A market in Hong Kong. (John Coulbourn/QMI Agency)

Images: Visiting Hong Kong

HONG KONG -- For perceptions shaped by the novels of James Clavell and Somerset Maugham, Hong Kong's sleekly hi-tech International Airport -- Chek Lap Kok Airport, as it is colloquially known -- is likely to be a bit of a shock.

For history buffs, there is certainly little here to remind newly arrived travellers of the sleepy little fishing village whose incense factory gave its name to the British colony that sprang up in the wake of the Opium Wars (Hong Kong echoes the Cantonese or Hakka phrase for Fragrant Harbour).

Much of the exoticism that so intrigued Maugham's readers has disappeared, too. The city created as the burgeoning British empire's gateway to the riches of China has become, in the course of a few decades since it was returned to China, that country's gateway to the riches of the world.

Today, one can still catch faint wafts of the incense that was once produced here -- particularly in neighbourhoods surrounding any of the more than 600 Buddhist or Taoist Temples that grace the city -- but frankly, the fragrance that dominates life in modern day Hong Kong is something more akin to the sweet smell of success.

Clinging to the very edges of the mountainous terrain that covers Hong Kong Island and Kowloon -- its mainland counterpart across iconic Victoria Harbour -- the two city districts have become mountain ranges in their own right, clawing their way into the sky in defiance of the rocky fences that surround them.

In a world of urban sprawl, these are cities measured not so much in square feet as in elevation as expansion forces them ever upward. Joined by a flourishing ferry service, numerous under-harbour tunnels and a refreshingly clean and efficient subway and transit system, Hong Kong in all its bustle is the very model of a sophisticated modern metropolis.

But at the bottom of the canyons where its hi-rise towers take root and flourish, a traveller more attuned to history than to commerce can still find traces of Hong Kong's rich past, tucked among the soaring architecture.

While the city offers a dazzling array of shopping, with everything from high-end designer merchandise to unique boutique fare, a traveller with a taste for local history is well advised to spend a bit of time checking out the local markets.

One could start in the night market, which springs up every afternoon on Temple Street and drives all but pedestrian traffic from the busy thoroughfare. The merchandise on offer may not be terribly different from what you'll see at home in Canada, but in the good-natured haggling over prices, one hears echoes of the past. And the fortune tellers -- who abound the closer you get to the temple that gives the street its name -- speak as much of the past as the future to students of Chinese culture.

Meanwhile, the Wet Market snakes up the mountainside on Graham Street, nestled between the hi-rises. It is filled with kiosks selling everything the modern Hong Kong-based gourmand might want, much of it speaking to a culinary tradition that stretches back centuries. Craft-brewed soya sauce? Check at the Kowloon Soy Company. Century Eggs? Hundreds of 'em! Warm and golden custard tarts fresh from the oven? Tai Cheong Bakery is rumoured to make the best in town.

But on the market front, the ones most redolent of the lingering flavours of old Hong Kong have to be the Dried Seafood Street and the Chinese Medicine Street, where they intersect in the traditionally more Chinese Western District.

Not surprisingly, on the Dried Seafood Street, you will find everything from bird's nests (used in traditional soups) to dried sea cucumbers, while as its name implies, the Chinese Medicine Street offers a range of dried barks, herbs, roots, fungi -- even dried lizards that are purportedly high on the list of things good for what ails you.

The air here is redolent of the sea and if you can tear your eyes away from the delicacies on offer, the signs hanging over the streets speak softly of less harried days of steamship lines and trading companies.

No history buff will want to miss a chance to see the historic Blue House, one of the city's few surviving low-rise tenements. Almost all of Hong Kong's Chinese residents once lived in this type of housing. While most have been replaced with more modern and certainly taller facilities, this one example of traditional architecture has been saved from the wrecking ball. And as historians raise money to restore it, the ground floor serves as a community museum showcasing an ever shifting array of artifacts.

Across the harbour, in the midst of the commercial hustle and bustle that is Kowloon, however, is one of the area's most recently reclaimed historic treasures.

When it was built more than 120 years ago, 1881 Heritage, as it is now called, was the headquarters of Hong Kong's Marine Police, who used it until 1996 with only a brief hiatus during the Japanese occupation of World War II.

Over the years, what started out as a waterside complex has been moved inland by a process of continual land reclamation. Once the Maritime Police abandoned it, the main building, the stable block, the time-ball tower (by which ship's captains could set their precious chronometers) as well as the old Kowloon Fire Station and its accommodation block have been transformed into a sophisticated complex of high-end shops, international eateries and a boutique hotel.

With the time-ball tower restored to its glory and surrounded by carefully manicured gardens that steep the entire development in serenity, 1881 Heritage welcomes visitors who come to browse in its shops or sample some of the delicious cuisine served in the Hullett House Hotel's fine restaurants.

But mostly, one suspects, they come to visit the restored public rooms and sample a taste of yesterday in a city rushing toward tomorrow.

Whether it is images of its towering skyscrapers or its iconic harbour, Hong Kong doesn't normally evoke images of scenery of the natural variety.

Yet this tiny bustling little slice of land and sea offers a wealth of nature experiences for both residents and tourists. Most of these memorable natural highs can be found in a tour of Hong Kong's eight geopark areas, which form part of a network that stretches across China.

Created around the High Island Reservoir (built to ensure a constant supply of fresh water for residents), the High Island Geopark is a preserve open to buses and taxis, which means it offers breathtaking sea and land vistas for hikers and cyclists as well.

And it is there, in the midst of breathtaking ocean vistas and views of jewel-like little islands accessible only by sampan, that one finds the earliest glimpses into Hong Kong's history, stretching back to the time when this land was a ring of active volcanos, which have left their marks in numerous ways. During construction of the reservoir, for instance, workers uncovered acres of basaltic lava, which, as it cooled, formed walls of hexagonal columns that roll and wave across the landscape.

Below the High Island Geopark, in the waters off the picturesque Sai Kung pier, one can enjoy an array of stunning seascapes from aboard an inexpensively chartered sampan or walk across a tombolo -- an isthmus accessible only at low tide that connects Sharp Island with Kiu Tau -- all but oblivious to the fact one is walking on the very lip of a volcano that has been extinct for millions of years.

And that is Hong-Kong's history from day one.

If you go to Hong Kong

GETTING THERE

To service an ever-growing demand, as of May 1 Cathay Pacific will offer two non-stop flights daily to Hong Kong out of both Toronto and Vancouver. Planes will feature first, business and economy class cabins. Because of special arrangements with Westjet and Air Canada, customers from most Canadian cities can make easy connections to and from Cathay Pacific flights at either airport.

GETTING AROUND

While taxis in Hong Kong are plentiful and cheap by Canadian standards, an impressively clean and efficient subway and transit system services Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, as well as much of the New Territories and Lantau Island, home to Hong Kong Disneyland.

WHO SHOULD GO

While many Hong Kong natives insist the only activities on offer involve eating or shopping (not that there is anything wrong with either) there is an amazing array of experiences for visitors from bucolic countryside hikes to spelunking for artifacts of old Hong Kong in the canyons of hi-rise towers that bracket both sides of the iconic harbour.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has a wealth of information, brochures, etc., for travellers, as well as details on frequent festivals and free activities. Contact discoverhongkong.com or 416-366-2389.