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To see the city in style, take one helicopter and add a luxury hotel
By Mark Graham
Clipper Lounge
It's a thrill-a-minute flight that sweeps past majestic skyscrapers, swoops down the harbour, soars over towering mountains and lands atop one of Hong Kong's prime harbour-front hotels, where passengers disembark for a gourmet meal.
Hong Kong's magnificent cityscape and reputation for superb cuisine have been combined into one fly-and-dine experience, featuring a dramatic whiz around the city and a set-down on the roof of the legendary Peninsula Hotel.
It is a genuinely unique experience: no other place can boast a skyline
with such fabulous variety: clustered-together skyscrapers, wild and rugged
country parks and sandy beaches are all within a five-minute flight of
the starting point at Central Heliport. After zooming around Hong Kong
Island - or further afield - the helicopter makes a final sortie over
the stupendous skyline of Central District before whipping back across
Victoria Harbour for a landing on the Peninsula's rooftop helipad, far
above the bustling streets of Tsim Sha Tsui.
Guests then step down to the hotel's 30th floor China Clipper Lounge that nostalgically recreates the mood and décor of the days when trans-Pacific flying boat passengers waited to embark. From there, lifts take diners down to their restaurant of choice - the Verandah, Chesa, Spring Moon, Felix or Gaddi's, for either lunch or dinner.
There are various fly-and-dine packages available, starting from $5,440 for two people. Each includes a 30-minute flight around Hong Kong, time enough to cover a large part of the compact city, and a gourmet meal cooked by renowned chefs at the five-star hotel.
"Passengers always find that Hong Kong is nothing like they expect," says Heliservices' Captain Shaun Salter. "Everyone says how they get a better perspective of Hong Kong from the air. They also don't realise that Hong Kong Island is so small - it can take you a while to drive across, but by air it is very, very quick."
The longer flights allow time to see both Hong Kong Island and major swathes of Kowloon. The helicopter does a broad circuit of the Island, taking in Central, Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, Repulse Bay, Stanley and Shek O before heading north, towards the China Border.
On a clear day, there are magnificent views of Sai Kung Peninsula, with its dramatic mountain ranges, crystal clear ocean and Tiny Hakka farms often within strolling distance of luxurious private houses.
The MacLehose Trail, a tough 100-kilometre hiking path, weaves through the mountains and valleys, passing by the glorious beach of Tai Long Wan. This is one of Hong Kong's most pristine stretches of shoreline, where the turquoise ocean contrasts with the golden sand and the surrounding green jungle.
If time permits, the helicopter takes a loop west, going close to the border with mainland China, before heading straight down south, over the hills and housing estates, to the crowded high rises of Kowloon. When Kai Tak airport with its runway thrusting 5km into Kowloon Bay was operational, this route was off limits to pleasure flights; it was the exclusive preserve of big jets making their final landing approach or takeoff.
The closure of Kai Tak, now replaced by ultra-modern Chek Lap Kok airport, meant the go-ahead for more aviation activity in the downtown areas, allowing the Peninsula to realise its ambition of having flights arriving and departing from its rooftop helipad.
A selection of more adventurous, or offbeat, helicopter expeditions is also offered by Heliservices. One trip involves a day out in Sai Kung Country Park, hiking mountain trails and swimming on isolated beaches before returning to the city via helicopter. Another outing offers the chance to kayak and snorkel through areas rich with coral, followed by a seafood lunch on a picturesque island and then a flight back to Hong Kong.
Visitors who want a taste of the island life - literally - can opt for a leisurely Cantonese seafood lunch at remote Tap Mun island before whizzing back to town aboard the luxurious air-conditioned Aerospatiale twin-engine Ecuriel (Squirrel) helicopter.
Whatever option is chosen, flying by helicopter is a marvellous way to appreciate the extraordinarily varied scenic options Hong Kong has to offer. And chatting about the sights over lunch or dinner in one of Asia's most famous grand hotels, is an inimitably stylish way to found off such a special trip.
Citylife Magazine