● Currency HKD, pegged to the US dollar ● Visa-free stay up to 90 days for many nationalities ● Getting around Octopus card on MTR, tram & ferry ● Airport Express Central in 24 min ● Tap water boil before drinking ● Emergency number 999

Shau Kei Wan, up close

Shau Kei Wan sits at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island's north shore, a former fishing settlement whose harbour still holds a working typhoon shelter, even as the surrounding area has built up considerably.

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

Built into a restored 19th-century fort on a headland overlooking the harbour entrance, this museum traces Hong Kong's coastal military history from the Qing dynasty through to the Second World War, with original fortifications and gun emplacements still in place around the site.

The typhoon shelter

Shau Kei Wan's harbour remains a working typhoon shelter, with fishing boats and small craft moored close to the shore — a quieter, more workaday counterpart to the leisure-boat culture covered in our junk boat guide.

Tram terminus

The district marks the eastern end of the Hong Kong Tramways line, making it a natural bookend to a tram ride along the Island's north shore.

Getting there

Well connected by MTR, making it an easy add-on to a day exploring the Island's eastern districts.