Top 10 Facts about Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Photo by Julian Leung –Unsplash

Top 10 Facts about Victoria Harbour

There is no more legendary landmark in the city than Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour skyscrapers. In fact, one can say that the harbour was the very birthplace of the city itself.

Due to the obvious deep waters between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, an accumulation of coastal villages expanded to become an international trading center.

The harbour is still the city’s beating heart today, and its famous skyscrapers is one of the world’s most beautiful urban landscapes. With such a skyscrapers, it deserves to be seen from multiple perspectives.

1.Have a showcase of the beautiful area while riding the famous Starr Ferry

The Star Ferry boat ride is a widely known and well-received attraction in Hong Kong. The ferry can transport you between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui (12 minutes) or around Victoria Harbour (1 hour).

Travellers board and exit the ferry at Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui. The ferry boat takes you out of the busy city for a short time, providing a sense of relaxation with great panoramas of the sea, mountains, and skyscrapers.

Check out everything you need to know about the Star Ferry, such as how to board, the routes, and why it is so famous.

2.One of a kind waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui

Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Photo by Julian Leung –Unsplash

The Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront offers the most iconic view of the harbour. You can stand directly in front of the harbour and appreciate not only the geometrical and constructional brilliance of Hong Kong’s legendary stunning views, but also how the colorful lights from across the harbour dance on the tides.

3.Pay a visit to the Avenue of Stars

The Avenue of Stars was renovated and reopened in January 2019 as a garden themed around Hong Kong’s history and Hong Kong movies.

On the handrails, there are over 100 plaques with hand prints of best known Hong Kong actors and directors. You can look for Jackie Chan’s, Jet Lee’s, and John Woo’s hand prints, or take a photo with the bronze statue of Bruce Lee.

The Avenue of Stars is also a nice spot to cherish the distinctive buildings along Hong Kong Island’s coast, as well as the night time scenery of Victoria Harbour.

4.Have an incredible shopping spree in the many shops on the  street

It’s easy to see why Tsim Sha Tsui has become associated with shopping. Tourists can’t resist promotional destinations in the world like Harbour City along Nathan Road, also known as the “Golden Mile.” When exiting the Star Ferry Pier, the first thing you see is the city’s biggest mall.

The humongous area, which houses two cinemas, 50 restaurants, and over 450 stores, appears to go on forever. Shopping junkies will enjoy K11 Art Mall’s clothing store availability as well as the fashionable mini malls hidden away on the side streets off Granville Road,  moreover, to the big names.

5.’A Light Symphony’

What could make the harbor even more spectacular? A multi-sensory light show! Every night at 8 p.m., architectural features from both sides of the harbour combine to provide a cohesive canvas for a spectacular interactive media celebration, with a concert hall of spotlights, lasers, LED screens, and lighting collaborating to create a nightly brilliance that changes the Hong Kong panoramic view into an outdoor audio and visual festival.

6.October is the best time to visit the region as a first time visitor

The months of October to December are ideal for visiting Victoria Harbour because they are cool and dry. Rainy, cloudy weather typically begins in January. The Symphony of Lights is canceled if the weather is bad.

Summers are beautiful, warm, and sunny, but tropical storms do occur on occasion.

7.Make sure you visit the must-see viewing platform at Sky100 Hong Kong

Hongkong Victoria Harbour- View from Sky100. Photo by Ank Kumar- Wikimedia commons

Looking for a special point of view to see the Hong Kong skyline from a different angle? Take a look at the sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck. It is the highest indoor observation deck in Hong Kong, located on the 100th floor of the International Commerce Centre, and offers a 360° spectacular view of Hong Kong and its best known harbour.

However, apart from the breathtaking views, sky100 also provides a broad range of sky-high experiences, such as a VR Time Travel experience in the Sky-High Tech Zone that transports you back to old Hong Kong, sky100’s Tales of Hong Kong, a 28-metre-long audiovisual story wall showcasing interesting local legends and anecdotal stories, and the ‘Love is in the Sky’ light show, which features the harbour’s legendary nightscape as the backdrop, generating an extraordinary visual treat, and Café 100 by The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong serving a variety of delightful culinary delights to complement the breathtaking view. Sky100 has even more fun in store for you!

8.Here’s a brief history of how the gorgeous harbor became famous

The Treaty of Nanking, signed in 1843 between China and Britain, established Hong Kong as part of the British Empire. Victoria Harbour steadily became a major port due to its proximity to Canton and location along main transport lines connecting Japan and Singapore.

Only 538 ships docked there in 1844, as per documentation. From these modest origins, over 42,000,000 tons of cargo were shipped through by 1931.

Hong Kong developed into a production plant during the 1950s and 1960s. Containerized shipping enabled much quicker efficiency of manufactured goods in the 1970s.

Renovation projects have altered the appearance of the harbor. The channel width between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central is now less than half of what it was around 20 years ago. 

9.The pinnacle of Hong Kong Island’s tallest summit

The Peak, the tallest peak on Hong Kong Island, has been the city’s finest luxury neighborhood since earlier centuries and is still home to the city’s rich and popular. The view, however, is what makes The Peak one of Hong Kong’s most famous destinations.

By day, your gaze stretches throughout dazzling skylines and the harbor to the green hills of the New Territories. This 360-degree transforms into pink and orange in the early evening before revering as a stunning cosmos of light glistening beneath you. If you listen closely, you can hear Asia’s world city whistling below.

10.Observation Wheel in Hong Kong

Illuminated Chinese red junk (Aqualuna) on Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, on a foggy Winter night. Photo by Andres Garcia –Unsplash

The Hong Kong Observation Wheel, found on the Central Harbourfront, is Hong Kong’s own Ferris wheel. Its 60-metre height provides magnificent scenery of the harbour both during the day and at night. The wheel has 42 glamorous cable cars that can seat eight travellers easily. Keep your eye out for festivals, drinks, and snacks on the nearby plaza.