The Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) issues more leaflets, pamphlets, brochures and maps than the whole of the rest of China put together - and you don't have to pay for most of them. They have an office in the arrivals area of the airport (daily 8am-midnight), whose staff walk round trying to find new arrivals even before you find them. In downtown Hong Kong, there are two more offices, for personal callers only, one in Tsimshatsui at the Star Ferry Terminal (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm) and one in the basement of Jardine House, the building with porthole windows in Central, just south of the Star Ferry Terminal on Hong Kong Island (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm). The offices are staffed by helpful, trained English speakers, and there's also an HKTA multilingual telephone service (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm; tel 2508 1234).

HKTA maps , and the maps in this book, should be enough for most purposes though more detailed versions such as the paperback Hong Kong Guide, which includes all major bus routes, can be bought from English-language bookstores. HKTA listings magazines include the useful Hong Kong Now! and Essential: The Official Hong Kong Guide, both of which cover all events for the current month. Among the unofficial listings magazines, the trendy HK Magazine and BC Magazine are both free and available in hotels and restaurants: HK Magazine in particular contains excellent, up-to-date information on restaurants, bars, clubs, concerts and exhibitions.