I am traveling to Manila in a few weeks time to meet an old University pal, flying via Hong Kong. Can you suggest somewhere fun, friendly and lively for a single guy in his late twenties to enjoy one night there? I will be staying on Hong Kong Island. Edward Boon, Northamptonshire

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: Hong Kong is heaps of fun and if you are staying on the island, you are right where you need to be for a great night out.

If there's time and clear weather, I'd strongly recommend a trip up to the Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram. The views are spectacular, especially with all the skyscrapers lit up. You could eat at the new restaurant complex at the top. The Chinese restaurant is a bit formal and pricey, but the sports bar has panoramic windows and lots of outside tables too.

When you retrace your tracks back down, exit the station and walk towards the harbour on Garden Road, then take the first left along Lower Albert Road, and in about 10 minutes you'll be in nightlife central - the hillside district of Lan Kwai Fong. There are dozens of bars here, mainly small and often trendy, and they tend not to close until about 3am.

The streets team with revelers at the weekends, but even in the week it's a great craic, and don't worry about being on your own. Hong Kong is incredibly safe, practically everyone speaks English, and the large expat community is very visible ­ especially in the bars ­ and are always amenable if tapped for directions or advice.

Cabs are the best way to get back to your hotel, and it's worth keeping a hotel card on you to show the driver.

If only all airports could do as good a job at tourist information Hong Kong international Airport. In just about every other city I'd say don't bother stopping at the airport tourist offices, which are usually meagerly stocked and useless, but on arrival here, make a bee-line for the office just before passport control. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and you can pick up the current listings magazines - and it's an easy place to buy your train ticket into the city.

Before you leave the UK, visit www.discoverhongkong.com, and buy a pocket-sized guidebook, like Lonely Planet's excellent Hong Kong Encounter, or Rough Guide's Hong Kong Directions (£6.99). Both have good nightlife sections.

This article written by Jill Triptree, the former editor of HK Tatler has some great tips on restaurants and bars, and this one by Lucia van der Post has advice on where to shop in Hong Kong, from markets to designer store.

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