Hotels near Wanchai, China

A little about Wanchai...

Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District in northern Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, China. Its boundaries are Canal Road in the east, Arsenal Street in the west and Bowen Road in the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called Wan Chai North. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with many small to medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is highly-populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay. Arousing much public concern, the government has put an effort in district regeneration in recent years. There are many unique buildings and skyscrapers, the most notable ones being the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre.

Dining:
Cha chaan teng are local-styled fast-food restaurants, selling milk tea and Chinese pastry. Many of the restaurants can be found all along Jaffe Road. Numerous tea shops offer cheap Chinese herbal tea, like leong cha (lit. cool tea) and 24-mei.
Dai pai dong, open-air restaurants in a big tent, is another classic restaurant type that appeared in Wan Chai. Despite the often unclean and uncomfortable eating conditions, many people are attracted to the freshly-made steamed rice roll, congee and chow mein early in the morning. Due to urban renewal projects in recent years, most of these restaurants are fading away.
Yum cha, is the name associated with having dim sum. People usually have "one bowl with two pieces" (meaning a cup of tea with two dim sums) for breakfast. There were three old-styled dims restaurants remaining in Wan Chai, namely Lung Mun, Lung To, and Lung Tuen. Lung Mun is the only one still operating. A number of Buddhist cuisine restaurants are also available in the area.
The 1980s also saw an expansion of Western cuisine restaurants in Wan Chai. Nowadays, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian restaurants are all very common. There are also many fast food restaurants serving Cantonese and other Chinese dishes, including the franchised Maxim's and Café de Coral. Jaffe Road and Lockhart Road are famous for pubs.

Tourism & Landmarks:
Wan Chai offers historical conservation spots including Old Wan Chai Post Office, Hung Shing Temple and Pak Tai Temple. Many of the medium-sized shopping centres are named in numerals, such as Oriental 188, 328, and 298 Computer Centre. The numbers may come from the earlier days when prostitution houses were all numbered, and referred to as "big numbers" (dai lum bah). There are also many commercial complexes and skyscrapers. The HK$4.4 billion 78-story skyscraper Central Plaza currently stand as the second tallest in Hong Kong. The apex of Central Plaza is designed as a unique neon tower clock. It consists of four neon spandrel bands, each representing 15 minutes, and the colour changes from top to bottom. When the four bands are of the same colour, an hour has passed. More than an innovative clock, "Lightime" has become a new symbol the same way Eiffel Tower reminds people of Paris. Small but free art exhibitions are on also the second floor year round. Other tourist attractions include Golden Bauhinia Square featuring a flag-raising ceremony held daily outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The ceremony is enhanced on July 1 (handover anniversary) and October 1 (National Day).

Bus: Most buses travel in Wan Chai from Admiralty to Causeway Bay via Hennessy Road, whereas one would use Johnston Road or Gloucester Road as detours.

Bus routes - New World First Bus and Citybus
Tunnel buses routes - Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Eastern Harbour Crossing, and Western Harbour Crossing
There is a bus terminal opposite the Star Ferry Pier.

Only red taxi services are available in Wan Chai. Besides some restricted kerbs in the highways, there are some designated pick-up and drop-off points in the region.

There are two types of minibus in Wan Chai, green minibus and red minibus. In general, green minibuses operate scheduled service, with fixed routes and fixed fares. Red minibuses run on non-scheduled service, although some routes may in effect become fixed over time.