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You don't need a camera to remember your favourite travel destination. It might seem like you need to capture every moment of your travels on film, to faithfully record every memory – however, what many travellers don't realise is that there's a far more powerful tool for remembering than a photograph.
"Not only is smell our oldest sense, it also has a direct link to the hippocampus, the main memory centre of the brain," says Dr Oliver Baumann, a researcher at the Queensland Brain Institute. "Scent can therefore bring back memories much faster and stronger than any of our other senses."
Your olfactory sense plays a huge part in your memory of an experience – the scent of food, or sea salt, or mountain air – and there's also no doubt that one of the most heady, exotic and scent-driven destinations in the world is Hong Kong. From the perfumed scents of the Kowloon flower markets to the fresh, clean air of the Peak, any journey to Hong Kong is an olfactory delight that you'll long remember.
Luk Yu teahouse
One of the signature scents of any journey to Hong Kong is surely the heady mix of aromas that you pick up in traditional teahouses such as Luk Yu. Since 1933, Luk Yu, in Hong Kong's bustling Central district, has been serving beautiful jasmine-scented tea, along with more powerfully aromatic dim sum treats, to hungry and thirsty diners. This is Hong Kong at its most traditional and best.
Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market
The first sense of yours that's likely to be assaulted at the historic Yau Ma Tei fruit market is sight: there's a huge and riotous array of fruit on sale here, exotic, colourful treats from all around the region. Pretty soon, however, you'll be hit with the smell, with the sweet scent of ripe tropical fruit, a delicious natural bounty of aromas you may never have even known existed.
Jardine's Crescent Street Market
There's so much to love about a Hong Kong street market, so much to pick over and stare at and possibly even buy. At the Jardine's Crescent market in Causeway Bay you'll find plenty of bargain clothing and accessories, but there's also a small spice market, which you will smell well before you see – the aroma is as rich as the dishes these spices will go on to create.
Cathay Pacific's Parfums de Voyage
It's a pleasant surprise to find that the sensual experience of Hong Kong doesn't have to end after you depart. The home carrier, Cathay Pacific, has recently released a fragrance, Parfums de Voyage, which is designed to ignite olfactory memories of its home city. This is a unique offering from Cathay, a perfume that captures the distinctive colour and scentscape of Hong Kong.
Dried Seafood Street and Tonic Food Street
This will be different. There will be a whole range of scents in this traditional area of Kowloon that you've never encountered before: the salty smell of preserved seafood, treasures much sought-after by local Chinese; plus the nose-wrinkling herbaceousness of traditional Chinese medicines. This is a fascinating journey for all the senses.
The Peak
Though Hong Kong is known the world over as a bustling, modern city, there are ways to avoid the crowds and enjoy some serenity. One of the easiest is to journey up to the top of Victoria Peak via the Peak Tram, breathing in the fresh, clean mountain air as you take in what is without doubt the best view of this magnificent city.
Big Wave Bay
There are few scents more inspiring than those of clean, salty air and a sandy beach, which is what draws so many people to Hong Kong's Big Wave Bay. This is not the city as you might know it – Big Wave Bay, on the scenic eastern end of Hong Kong Island, is a small slice of beachy paradise, a welcome hit of fresh air after some time in the big smoke.
Kowloon Flower Market
There's a riot of colour, obviously, at the Kowloon Flower Market, particularly as Lunar New Year draws closer – dozens of shops and wholesalers here sell flowers that bring luck, flowers to celebrate, flowers to mourn and flowers to mark milestones. And all of those flowers emit the most powerful, perfumed aroma. It's truly unforgettable.
Yau Tsim Mong
You can't fail to notice the aromas as you wander around Yau Tsim Mong, the bustling district in the west of Kowloon. It's food: food from all over Asia, the heavily spiced cuisines of China, Thailand, Malaysia, India and so many more, frying and sizzled and popping in tiny restaurants and street-food stands throughout the district. That's the smell of deliciousness.
Wong Tai Sin temple
The sweet smell of burning incense permeates the air from the moment you step into Wong Tai Sin temple, one of the most popular religious sites in Hong Kong. Though the temple itself is a feast of colour and intricate design, it's that scent of incense, so traditional and recognisable, so distinctly Hong Kong, that will linger with you the longest.
This article is produced in association with Cathay Pacific.
Cathay Pacific, in collaboration with Australian fragrance specialist Samantha Taylor, has created a new fragrance to evoke the scents of Hong Kong. The fragrance, Parfums de Voyage, will be offered on select Australian flights with the airline.
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