SOHO Western District Hong Kong

An incredible advantage for living in Shenzhen China is access to Hong Kong. One of Hong Kong’s great places to explore is the SOHO district located in Central. The SOHO district includes great restaurants, night life activities, antique shopping and health food stores. If you are in the market for a new apartment in Hong Kong, then SOHO is the place. You have easy access to the busy Central Hong Kong and the casual atmosphere of SOHO.

One Long Escalator

SOHO is also home to one of the longest recorded escalators in the world. Here is an excert about this escalator from wikipedia:

One of the easiest ways of getting to Soho is through the Central-Mid-Levels escalator, which was built in 1993. It is said that the very existence of now vibrant Soho is attributed to the creation of the escalator system, which at the time was the longest escalator system in the world, and in fact prior to the escalator the area was populated by many elderley locals, old go-downs and porcelain shops.

The cost of the Central-Mid-Level escalator cost a total of HK$32 million and stretches 800 meters, carrying 34,000 people daily. The direction the esclalator takes changes, going down before 10:00 am and up after 10:00 am.

The bottom of the escalator to SOHO. This can help you find it!

Getting to SOHO

SOHO is located south of Hollywood Road, and  extends up to and including Robinson Road.

MTR Map for SOHO area.

Here are some points of interest for in and around the SOHO district:

SoHo

When riding the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, be sure to sample a little “SoHo”-style wining and dining! Hong Kong’s newest culinary hub, the “South of Hollywood Road” area offers you a world of exciting wining and dining choices. From Mexico to Malaysia, from New Orleans to Nepal, from Portugal to Provence.

MTR Station	Central Station Exit D2
Feeder Service	10 minutes walk from station
Location Map	Please click here to view the map

Lan Kwai Fong

This delightful L-shaped cobblestone road between D’aguilar Street and Wyndham Street is home to an inviting collection of lively restaurants, delicatessens and bars. One of Hong Kong’s trendiest nightlife areas, LKF remains a magnet for both tourists and locals, attracting thousands of visitors to its regular Halloween, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve street carnivals.

MTR Station	Central Station Exit D2
Feeder Service	5 minutes walk from station
Location Map	Please click here to view the map

Hollywood Road and Upper Lascar Row

Nestled between Sheung Wan and Central, Hollywood Road or “Antique Street”, is a treasure trove of curio and antiques shops. Here, you can find everything from tiny perfume bottles to elaborate, Mandarin-sized antique Chinese furniture. And don’t worry about getting your purchases home! Many shops will happily deliver overseas.

MTR Station	Sheung Wan Station Exit E2
Feeder Service	15 minutes walk from station
Location Map	Please click here to view the map

Get Smart about SOHO

You can browse SOHO like I do, but I have found that there are great shops on and off the beaten paths in alleyways and down the street. Get smart about SOHO and go to the official website for the SOHO area.

On the “I Love SOHO” district website you can find a great map with lists for all of the venues to check out.

Here is a shortlist of the restaurants I can atest to. Give them a whirl your first trip out and let me know some even better finds!

Fat Angelos

Boca – Rated in wordsbestbars.com – Check this place out in Macao (the food is even better!)

Pizza Express

SOHO Square 21 Lyndhurst Terrace Central Hong Kong Tel: 2850 7898 Fax: 2122 9748 Sunday to Thursday: 11:45am to midnight Friday, Saturday and Public Holiday’s Eve: 11:45am to 00:30am

This restaurant is extremely well situated in the centre of the city and around the restaurant and bar districts of SOHO and Lan Kwai Fong. Three floors high and each with a view over the bustling streets, this restaurant is the perfect venue for your family gathering, party, business meeting or a relaxing bite after a hard day shopping!

SOHO Square is situated next to the Mid Levels escalator, on the corner of Lyndhurst Terrace and Cochrane Street. There are a number of car parks nearby which are depicted on the map below.

If you are coming by taxi tell the driver, “Bye Fah Guy”

Taco Loco

LG/F, 9 Staunton Street Central, Hong KongPhone: +852. 2522 0214

“El Taco Loco’s warm and cheerful decor has established it as a favorite eating place and watering hole in Soho, Central. Conveniently located right next to the Central escalator, this cozy corner cafe presents the perfect spot for people watching while enjoying the wonderful Mexican treats.

The best thing about El Taco Loco is that everything is affordable! There are specials on drinks every evening and one thing is certain, guests can drink and eat up a storm without having to worry about the bill! El Taco Loco is great value for money – value at its best!”

Overseas China Town (OCT) East

China is a wonderful place, full of curiosity, bustling cities and good food. It’s centrally located to many different parts of Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, etc. You will save those trips for the week long Chinese holidays you have throughout the year. What about the weekends? About an hour from the Shenzhen’s city center is OCT (Overseas China Town) East, a ‘Swiss Mountain Resort – centered around the 5-star Interlaken Hotel and Village. Here is an except from a Time Magazine article about this Swiss haven in China.

Shenzhen’s Interlaken offers Chinese tourists a little taste of Europe closer to home. Its developer, Shenzhen OCT Sanzhou Investment, has sunk nearly $450 million into the park’s 2,200 acres (890 hectares). Located on a crystal-clear man-made lake, the centerpiece is a 300-room, five-star hotel with a Gothic cathedral lobby and an Austrian chef. The drive for authenticity is relentless: last summer an alpine songfest even brought yodelers to the resort. You can tour the property aboard an antique railroad that circles it, or view it from the highest summit–some 50 ft. (15 m) above–before plunging down the slope on the gondola cum roller coaster. Says hotel event manager Selina Liu: “All of our guests say they forget they’re not in Europe.”

That’s Time Magazine’s take on OCT East, now let me give you my first hand account. We went with a group sponsored by Shenzhen Daily newspaper so we received a special tour, seeing a little bit of everything.  First, the property is incredibly beautiful and includes great European architecture, a botanical garden with a seemingly ocean sized area of sunflowers, picturesque wood walking bridges overlooking long reaching green landscapes, old Chinese type villages, hotair ballons and horse riding stables. Instead of a vineyard that you would expect in Europe, OCT East features large tea groves. I thought this was a interesting change. They also feature a “Tea Show” (hard to explain, except it is like a play having to do with Tea). OCT feels like a Chinese Disney Land. There are characters from the tea show walking the streets. Different areas to the park, Swiss European town and ancient Chinese villages. While I went to OCT East expecting a great European meal I couldn’t find any. Possible the hotel features some, but most of the European town areas have great buildings with Chinese gift shops and restaurants. Everything is Europe on the outside and  little on the inside.

OCT East Blog Tour

I feel it necessary to start my blog tour of OCT East in a similar fashion to my own: OCT east features live entertainment on the streets of their Swiss Village. Today there are a bunch of Jamaican sounding guys singing Backstreet Boys. The video is not so good because of the crowd, but the audio is funny!

Entrance to OCT East and the Swiss village

Upon entering OCT East you are greeted by characters from the Tea Show

Midway through the park is the ancient Chinese village with people working in the tea fields on the mountain. They will break out in song and dance soon. Look closely.

Extremely long walking bridge.

Tea making area. This was an opportune time for photographers encouring some poses with the tea.

The main event, Interlacken Hotel overlooking a man made lake.

Botanical Gardens with Butterfly habitat

Forget the Oscars, OCT has the Tea Show!

Now let’s talk about the OCT East Tea Show. This show defies words so I will explain via pictures and video. Yes I know, you aren’t suppose to take pictures, but this is China.

Tea Show Theater.

Tea Show Videos

Here are some videos from the Tea Show!