These articles below can also be found in the June 2009 issue of Serviced Apartment Guide:
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Just two stops from Central on the MTR, or a quick trip across the harbour on the Star Ferry, Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) is hectic and crowded, and has a buzz all its own. It’s located on the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula: the real Hong Kong, where the majority of locals live and work.
A historic commercial and industrial hub, Kowloon provides easy access to China by road, rail or ferry, and with the creation of West Kowloon, a self-contained city within a city set on reclaimed land south-west of Victoria Harbour, it’s very much in the spotlight.
TST is filled with tourist attractions, restaurants, pubs, bars and every type of shop imaginable. Needless to say, there is never a dull moment in this part of town. Here you’ll find Knutsford Terrace, the SoHo of Kowloon, with its many bars, pubs and restaurants. A popular dining spot for the young and hip crowd, it’s a convenient alternative for residents who don’t feel like going into Central for a night out.
Tourists and locals love TST because this is where you can literally shop ‘til you drop. The streets intersecting Nathan Road are a great place to find a bargain if you know where to look. Alternatively, people seeking high-end retail therapy head to the designer outlets found at Harbour City, Ocean Terminal, and the five-star hotels such as the Peninsula, InterContinental and Kowloon Shangri-La.
Other main attractions in TST include the Hong Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong Science Museum and Hong Kong Observatory. Kowloon Park is a great place to relax and catch your breath after a long day of shopping.
The development of West Kowloon has of course been one of the biggest stories of recent years. This exclusively high-rise development, taking shape above and around Kowloon and Olympic stations, has the International Commerce Centre (ICC), destined to be the tallest building in Hong Kong on completion in 2010, at its core.
West Kowloon already combines hospitality, workplace, retail, residential and leisure facilities. Providing an alternative to the Olympian City shopping mall above Olympic Station, there’s Elements mall atop Kowloon Station. Plans are in place to create a cultural hub with museums and theatres, space is being found between the towers for green areas, and the Ritz Carlton and W Hotels Group have moved into Union Square.
While the ICC is a crucial part of the overall development, the residential towers coming up alongside it are creating just as much interest. Apartments at the major developments are already providing luxury living to a standard (and for a price tag) previously unheard of in Kowloon.
West Kowloon has a natural advantage as it has been designed as a ‘whole project’, supported by superb infrastructure. One stop to Central by MTR, it’s practically in the heart of town, and the Airport Express link streamlines overseas travel. The KCR’s Northern Link development and the proposed Guangzhou-Shenzhen Hong Kong Express Rail will speed up cross-border connections.
Kowloon
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