Hong Kong's Mile-Long Escalator System Elevates the Senses : A Stairway to Urban Heaven

Few travelers to Hong Kong can imagine what it's like to live in this city, which both excites and exhausts with its intensity. One simple way of experiencing that limitless energy is to take a ride on the Central-Mid-levels Escalator. Far more than just a transport system, the escalator guides the visitor with a few hours to spare on a sensory discovery of a constantly changing cityscape. It is a passage through the traditional and the trendy, the swank and the slightly seedy. And it is an encounter with people from all walks of life.

The escalator consists of a mile-long stretch of covered, mostly elevated escalators and walkways that takes less than a half-hour to navigate without making any stops. Completed in 1993, it links the Central and Mid-levels districts on Hong Kong Island, serving to transport commuters and other residents through congested, steep parts of the city.

An urban corridor sometimes squeezed between commercial and residential buildings, the Central-Mid-levels Escalator rises as high as three stories in some places. Offering glimpses into homes and businesses and vistas onto the streets, it provides a free and easy way to explore while protected from the elements.

The escalator begins on Queen's Road Central — Hong Kong's equivalent of Oxford Street or of a somewhat grungy Fifth Avenue — surrounded by the steel and glass of the city center, then winds amid ramshackle low-rises where drying laundry competes for balcony space with potted plants, and reaches its destination among the Mid-levels district's pink-tiled, residential high-rises.

The mechanical stairs move in only one direction: downhill from 6 to 10 a.m., taking commuters downtown, and uphill from 10:15 a.m. to midnight. You can get on or off the escalator at any intersection, and you can also take the steps that run next to it.

Starting about half a block up from Queen's Road, make your first stop at the Good Spring Company, a Chinese medicine shop that has been open since 1916. Its famous herbal tea, whose ingredients remain a well-kept secret, is poured steaming out of giant metal vats into Styrofoam cups. Purportedly a tonic for the immune system, a cup of the dark, bitter brew costs 5 Hong Kong dollars (about 70 U.S. cents). Judging from the number of passers-by who stop to quaff it, it is wildly popular.

The Good Spring Company is worth the visit for its glass display cases alone, which present an assortment of exotic herbs and animal products, ranging from ginseng to reindeer antlers, that claim to cure all ills.

From the next stretch of escalator, take a peek at the window display at Fetish Fashion, which specializes in unconventional undergarments and advertises "Play Rooms Available." The shop is directly above the Good Time Watch Co., which, on the other hand, appears to sell only timepieces.

A giant painted ad for the Dublin Jack pub announces your next destination. The Dublin Jack is a Hong Kong landmark, beloved by soccer fans and expats, and a convenient stop for a pint on the way to the Gage Street wet market, where a feast for the senses awaits. The street market is not merely a tourist attraction — for many Hong Kong residents it is a source of subsistence. More than three-quarters of Hong Kong shoppers, and older Chinese in particular, still buy their groceries at local wet markets.

From one stall to another, a visitor will be enthralled by sights rarely seen at street markets in the West. Seafood stalls are laden with fish that are not only fresh: They are still alive. Shrimp and prawns flop around in shallow trays of water (and sometimes onto the street).

Crabs attempt to crawl out of baskets. Fishmongers tout their wares at the top of their lungs. At the meat stands hang every conceivable part of pig, cow, duck and chicken — and many that are simply unidentifiable. A pungent odor of meats and dried fish assaults the senses.

Bright mosaics of Chinese vegetables are laid out on wooden tables and in baskets placed along the road. From other stalls, tropical fruits exude a sweet perfume. Interspersed among the fresh produce are stands and shops offering a variety of goods including incense, flowers, cheap housewares and flip-flops.

The market occupies most of Gage, Graham and Peel streets, and is especially animated in the mornings and early evenings. Before the escalator reverses course at 10:15 a.m., you see dozens of Filipino amahs, or domestic helpers, sitting on steps and chatting while they wait to carry the household groceries uphill.

Back on the escalator, the next stop is Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's mecca for antiques and porcelain. Prices may be steeper than elsewhere in town, but the boutiques are enjoyable to browse.

Stop for lunch at Aqua, a restaurant offering fusion-influenced cuisine. The ultra-modern design and floor-to-ceiling view of Hollywood Road are its main appeal.

Heading uphill you enter the vibrant SoHo (South of Hollywood Road) district. In this gentrifying neighborhood, upscale restaurants and trendy bars are springing up on a weekly basis. Cafés and bars along the escalator are great spots for a bite to eat, a glass of wine and watching the world go by. The Bayou, which has a generous selection of draft and bottled beer, and Staunton's Wine Bar and Café are local favorites.

Should you seek a more substantial meal, Staunton Street and Elgin Street, parallel roads that bisect the escalator, offer amazingly eclectic fare ranging from Vietnamese to Portuguese. On Elgin Street, try Fat Angelo's American-style Italian dishes, superb value for Hong Kong. Craving a bagel? The Bagel Factory makes the most authentic in town. Bistro Manchu, which bills itself as the only Manchurian restaurant in the city, serves a delectable array of homemade steamed dumplings. For fiery vegetarian curries, sample the Nepalese food at Sherpa on Staunton Street.

As the escalator nears the top you approach the gray-and-white Jamia Mosque and its surrounding garden, a green oasis nestled among skyscrapers. The mosque itself is closed to non-Muslims, but its turn-of-the-century, Indian-influenced architecture deserves a glimpse.

The route gets steeper and more labyrinthine before the escalator comes to an end, which is at Conduit Road, among the towers of the Mid-levels district. This neighborhood merits a stroll simply to see where and how many Hong Kong residents live.