A Cantonese breakfast with a variety of snacks in Hong Kong. [Photo by Xu Lin/China Daily]

And visitors will discover a diversity of things to see and do that make Hong Kong a hot spot in the colder months.

As a diehard fan of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, I went to Chungking Mansions, the main shooting site of his 1994 classic, Chungking Express.

Located in downtown Nathan Road, Chungking Mansions probably offers the cheapest accommodation, with many guesthouses, plus all kinds of shops and curry joints.

It hosts tens of thousands of visitors daily. The neighborhood is a gathering place for different nationalities, especially South Asians.

That's why it won Time magazine's Best Example of Globalization in Action distinction for Asia in 2007.

Nearby is the century-old 44-meter-high Old Clock Tower, an icon of the defunct Kowloon-Canton Railway.

The tower rises next to Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier.

From there, I hopped on a night ferry to the Central Ferry Pier, enjoying vistas of Victoria Harbor's shining skyscrapers beneath the starry sky.