How US$11 can get you a day trip for 2 plus lunch in pricey Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, one of the world’s most expensive cities, 79 yuan (US$11) will get you a set lunch for one. But, to the surprise of many, it will buy a day tour for two people, with lunch and a visit to several attractions thrown in.

With such budget tours becoming increasingly popular among mainland Chinese visitors, especially those from the nearby cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou, the Post joined one on a weekday to see how they operated.

At 8.30am, a coach packed with about 60 tourists, who had assembled at the Heung Yuen Wai border crossing between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, departs for Wong Tai Sin Temple before heading to the West Kowloon Cultural District’s Art Park and the area outside the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

Wong Tai Sin Temple is the first stop on the tour for Post reporter Lo Hoi-ying. Photo: Sophie Li

Lunch is a bento box with rice, soy-braised chicken and mushrooms, pork ribs and zucchini, and stir-fried cabbage, with unlimited refills for rice, at a canteen in the basement of Star House in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The afternoon itinerary covers the Avenue of Stars at the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, a Star Ferry trip across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and a visit to The Peak before ending at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai.

But the cheap price tag came with aggressive hard selling from the tour guide, who promoted various add-on experiences throughout the day. They included a harbour cruise for HK$150 (US$19) and a visit to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum on The Peak for HK$180.

She said the evening cruise in Victoria Harbour cost 200 yuan with dinner included, but tour members would get it for the discounted price of 150 yuan if they signed up with her.

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How US$11 can get you a day trip for 2 plus lunch in pricey Hong Kong

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