Be Uplifted by the Mid-Levels Escalator

This upmarket mall--with the Four Seasons Hotel at one end and financial sector offices at another--is where many escalator commuters end their morning trip. To do the opposite, walk to Exit E1 of the Hong Kong Station for Airport Express trains, a round indoor space with a column in the middle. Exit through the southwest glass doors, away from the Four Seasons. Follow the outdoor walkway through the Hang Seng Bank building (tinted glass framed by two metal columns). Follow signs for the Central Market, built in 1939. Walk through the now-vacant building, until recently one of Asia's biggest "wet markets" for meat and produce and now a weekend meeting place for Hong Kong's legions of domestic helpers. Exit the Central Market walkway, still above street level, turn slightly right to face southwest, which goes uphill toward Mid-Levels away from Des Voeux Road (De-voh) and the harbor. The yellow crisscross pattern on the walkway marks the escalator bottom.
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http://www.ifc.com.hk/en/mall/floorplan.jsp
MTR Website orange line on section 4 R

If you want to get off so soon after getting on, exit here and turn right. At Graham Street make a left and then a right at Gage Street to visit some small, traditional Chinese markets.

Peek in the medicine shops and see if you can spot anything controversial, such as the bladder of an endangered fish called the giant yellow croaker, rhinoceros horn, or shark's fin. Retrace your steps and get back on at Stanley. Alternately, make a left at Peel Street where you'll see shops selling incense, paper effigies of everything from cars to chicken wings (to enjoy in the afterlife) and other religious paraphernalia. Go left on Hollywood Road and then go left on Lyndhurst Terrace and walk one block to rejoin the escalator.

If you're hungry for bakery treats, get off at Lyndhurst and make a right. At 35 Lyndhurst, near the corner of Graham Street, is the original location of the Tai Cheong bakery, which opened in 1954 and now has a dozen branches. Buy some cheap (HK$3.5) and delicious egg custard tarts, known as "Fei Pang" or "Fat Patten," because Hong Kong's last British governor, Chris Patten, loved them and Hong Kong people like to poke gentle fun with insults. Also tasty are deep-fried sugary doughnuts called saa yung. Treats in hand, retrace your steps and get back on the escalator.

Exit and turn right, walking west along Hollywood Road toward Ladder Street. At the corner you'll find the Man Mo Temple, which is more than 100 years old. This important Hong Kong place of worship is dedicated to Man ("civility"), the god of civil servants and literature who carries a calligraphy pen, and Mo ("military"), the god of war and martial arts who carries a sword.

Notice the giant, hanging spirals of incense and the sedan chairs used to parade Man and Mo on festival days. It's polite to keep quiet in the temple and to leave a small donation.

Continue down Hollywood to visit the Cat Street Galleries with tons of traditional items for sale (marble "chops" or stamps, old postcards, vases, etc.) or retrace your steps to the escalator.

Get off the escalator at Staunton Street and take your pick of restaurants and bars in a newly popular area known as SoHo, or South of Hollywood Road. Around and between Staunton and Elgin there are dozens of local favorites. They include Chilli Fagara, a Sichuanese restaurant just south of Staunton on Graham Street; Life Vegetarian on Shelley Street (along the escalator), which has a rooftop terrace and serves "liquid salads"; and the Peak Café Bar on Shelley Street (along the escalator), which has many of the furnishings from the grand old restaurant and terrace that used to be on Victoria Peak. Reenergized, get back on the escalator for the last stretch.

To the right of the escalator at Mosque Street is the Jamia Mosque (30 Shelley Street). Built in 1849 and added to in 1915, the turquoise, plaster and wrought iron building remains in active use. You may see worshippers inside as you pass along on your ride up Shelley Street, but it's best not to enter if you're not there to take off your shoes and pray.

The residential area marking the top of the escalator is 135 meters above where you started and almost a kilometer's walk. Take the stairs back down and you'll have participated in not one but two world records--the longest escalator and the longest staircase on earth.