Orientation for new arrivals in the main urban areas is relatively easy: if you are " Hong Kong-side " - on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island - Victoria Harbour lies to your north, while to your south the land slopes upwards steeply to the Peak . The heart of this built-up area on Hong Kong Island is known, rather mundanely, as Central . Just across the harbour, in the area known as Tsimshatsui , you are " Kowloon-side ", and here all you really need to recognize is the colossal north-south artery, Nathan Road , full of shops and budget hotels, that leads down to the harbour, and to the phenomenal view south over Hong Kong Island. Two more useful points for orientation on both sides of Victoria Harbour are the Star Ferry Terminals where the popular cross-harbour ferries dock, in Tsimshatsui (a short walk west of the south end of Nathan Road) and in Central.

Arrival
Public transport is so convenient and efficient that even first-time arrivals are unlikely to face any particular problems in reaching their destination within the city - apart from the difficulty of communicating with taxi drivers or reading the destinations on minibuses. All signs are supposed to be written in English and Chinese (although the English signs are sometimes so discreet as to be invisible) and travel times from the main international arrival points are reasonable, though road traffic is often heavy