Hong Kong’s magnificent natural setting on the tip of the Chinese mainland is a natural gateway to the Orient. It is an intense, vibrant and colorful city of dramatic contrasts. Towering skyscrapers, monuments to Hong Kong’s development as a world financial centre, form the backdrop to the busy harbour, with its constant traffic of ferries, junks, sampans and ocean-going liners. Yet in the teeming alleys, festooned with red and gold signs, street markets remain untouched by western influences, and still provide an intoxicating taste of mystique and intrigue. At night the city is ablaze with neon signs, their reflections shimmering in the harbour.