also enjoy shopping and doing some recreational activities you like there. 

In the afternoon, you will reach Repulse Bay, dubbed as “the First Bay in the World". As the most typical bay in Hong Kong, it's also known as "Oriental Hawaii". There is a gently sloping broad beach with fine sands. Each year in summer, the Bay is teemed with people wearing all kinds of swimsuits, forming a colorful picture. The sight of young men and women in swimsuits is quite often there even in winter. You can taste delicious barbecue to the fullest after surfing or other amusements on the beach. There is an ancient temple called Tin Hau Temple. Despite its small size, many statues of different gods and immortals stand around it as guardians of this area in the eyes of residents. You can have a close look at these interesting statues and will probably be interested in so many figures in Chinese religious beliefs. 

After the visit to the Bay, you are scheduled to go to Stanley Market. Being characterized by the harmonious integration of Chinese and Western cultures, this quaint market is dotted with distinctive buildings, shopping malls, and food courts. There are large numbers of clothes made of silk, sportswear, and jeans. In addition, you can find plus-size clothing in the stores there. Many restaurants of Continental styles are also a highlight over there, where you can enjoy both Chinese and Western food.

As the exploration ends, the guide will deliver you back to the hotel for a good rest. 

Option:

If you would like to hang out at night, Lan Kwai Fong is a good choice for you to take a stroll. It's a mid-and high-class consumption area of pubs and restaurants. However, you can also have fun with a small amount of money. Here you can taste a cup of cocktail at the price of less than twenty or thirty Hong Kong dollars. A cup of Vodka only sells for 50 Hong Kong dollars. Additionally, snack foods like peanuts are offered for free. Therefore, it’s very popular among young men and women as well as foreign tourists.

Victoria Peak

Stanley Market

Today let us explore Lantau Island, about 35 kilometers west away from Tsim Sha Tsui. After  a 27-minute drive, you will reach the largest island in Hong Kong. The guide will take you to Ngong Ping Cable Car Station to take a Standard Cabin (10:00 am-6:00 pm during weekdays; 9:00 am-6:30 pm on weekends and holidays). The journey of 5.7 kilometers long in the cable car will take you to overlook Hong Kong International Airport, South China Sea, Big Buddha, and natural landscapes of Lantau Island. Finally, you will reach Ngong Ping Village themed Chinese culture. Covering an area of 15,000 m2, the village offers various leisure activities, delicacies, and novel shopping experiences. There is a multimedia program which presents the life experiences of Sakyamuni, demonstrating the journey of his heart. You can also experience the world of monkeys by watching a fantastic animation with special effects in a cinema equipped with a stereo system. 

Next, you will visit Big Buddha, the world’s tallest outdoor bronze seating Buddha. Erected on the Muyu Peak of 482 meters above sea level, the huge Buddha is deemed as a symbol of Hong Kong’s prosperity, stability, and world peace. As an important landmark, it attracts a myriad of Buddhist believers at home and abroad as well as many other tourists. 

Opposite Big Buddha is Po Lin Monastery, which is your next destination. Built in 1924, it’s a very beautiful place under the foot of mountains with lush trees, covering an area of 1.02 km2. Hailed as the chief of the four great Buddhist temples, the golden complex boasts a picturesque terrain environment with three splendid temples. In the front of the Monastery is a square where a three-storey altar stands in the center. At the beginning of the last century, many monks or Buddhist believers came here to learn Buddhist scriptures. There are constant streams of visitors coming from all over the world to worship and pray. You will be astonished by the golden Buddha statues with vivid expressions. Vegetarian pastries and lunch are offered in the great monastic dining hall. Maybe you will find one of your favorite food among them.

After the day-long visit, the cable car will take you down the mountain. Then you will be sent back to the hotel and the rest of the day is your free time.

Po Lin Monastery

Big Buddha

After enjoying a good breakfast, let us go to visit Macau. You are scheduled to take a boat at Hong Kong Port to Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier in Macau, close to the old city area. After about one hour on the boat, you will go ashore. When you arrive, the local tour guide will take you to Ruins of St. Paul’s. As a World Cultural Heritage Site, it is one of the most renowned landmarks in Macau. It was once the front door of St. Paul’s Church built in 1637. Featuring the combination of architectural styles in the east and those during the period of European Renaissance, the structure is shaped into a pyramid with sophisticated statuary, hailed as “a three-dimensional Bible”. 

After the appreciation of Ruins of St. Paul’s, you will go to visit Mont Fortress beside it. Established in 1616, the Fortress was initially the property of a church as a shelter for clergymen of St. Paul’s Church. Later on, it was converted into a military facility. As the core of the defensive system of Macau, it once served as the residence of the governor of Macau. With an area of 10,000 m2, the Fortress is trapeziform with a side length of about 100 meters. Besides luxuriant ancient trees, there are huge cannons, many cultural relics, and historical structures.

Then you will be led to Senado Square, as one of the four great squares in Macau, it’s an exciting commercial and cultural activity area，covering an area of 3,700 m2. The square is shaped into a narrow triangle which is wide in the south and narrow in the north. It’s paved with gravel as a whole, looking like waves from a distance. You can find a bench over there to have a good rest and appreciate rows of buildings with European features, many of which have been listed as monuments and buildings of great architectural arts. In the center of the square stands a beautiful fountain as a landmark.  

The last destination in the morning is A-Ma Temple. With a history of more than five hundred years, the Temple is the most ancient one among the great three Buddhist temples in Macau. Tucked away in the southwest of Macau, it is encompassed by towering ancient trees, forming gorgeous landscapes of the sea, mountains, and cliffs. There are several halls with A-Ma enshrined. Legend has it that a woman called A-Ma from Fujian Province was a prophet. After her death, her soul always appeared on the sea and helped merchants and fishermen in trouble. Thus, residents in Fujian Province built the temple to enshrine her. It is a legendary temple. In the 1980s, it caught fire at midnight and the whole temple was burned to the ground except the A-Ma statue in the shrine that remained intact in the fire except that it was only blackened. Each year, numerous believers in A-Ma swarm into this place to pray for blessings from the start of midnight on New Year’s Eve.  

After lunch, you will leave for Macau Tower. Being 338 meters high from the ground to its top, it is ranked tenth among independent sightseeing towers all over the world. The high-speed elevator will deliver you to the sightseeing floor within several minutes. After reaching the top, you can enjoy a cup of coffee and overlook through the transparent glass window the panoramic view of Macau and Zhuhai City. If you are lucky, Hong Kong and Lantau Island will appear in front of you on a sunny day. In June of 2001, it launched the world’s highest sky jump, which made a Guinness World Record for the tower. Jumping from 233 meters high, participants will experience flying in the sky at the speed of 75 kilometers per hour within 20 seconds. How fantastic it is! 

Next, the guide will take you to Casino in the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. Covering an area of 110,000 m2, the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel is the world's second-largest casino comprehensive complex, ranking second in Asia. The casino in the great hall on the first floor is a must-see in Macau, one of the world’s four great gambling cities. There are 4100 slot machines and 850 gambling tables, ranked first in number worldwide. In addition, the Grand Canal Shopping Mall is a great highlight in the hotel. There are three indoor canals with many Gondolas (a special black boat originating from Venice) sailing there. Here you can take on one of them (with an extra fee) to appreciate the romantic landscape surrounded by buildings and arch bridges typical of Venice. 

Walking out of the hotel, you will be taken to Taipa Pier to take a ferry to Kowloon Ferry Pier. After a one-hour sail, you will arrive and the local guide will pick you up and send you back to the hotel. 

Senado Square

Macau Tower

Today, it’s time to say goodbye. You will be taken to the airport after breakfast. Hopefully, you’ve had a wonderful tour in China.

Author: Tabitha