Saturday

10 a.m.
5) DEPLOY YOUR CASH

Do what Hong-Kongers do: Shop. By sticking to the network of elevated walkways in the central business district, you can hit just about every luxury brand on the planet ¡ª Armani to Zegna ¡ª without letting your Jimmy Choos touch the street. But frankly, you can get this stuff elsewhere. More fun is to poke around Shanghai Tang (12 Pedder Street; 852-2525-7333; www.shanghaitang.com) for cool renditions of traditional Chinese clothing (sweaters and cheongsam dresses) or housewares (wine coasters and picture frames). Then look for bargains in mandarin-style jackets in ¡°the lanes,¡± the narrow passageways between Des Voeux Road and Queen's Road Central. Pop down into Sam Wo Handbags Company (basement of 41-47 Queen's Road Central; 852-2524-1807) for a huge selection of fashionable wallets and bags.

12:30 p.m.
6) MY LITTLE DUMPLINGS

Plenty of restaurants serve dim sum for lunch, though rarely after 3 p.m. You can have non-greasy spring rolls with shredded chicken at the elegant Lei Garden restaurant (third floor, 1 IFC Mall; 852-2295-0238), or sample delicious vegetable dumplings at the authentically unpretentious Wang Fuh Dumpling (65 Wellington Street; 852-2121-8089). But for the best experience, take a number and wait in line at the immense City Hall Maxim's Palace (second floor, City Hall Low Block; 852-2521-1303; www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/CityHall/restaurants1.html), where the patrons are as loud as the red-and-gold d¨¦cor. Carts are stacked with baskets of har gow (shrimp and bamboo-shoot dumplings) and char siu bao (barbequed pork buns), or buckets of fresh tofu (dishes 25 to 50 Hong Kong dollars each). In between servings, you can admire the harbor view or look for a wedding party: City Hall has a popular marriage registry.

3 p.m.
7) ART WALK

Take the Mid-Levels Escalator, a half-mile of moving stairways that connect the skyscrapers of Central with the apartment buildings midway up Victoria Peak. Get off at Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's antiques district. For cheap souvenirs, try the open-air vendors on Cat Street, just off Hollywood Road near the historic, incense-filled Man Mo Temple. For serious Chinese antiquities, visit Lam & Company (44 Hollywood Road; 852-2543-8877, www.lamantiquities.com) and Empyrean (70 Hollywood Road; 852-2559-7338; empyrean-antiques.com). For contemporary art, go to the galleries Shoeni (27 Hollywood Road; 852-2542-3143; www.schoeni.com.hk), Plum Blossoms (1 Hollywood Road; 852-2521-2189; www.plumblossoms.com) and Hanart TZ Gallery (second floor, 5 Queen's Road; 852-2526-9019; www.hanart.com).

7:30 p.m.
8) VICTORIA PEAK

Since the 1880s, the Peak Tram (www.thepeak.com.hk) has carried wide-eyed passengers from Central to Victoria Peak, 1,300 feet high in the middle of Hong Kong Island. Board at the station behind St. John's Building (33 Garden Road), and watch the buildings go by at seemingly right angles during the steep ascent (33 Hong Kong dollars round trip).

8:30 p.m.
9) COLONIAL CUISINE

Before the Peak Tram was built, the Peak Lookout site was a rest stop for men carrying rich Britons in sedan chairs from sweltering Central to their cooler Peak homes. It has since been turned into a colonial-style restaurant (121 Peak Road; 852-2849-1000; www.thepeaklookout.com.hk), known as much for its views as for its food. Book a table outdoors, with a view of the southern side of the island, and start with the giant combination platter: Thai spring roll, fried soft-shell crab, salmon on Indian nan bread, Mexican chicken quesadillas, for 318 Hong Kong dollars. That will give you an idea of this charming restaurant's international menu (there are hamburgers and sushi, too). Figure about 800 Hong Kong dollars for two, with a bottle of Australian chardonnay.

10:30 p.m.
10) DO THE BARS EVER CLOSE?

Order a beer at any one of Lan Kwai Fong's dozens of lively bars. You will have lots of company in Central Hong Kong's best-known bar area, as tourists, expatriates and locals meet, talk and drink more beer (from 40 Hong Kong dollars and up). Since most of the establishments open onto the sidewalk (the streets are closed to most traffic), you can easily find music and a crowd to your liking.

Sunday

11 a.m.
11) SHOPPING, PART 2

From Central, hop on a double-decker bus (No. 6, 6X or 66) to the former fishing village of Stanley (about 8 Hong Kong dollars one way). The ride will take you from the commercial district, over the hills (or through a tunnel), to the South Side, a residential area with splendid beaches, Riviera-style corniches and wide-open views of the South China Sea. At the end of the line, in Stanley Market, you'll find an easy-to-navigate warren of shops, many offering what appear to be the same pashmina scarves, silk ties and paintings of Hong Kong's harbor. But a closer look will reveal great shopping: the stores on Old Stanley Street for childrens' clothes, Tong's for table linens (55-57 Stanley Street; 852-2813-0337) and Sun & Moon for sportswear (18 A-B, Stanley Main Street; 852-2813-2723). Don't miss two of the nonshopping sights in Stanley: the Murray Building, a colonial treasure that was dismantled on the other side of the island and rebuilt here in 2000, and the Tin Hau temple, built in 1767 and dedicated to the deity who protects seafarers.