Fodor's Citypack Hong Kong, 3rd Edition

Rating:
Summary: Fodor's City Pack Hong Kong
Review: Concise and articulate. The book is divided into six sections from a brief history of Hong Kong to travel facts. In the margins are quick tips (shopping,accomodations) and highlights of the top 25 sights to see while in Hong Kong. A detailed color pull out map is provided. Light weight and perfect to slip into a purse or pocket.

Rating:
Summary: Okay guide, awesome map
Review: I have been to Hong Kong once before but that trip came up so fast that I wasn't able to do proper research. I was able to find limited maps on the Internet and the HK Tourisim Assoc. had a map that was good for the areas it covered.

When I was told I was returning to HK, I looked for several items, one which was a good map. I found it in Fodor's Hong Kong Citypack. Most of the guides give the same type of info that is easily accessable, covering the Central to North Point areas and Kowloon. This map won't give you the south side of the island with Stanley and Aberdeen but it covers everything on the north side from Kennedy Town on the far west to Chai Wan on the east side of Hong Kong Island.

The map covers the mainland as far north as Diamond Hill and it seems like if the MTR has a station there then this map covers that area. It shows the patsh the MTR takes but does NOT show all of the exits. This is the only bad part of the map that I have found. You can use the tourist assoc. map for that though.

The guide itself is okay and the 3rd edition is the one youwant to get. Where the 2nd ed. is orange on the bottom of the cover, the 3rd. is yellow. The guide seems to be more like they wanted X number of items on subject Y. Very basic information and some that is misleading. In one paragraph they talk about the Temple St. Night Market. In the next paragraph, they say "at the end of the street" near X & Y is the Jade Market. You won't find out until you examine the map that the jade market is a few block away from the end of Temple St.

There's nothing "illegal" about the merchant adding the cost of processing the credit card back into the transaction. I don't know how Visa Asia works it, they can and will cut off merchant banks that allow this. But you should expect to pay an extra couple of percent when charging.

A possible typo is that Amex holders can get cash at some "Jetco" ATM machines. I assume they mean "Jesco", the grocery store chain.

Finally, the guide is too big to be shoved into a back pocket. I would have preferred a smaller thicker guide.

There doesn't seem to be a great pocket guide on the market, I'm combining this guide with the Berlitz pocket guide which does fit in my pocket. If you need a good map though, this is the one to get.