One day in Hong Kong is absolutely not long enough to do this great city honesty. But, if you’re on a layover on your method to Bali or you just need to go big on your first day in Hong Kong, we’ll show you how to hit up all the major traveler hot spots in one afternoon and use your downtime eating like a local, as we take you on a 24-hour whirlwind guide through the Sweet-smelling Harbor.

Fixed yourself up for the day with breakfast at a cha chaan teng

Push pokes with the breakfast crowd to secure a seat at a local cha Chan tang for a sincere early morning tea-set meal. These ubiquitous Hong Kong diners – translated literally as “tea restaurants” – are a staple of local dining culture and can be create on every block of every district in this bustling city. Items on the menu such as French toast, macaroni and ham, and scrambled eggs hardly sound like a Chinese specialty, but these Western dishes have a distinctly Asian flair to them that has been satisfying local palates since cha chaan teng culture exploded onto the scene in the 1950s.

Don’t leave without trying lai cha, or Hong Kong-style milk tea, which mixes super-strength black tea with evaporated milk and sugar in a smooth, creamy combination. These cheap and somewhat cheerful eateries – the mood often depends on your waiter’s – typically have an English menu available. If not, take a scan around the room and you’ll speedily catch out which sets are the greatest common.

Fill the morning walking through Sheung Wan

Art galleries, curios, traditional medicine shops and temples – this rapidly gentrifying neighborhood fuses the old with the new, never failing to provide an unexpected surprise around the corner. Start along the section of Des Voeux road known as Dried Seafood Street for a peek into traditional stores and stalls selling edible and medicinal ingredients such as “wind-dried sausage,” salted fish, blackened century eggs, flattened dried duck and fat choy – a stringy black moss that looks suspiciously like hair and is popular choice during the Chinese New Year.

Head on up towards Upper Lascar Row, known as Cat Street, with its antique shops and stalls selling bric-a-brac and second hand items. A few steps away you’ll find the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road. Dating back to 1847, this historic monument transports you to another place and time altogether with its smoky incense coils and elaborate altars.

Up and around on the world’s lengthiest escalator, the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator

Starting there, make your way over to the Central-Mid-Levels escalator, famously known for being the longest outdoor escalator in the world. Linking the city’s financial hub, Central, with the posh residential neighborhood along the mountainside, this extensive covered walkway will take you up and over narrow streets on a tour of restaurants, bars and shops in the area. Continue all the way to the top until you reach Jamia Mosque, the city’s oldest mosque dating back to 1890. Directly opposite you’ll spy the inconspicuous sign for Rednaxela Terrace, a misprint of Alexander Terrace, due to some kind of transcription error by a sleepy colonial era assistant.

Take in the memorable skyline from the Peak

By this point, you should now be too full to walk. Good! You did it in true Hong Kong style. Next, hop onto the Peak Tram and take in the stunning harbor views as this funny little funicular winds its way up the impossibly steep mountainside. The breathtaking skyline view from the Peak never fails to impress, but a stroll around the Lugard Road and Harlech Road circuit offers just as many stunning vantage points and only half the tourists. For a bit of an journey over the lush tropical vegetation, opt for the hike back down the hillside along the paved Old Peak Road.

Involvement the Fragrant Harbor from the Star Ferry

Designed for more than 120 years the Star Ferry has been traveling commuters back and forth between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and still remains the greatest affordable way to cross the harbor. The top seats on these pretty green and white, open-air ferries can be found along the sides of the top deck, affording spectacular panoramic views of towering skyscrapers. The crossing only takes about 10 minutes, but, with tickets costing only HK$2.5, tourists can ride it back and forth a few times if they really can’t get sufficient of the harbor.