Hong Kong Wants You to Explore Old Town Central Like a Local
The Hong Kong Tourism Board is betting that its most rewarding neighbourhood is also its most overlooked. Old Town Central, the pocket of the city bounded by Wyndham Street, Possession Street, Queen's Road Central and Caine Road, has just been mapped into four themed routes under a new campaign called Discover Hong Kong Like a Local.
Four ways to see one neighbourhood
Everything in the campaign radiates from the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, an 800-metre covered system that has carried commuters and now curious visitors up through Central since 1993. From there, the Tourism Board has curated four routes: Old Town Signatures, which covers the area's essential wet markets, temples and long-running local institutions; Old Town Legacy, built around the neighbourhood's historic architecture for families and first-time visitors; Neighbourhood Taste, a food route running from breakfast stalls to Michelin-starred tables; and Art & Soul, which threads contemporary galleries and design studios between traditional craft shops and old streetscapes.
An app instead of a paper map
Visitors can follow the routes through a free interactive AR guide, which layers a "Hong Kong Pal" chat and location-based tips onto the neighbourhood as you walk it, alongside CITY IN TIME augmented-reality markers on Pedder Street that visitors scan for historical context on the spot. The routes point to specific stops worth seeking out, among them Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd for artisanal soy sauce, the open-air stalls of Upper Lascar Row, dai pai dong street kitchens, and the art cafes 15squarestreet and Stain+. The Old Town Signatures route also has its own cocktail menu, with drinks like the Canton Bazaar and Taro Irish Coffee designed around the neighbourhood's history, plus limited-time keepsakes for visitors who complete a route.
The campaign is part of a wider push to get travellers past Hong Kong's usual skyline shots and into its older streets on foot. Full route details are on the Hong Kong Tourism Board's own site. For more of the region's neighbourhoods worth a detour, our Greater Bay Area coverage is a good place to start.
