For an easy half-day outing, take the Kwun Tong MTR Line from Yau Ma Tei or Mong Kok to reach these four recommendations.

Lok Fu & Kowloon Walled City Park

First up is Lok Fu Station, from which it’s a 15-minute walk to Kowloon Walled City Park. Although a rather peaceful place nowadays, it began life as a Chinese fort built in 1847 to defend Kowloon following the British takeover of Hong Kong Island. It later devolved into a notorious no-man’s land of squatters, drug addicts, prostitutes, gangs and refugees. Even British police rarely ventured inside its narrow alleyways. In 1994 it was demolished, replaced with this park that pays tribute to its fascinating past.

Monasteries & Gardens

One station farther along is Wong Tai Sin, without a doubt Hong Kong’s most popular Taoist temple. It attracts Buddhists and Confucianists in addition to Taoist worshipers, who all come seeking good fortune and personal advice from fortune tellers. Your last stop is Diamond Hill Station, where a 15-minute walk brings you to the Chi Lin Nunnery, reconstructed in the 1990s utilizing traditional techniques without the use of nails.