MADRID

Madrid   is the capital and largest city of Spain.  The city is located on the Manzanares river. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural centre of Spain.  

The Madrid’s influences in  education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.  Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. Madrid is the most touristic city of Spain, the third in the EU, the fourth-most touristic of the continent, and the seventh in the world according to Forbes.

Madrid houses the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), belonging to the United Nations Organization (UN).

While Madrid possesses a modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid; the Teatro Real (Royal theatre) with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631; the 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain's historical archives; a large number of National museums,  and the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, a museum of modern art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which completes the shortcomings of the other two museums.  Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become the monument symbol of the city.

MAJOR TOURIST ATTARCTIONS

 The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid. It sits at the intersection of Calle de Alcalá (running from east to west), Paseo de Recoletos (to the North) and Paseo del Prado (to the south). Plaza de Cibeles was originally named Plaza de Madrid, but in 1900, the City Council named it Plaza de Castelar, which was eventually replaced by its current name. In the years Cibeles Palace and her fountain have become symbolic monuments of the city.

  

The Royal Palace is not the official residence of His Majesty the King of Spain, that is the Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid, though official banquets, state ceremonies and other important state events do take place here. In Spanish it is sometimes incorrectly called "Palacio de Oriente"by confusion with the "Plaza de Oriente", the square which is on the East (Oriental) side of the palace.

The origin of the palace dates from the ninth century when the Muslim kingdom of Toledo built a defense that was later used by the kings of Castilla, which in the sixteenth century, they built the old Palace. The Royal Palace, is built on the site of the old Alcázar which was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve 1734. King Felipe V decided to build a palace for his Borbon dynasty. The Italian Filippo Juvara was selected to design the new palace and his plans were to create a grand palace along the lines of France’s Versailles. All construction was vaulted in stone and brick, not wood, so that any fire could destroy it. The works were carried out between 1738 and 1755, Carlos III established his residence there in 1764. 

The Prado Museum is renowned as being the largest art gallery in the world. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions. It also exhibits sculptures, drawings, coins and other works of arts, but it is undoubtedly its large collection of paintings which has given it fame worldwide. It houses more than 8,600 paintings, of which they exhibit less than 2,000 because of lack of space available. Many museums throughout the world have less artistic riches in their halls than the Prado Museum has in storage. 

The present day art gallery comes from the royal collections of the old Trinidad Museum, as well as acquisitions, donations and bequests. 

Its history began during the reign of Charles III, when he tried to create a single art collection under one roof. But it was not until the reign of Fernando VII when the Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture was created, on 19th November 1819. The kings death caused inheritance problems and endangered the unity of the collection, but with the disappearance of the monarchy in Spain the museum became national property and became known as the Prado National Museum. 

Queen Sofía National Museum - On the 10th September 1990, the King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía inaugurated the Queen Sofía National Museum with a permanent collection which came to substitute the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art. When it opened its doors, it stood as a modern, contemporary Spanish museum on an international scale. Nevertheless, its building has gone through many challenges in order to achieve this goal. To date, the artistic ground exhibited there has been constantly growing. Perhaps it was the transferring of Picasso's "Guernica" to the Queen Sofía for its permanent collection, which was the decisive milestone in it now being considered one of the most important contemporary art museums in the world.  The Queen Sofía Museum program is based on a redefinition of the function of museums, on an alternative to the institution's historical models. Conceived to be a place that generates opportunities for sociability and discussion in the public sphere.

The Santa Ana Square itself is located just a short walk from both the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol. It is also possible to walk to Madrid's main museums from here, making this area an ideal location to stay in the city. The square was originally the site of the Convent of Santa Ana, founded in 1586 but demolished during the reign of José I Bonaparte (Napoleon's brother), in 1810. In its place, the Square was created around 1848.

Today, it is a wonderful place to just sit and watch the passers-by, to take a refreshing drink at one of the open-air terrace cafes or breweries. It is one of Madrid's most lively and vibrant areas, with hundreds of tapas bars, terrace cafes, pubs and restaurants.


The Santa Cruz Palace or Palace of Holy Cross is a baroque building in the center of Madrid. It now houses the foreign ministry or "Asuntos Exteriores". It was used as a jail until the reign of Philip IV of Spain, when it was converted into a palace. It was built between 1629 and 1643 by Juan Bautista Crescendi. The palace originally served as the royal prison. Many waited here for the verdict of the infamous Spanish Inquisition. For most of them the next step was execution at the Plaza Mayor. Later other architects like José de Villareal or Bartolomé Hurtado García added elements. The palace, inspired by the classic Italian and Spanish architecture, is rectangular, has two symmetrical interior square yards, in addition to organizing space, allowing ventilation and natural light to enter, being separated by a central axis that makes both distributor and access to the building.

 The Victory Arch (popularly known as Moncloa Gate)  to have some similarity to the Alcalá Gate is a triumphal arch built between the period since 1950 to 1956. It's a commemorative work urban rebel army's victory in the race suffered during the Spanish Civil War in the Battle of Ciudad Universitaria. The Arch is located in one of Madrid's main entrances (on the road to "A Coruña"), in the center of the so-called Arco de la Victoria Avenue, in the district of Moncloa.

The Arc has   height of 40 meters. The Arc has some Latin inscriptions recalling the victory and the construction of the new University City after the armed conflict that destroyed it.

 Debod Temple is an ancient Egyptian temple which was rebuilt in Madrid, Spain.
The temple was built originally 15 Km south of Aswan (southern Egypt), very close to the first cataract of the Nile and to the great religious center dedicated to the goddess Isis, in Philae. In the early 2nd century BC, Adikhalamani (Tabriqo), the Kushite king of Meroë, started its construction by building a small single room chapel dedicated to the god Amun. It was built and decorated on a similar design to the later Meroitic chapel on which the Temple of Dakka is based. From the harbor, a long processional way leads to the stone-built enclosure wall, through three stone pylon gateways and finally to the temple itself. The pranaos, which had four columns with composite capitals collapsed in 1868, and is now lost. Behind it lay the original sanctuary of Amun, the offering table room and a later sanctuary with several side-rooms and stairs to the roof.

In 1960, due to the construction of the Great Dam of Aswan and the consequent threat posed to several monuments and archeological sites, UNESCO made an international call to save this rich historical legacy. As a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian state donated the temple of Debod to Spain in 1968.
The Atocha Station is the largest railway station in Madrid (and Spain). It is the primary station serving commuter trains, intercity and regional trains from the south, and the AVE high speed trains from Barcelona, Seville and Valencia. At this site, Madrid's first railway station was inaugurated on 9 February 1851. After the building was largely destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892. The name Atocha has become attached to the station because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha. The train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of inverted hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters. The steel and glass roof spreads between two brick flanking buildings.

JERUSALEM

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such.  Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City.

Jerusalem is a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions— Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Judaism, Jerusalem has been the holiest city since, according to the Biblical Old Testament, King David of Israel first established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel in c. 1000 BCE, and his son Solomon commissioned the building of the First Temple in the city. In Christianity, Jerusalem has been a holy city since, according to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified in c.33 C.E., and 300 years later Saint Helena identified the pilgrimage sites of Jesus' life. In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city. It became the first Qibla, the focal point for Muslim prayer (Salah) in 610 CE, and, according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad made his Night Journey there ten years later. As a result, and despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometres (0.35 sq mi),  the Old City is home to sites of key religious importance, among them the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice,  attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world. The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were introduced in the early 19th century. The Old City was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger by Jordan in 1982.

Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the areas captured and later annexed by Israel, while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured by Jordan. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it. Currently, Israel's Basic Law refers to Jerusalem as the country's "undivided capital". The international community has rejected the annexation as illegal and treats East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory held by Israel under military occupation. The international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 208,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, which is sought by the Palestinian Authority as a future capital of a future Palestinian state.

All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the residences of the Prime Minister and President, and the Supreme Court. Jerusalem is home to the Hebrew University and to the Israel Museum with its Shrine of the Book. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has ranked consistently as Israel's top tourist attraction for Israelis.

TOURISM IN JERUSALEM

Jerusalem is the most-visited city with 3.5 million tourist arrivals annually. One of the oldest cities in the world, it is the capital, and largest city of Israel if the area and population of occupied East Jerusalem are included. It is a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions-Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and hosts a myriad of historical, archaeological, religious and sundry other attractions.

East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-day War and is recognized by the international community as being under Israeli occupation. The newer western part of Jerusalem was built mainly after the creation of Israel in 1948.

Attraction in Jerusalem

               

The Israel Museum  was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram.  The Israel Museum  is the largest museum in Israel. The Museum contains the "shrine of the book" where the dead sea scrolls are kept. It also has a large scale model of Jerusalem in ancient times. It has large archeology and art sections that were renovationed and reopened in 2010.  

  

The Biblical Zoo is one of Israel's most popular tourist sites, in West Jerusalem. It is famous for its collection of wildlife featured in the Hebrew Bible, as well as its success in breeding endangered species. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo opened in September 1940 as a small "animal corner". The zoo was founded by Aharon Shulov, a professor of zoology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The zoo was administered by a nonprofit corporation with representatives from Hebrew University, the Jerusalem Municipality, and the Israeli Ministries of Tourism and Education. The zoo, renamed the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, but still called the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo by the general public, opened for a preview period on 28 February 1993. It officially opened on 9 September 1993.

Old City — The atmospheric historical core of Jerusalem surrounded by Ottoman period walls, filled with sites of massive religious signficance and a bustling approach to life.  The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1981.

 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. The site is recognized as Golgotha  (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said also to contain the place where Jesus was buried (the Sepulchre). The church has been a paramount – and for many Christians the most important – pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the supposed site of the rebirth of Jesus. Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. Today, the church is home to Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Elsewhere in Jerusalem, as the true place of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. It is the most holy Christian spot in the world.  

 Qubbat Al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock) The Dome of the Rock   is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. T he Dome of the Rock is in the centre of a greater Muslim shrine, known as the Haram ash Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which Muslims believe commemorates Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey into heaven. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik. The site's significance stems from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart.  It is probably the most known landmark of Jerusalem with its golden dome and octagonal blue walls that are adorned with Arabic calligraphy of Koranic verses. The interior of both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque are closed to non-Muslims, however, the plaza that they are situated in is open to the public. The Dome of the Rock is also labelled the most amazing Islamic building in the world. Entrance into the mosques on the Temple Mount is granted if a Muslim man/woman asks the guard of the mosques for entrance (they usually ask you to recite a well known Quranic verse to prove you are a Muslim).

 The Jewish Quarter  is one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The 116,000 square meter area  lies in the southeastern sector of the walled city, and stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Armenian Quarter on the west, up to the Street of the Chain in the north and extends to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in the east.  The quarter is inhabited by around 2,000.   After being built in 1701, destroyed, rebuilt in 1864, and destroyed in 1948, the Hurva was once again rebuilt, rededicated in 2010.. It still holds many ancient masterpieces such as the Cardo (700 BC), Burnt House (70 AD), and Western Wailing Wall (50 BC). All of which are among the most holy Jewish sites in the world. Definitely worth a visit, especially the western wall. The Jewish Quarter also includes The Western Wall Tunnel and the archaeological park at Davidson Centre (the Ophel).

The City of David  is the oldest settled neighborhood of Jerusalem and a major archaeological site due to recognition as biblical Jerusalem.   It was a walled city in the Bronze Age and, according to tradition, it is the place where King David built his palace and established his capital. The City of David was naturally defended by the Tyropoeon Valley on its west, the Hinnom valley to the south, and the Kidron Valley on the east; although over time the once-steep valley to the west has been largely filled in. In the ancient pred-Israelite period, the City of David was separated from the Temple Mount by the Ophel, an uninhabited area which became the seat of government under Israelite rule .Although there is currently both Muslim and Jewish housing in the area, archeological digs are ongoing under many of the homes and it is proposed to make the entire ridge into an archaeological park.

The Western Wall, is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Commonly believed to have been constructed around 19 BCE by Herod the Great, but recent excavations indicate that the works were not finished during Herod's lifetime. The remaining layers were added from the 7th century onwards.  It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dates back to the 4th century. From the mid-19th century onwards, attempts to purchase rights to the wall and its immediate area were made by various Jews, but none was successful. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish community and the Muslim religious leadership, who were worried that the wall was being used to further Jewish nationalistic claims to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. Outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace and an international commission was convened in 1930 to determine the rights and claims of Muslims and Jews in connection with the wall. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the wall came under Jordanian control and Jews were barred from the site for 19 years until Israel captured the Old City in 1967 and three days later bulldozed the 800 year old Moroccan Quarter for easier access to the wall.

HONGKONG

  Hong Kong  is a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is situated on China's south coast and, enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea,  it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2   and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty.  The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era.  The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England  until reforms implemented in 2009.
 As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency is Hong Kong dollar, it is the eighth most traded currency in the world.  The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city.  Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.  The dense space also led to a highly developed  transportation  network with public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent, the highest in the world.  Hong Kong has numerous high international rankings in various aspects. For instance, its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness, quality of life, corruption exception, Human Development Index, etc., are all ranked highly.  According to both UN and WHO estimates, Hong Kong has the longest life expectancy of any country in the world from 2012.

The tourism industry has been an important part of the economy of Hong Kong since it shifted to a service sector model in the late 1980s and early 90s. There has been a sharp increase of tourists from Mainland China, due to the introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) in 2003.
Almost any of the districts of Hong Kong can be considered a tourist destination. The following locations are areas generally marked as main attractions:
• Avenue of Stars
• Victoria Peak 
• Ladies' Market
• Hong Kong Disneyland Resort 
• Ocean Park Hong Kong 
• Temple Street 
• The Clock Tower 

The Avenue of Stars modeled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is located along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. It honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry. The avenue was open to the general public on 28 April 2004 with an opening ceremony held the previous day, 27 April 2004.It is the efforts of Hong Kong’s movie industry over the past century, many in Asia and farther afield are familiar with the city’s sights before they’ve even set foot here. The Avenue of Stars pays tribute to the names that helped make Hong Kong the ‘Hollywood of the East’, while giving visitors a panoramic view of the city’s most  iconic sight: its glorious skyline, dramatically set against  the peak. With commemorative plaques, celebrity handprints, descriptive milestones, movie memorabilia, a life-size statue of kung fu action hero Bruce Lee and a bronze rendering of popular cartoon character McDull, the Avenue of Stars fittingly sets the glamour of Hong Kong’s film industry.

 Victoria Peak  is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak. The mountain is located in the western half of Hong Kong Island. With an altitude of 552 m (1,811 ft), it is the highest mountain on the island proper, but not in the entirety of Hong Kong, an honour which belongs to Tai Mo Shan. The actual summit of Victoria Peak is occupied by a radio telecommunications facility and is closed to the public. However, the surrounding area of public parks and high-value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name The Peak. It is a major tourist attraction which offers views over Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma Island and the surrounding islands.
With some seven million visitors every year, the Peak is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. It offers spectacular views of the city and its harbours. The number of visitors led to the construction of two major leisure and shopping centres, the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria, situated adjacent to each other. The Peak Tower incorporates the upper station of the Peak Tram, the funicular railway that brings passengers up from the St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong's Central district, whilst the Peak Galleria incorporates the bus station used by the Hong Kong public buses and green minibuses on the Peak. There are several restaurants on Victoria Peak, most of which are located in the two shopping centres.

Tung Choi Street is a street situated between Boundary Street and Dundas Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Its southern section, popularly known as Ladies' Market or Ladies' Street   is one of the most well-known street markets in Hong Kong, where various kinds of products are available for cheap prices (not just for women, as its name suggests). Its northern section, also somewhat well-known, features a market selling goldfish and is called Goldfish Street  or Goldfish Market.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort   is a resort built by the Government of Hong Kong and The Walt Disney Company in Hong Kong on reclaimed land beside Penny's Bay, at the northeastern tip of Lantau Island, approximately two kilometres from Discovery Bay. Officially opened on September 12, 2005, the resort contains the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park, the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel,Disney's Hollywood Hotel, and several retail, dining and entertainment facilities covering 1.3 square kilometres (320 acres) of the island.
The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is the second extension into Asia after the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort more than 20 years ago. Currently, the Resort is overseen by Managing Director Andrew Kam who reports to Bill Ernest, President and Managing Director, Disney Parks & Resorts, Asia.

Ocean Park Hong Kong, commonly known as Ocean Park, is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park and amusement park, situated in Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan in the Southern District of Hong Kong. Opened in 1977 by the then Governor of Hong Kong Sir Murray MacLehose, Ocean Park has grown to about 35 attractions and rides. The park has won several awards, including The World's Seventh Most Popular Amusement Park and 33rd Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the World by Forbes.
Ocean Park claims that it received 6.95 million visitors in 2011, awarding it the position of the world's 12th most visited theme park by annual attendance. However, reported attendance for the park's fiscal year 2010/2011 is 5.9 million visitors, placing it behind Hong Kong Disneyland's 5.94 million visitors.
Covering an area of 870,000 square metres (210 acres) of land, the park is separated by a large mountain into two areas, The Summit (Headland) and The Waterfront (Lowland) respectively. The areas can be reached by a 1.5 kilometres   cable car system, a shuttle bus, or the Ocean Express funicular railway. As the Headland comprises several hills, visitors can also opt to take the world's second longest outdoor escalator.
The theme park currently has 20 rides, including four roller coasters, but also houses 11 animal exhibits, such as a giant panda habitat, a jelly fish and Chinese sturgeon aquarium, as well as a four-story aquarium displaying more than 2,000 fish. Between 1979 and 1997, Ocean Park was most famous for its signature killer whale, Miss Hoi Wai.
Besides being an amusement park, Ocean Park Hong Kong also operates observatories, laboratories, an education department, and a Whalesand Dolphins Fund.
Ocean Park Hong Kong was the first institution in the world to have success in artificial insemination of bottlenose dolphins, and developed numerous new breeds of goldfish.

Temple Street is a street located in the areas of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is known for its night market and one of the busiest flea markets at night in the territory. The night market is in the Yau Ma Tei, Jordan part of the street and not the Mong Kok part of the street. Popular with tourists and locals alike in the evening, it is common to see the place crowded at dusk. It sells cheap merchandise and food items. The place is sometimes known as Men's Street. The market starts at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, but is lively at dusk daily. Traffic is closed on the street at that time, and visitors swarm into the street. There are more than a hundred stalls with colourful lights in the market. There are carts bulging with goods from clothing to mobile phones and watches. Stalls have items mainly for men, jeans, t-shirts, pants, lighters, shoes,   and men's accessories. Cheap merchandise is common in the night market. Cheap second hand goods such as cassettes, video tapes, old  newspapers,  antiques are also sold there. Like in other night markets in South East Asia, prices can always be negotiated by bargaining.
If one has to buy merchandise in Temple Street, one has to hunt for shops hidden in streets behind the stalls rather than looking in the stall themselves. This is one of the uniqueness of Temple Street Night Market.

The Clock Tower is a landmark in Hong Kong. It is located on the southern shore of Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station on the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Officially named Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, it is usually referred to as the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower   for its location.
Built out of red bricks and granite, the Clock Tower peaks at 44 metres, and is topped by a 7-metre lightning rod. The top of the tower can be reached by a wooden staircase located within. The interior of Clock Tower had previously been open for visit, but is currently closed for maintenance. The clock tower is located near Victoria Harbour at the foot of Salisbury Road. Another landmark, the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier, is located nearby. The tower has been listed as a declared monument in Hong Kong since 1990.