Hong Kong Geography, Routes and Place Knowledge
Three layers of the territory
Learn Hong Kong as three regions – Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories – plus the outlying islands (Lantau, Cheung Chau, Lamma, Peng Chau and others). Then learn the 18 districts, because most questions hand you a place name and expect the district plus the road or tunnel that serves it. Then learn the strategic network: the Island Eastern Corridor along the island's north shore, the Central–Wan Chai Bypass, the Lantau Link and North Lantau Highway to the airport, and the numbered routes that tie the harbour crossings to the New Territories.
Crossings and landmarks
Know the three harbour crossings and their landing points: Cross-Harbour Tunnel (Hung Hom to Causeway Bay), Eastern Harbour Crossing (Cha Kwo Ling to Quarry Bay) and Western Harbour Crossing (West Kowloon to Sai Ying Pun). Know the Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn, Shing Mun, Tseung Kwan O and Aberdeen tunnels. Landmarks anchor answers: Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, AsiaWorld-Expo beside it, the Tsing Ma Bridge on the Lantau Link, Victoria Peak, Ocean Park in Aberdeen, the racecourse at Sha Tin, the Coliseum at Hung Hom.
Traps and a rule of thumb
Examiners deliberately use similar-sounding names: Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po, Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsuen Wan, Cheung Sha Wan and Cheung Chau, Siu Sai Wan and Sai Wan. Read the characters, not the sound. Check the taxi type restriction before naming a destination – Lantau taxis stay on Lantau.
Rule of thumb: answer in three steps – district, nearest major road or tunnel, then the specific street or landmark. If you cannot place a name, decide which side of the harbour it lies on first; that alone eliminates half the options.