At Jade Garden Restaurant, we're overrun by small baskets filled with rolls, cakes, and dumplings. It's like Christmas, and each dumpling is like a present, its contents a mystery. Our favorite is the char siu bau, a delicious steamed barbecued-pork bun.

Day Four

PANDAS, DIM SUM, AND LIGHT SHOWS! Amy Koller, 32, is a finance coordinator in Yucaipa, Calif. She was one of the winners of our 10th anniversary reader contest. Here are the family photos from her Hong Kong trip. • Launch the slide show EVER DREAM OF BEING A TRAVEL WRITER? • A Family Trip to Hong Kong • A Treehouse Adventure • The No-Frills African Safari • I Married a Non-Traveler • On Tour in the Emerald Isle

We planned on visiting the Hong Kong Science Museum, since Christian is all about the hands-on experiences (and Wednesdays are free). But there are hundreds of schoolkids at the museum's entrance. Our hearts sink, as we know each exhibit will be packed. So we walk over to the Hong Kong Museum of History, where there are only a few visitors. Amazing life-size displays represent different periods of Hong Kong history. The museum even corrects some of our misconceptions. I, for one, was shocked to learn that opium was an English import to China (and not the other way around).

The mall attached to our hotel has a food court with all types of inexpensive Asian food. After a few laps, we decide on a buffet of Thai noodles, sashimi, Korean fried pork, Japanese udon noodles, and boba milk tea. Christian masters chopsticks pretty quickly, but we grab extra plastic forks whenever we see them (as not all restaurants have forks).

Then we go to the Goldfish Market—blocks and blocks of small stores selling pets of all kinds: fish, reptiles, puppies, and kittens. Instead of tanks of fish, they have walls of fish, hanging in bags on hooks. Not just small fish—big ones, too! And there are buckets of baby turtles. (We're glad we didn't buy one when we later spot a "No turtles" sign at the airport.)

That night, we come upon a ping-pong tournament on TV. At that moment, we know we're in China.

Day Five

To get to Ocean Park, Hong Kong's answer to SeaWorld, we figure we'll use the metro. But when the train arrives, well.... We're from California. We don't have many opportunities to practice our subway skills. When the next train pulls in, we get into linebacker positions at the front of the line. The doors open, and we surge, motivated by fear of failure and by other riders pushing from behind. It's clear that the locals find us amusing, but we don't mind.

Ocean Park straddles a hill on Hong Kong Island. It doesn't hold a candle to SeaWorld—except in one area: giant pandas! The San Diego Zoo has a panda exhibit, but we've never actually seen it. The lines have always been ridiculous. But at Ocean Park, we see four pandas up close. Cassidy declares pandas to be her new favorite animal. Christian is less impressed until one yawns. "It has real teeth!" he says.

We hail a (surprisingly cheap) cab and speed off to Stanley Market on Hong Kong Island. In the first hour, we buy so much that we begin to get jelly arms from having to carry it all. Two hours later, we exit the market with two new suitcases laden with clothes, books, purses, jewelry, and anything else we can justify buying. Minutes after leaving the market, I begin to miss it like a long-lost friend.

We hop on a double-decker bus back to the hotel. Robert and I follow the kids up top to the front row. The bus goes all over the island before passing through the tunnel to the mainland. It's like a crazy IMAX adventure that lasts almost an hour. I can't believe the ride is only $5 for all four of us. I'll never forget the kids' wide-eyed faces.

On the bus, Robert talks to a college student, who lets us know which stop is most convenient for us and even offers to get off and assist us with our loot. We're skeptical, but it turns out he's just a friendly guy who wants to help. We tell him that he has a place to stay if he's ever in California.