24 Hours In: Hong Kong

Wake in style

07.00: The best way to deal with jet lag is to wake up in a top hotel. Try the Mandarin Oriental (00 852 2522 0111; mandarinoriental.com), which re-opened last month after a £75m makeover with a party that featured Dame Edna Everage and Bryan Ferry. Doubles from HK$2,750 (£185), room only.

Stay calm

08.00: Take a deep breath and fill yourself with calm as you watch the devotees of t'ai chi in Victoria Park going through their graceful moves, blending exercise with tranquillity in the most restful thing you will experience all day in Hong Kong.

Be a high flier

09.00: Hong Kong has over 260 outlying islands, including Lantau, which is the largest and is also home to the International Airport at Chep Lap Kok, a small island off its north coast. One of the biggest draws on Lantau is Po Lin Monastery, which sits on top of the Ngong Ping Plateau. The most spectacular way to get there is via the new Ngong Ping 360 cable car, from Tung Chung.

Tea for lunch

12.00: Back to Central for dim sum at the Luk Yu Teahouse (00 852 2523 5463), 24 Stanley Street, which dates from 1933 and is one of the last remaining traditional teahouses in Hong Kong.

Stroll the mall

14.00: Take a taxi from Central to Causeway Bay. Times Square is the mall to visit here, but there are many interesting shops scattered throughout this district, making it a good place to wander around.

Raise your sights

17.00: Walking back to Central, look skywards at the dazzling architecture: Norman Foster's HSBC building, IM Pei's Bank of China building, and Cesar Pelli's silver, 88-storey International Finance Centre.

Harbour heights

18.45: Sip cocktails at the 28th floor, Philippe Starck-designed Felix at Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (00 852 2315 3188), gazing at the harbour.

Dine in the cloud

20.00: Take the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak and just across the road you will see the Peak Lookout (00 852 2849 1000). Walking through the beams and stone of the restaurant itself, you find yourself in cloud cover on the terrace. The pan-Asian food is of exceptional quality. The wine list is also terrific.

Keep it cool

22.30: The SoHo district, between Hollywood Road and Staunton Street, is far and away the trendiest bar district on Kowloon, with Gecko Bar, and the Peak Café two good contenders.

For ever England

23.30: Round off your evening with another drink or two at one of the bars in the districts of Lan Kwai Fong and Wanchai (11) - the beating expatriate heart of Hong Kong's social scene.