Where to See and Be Seen
The private Kee Club, a social club replete with Picasso prints and Le Corbusier furniture, is the place to rub shoulders with public-relations networkers, hungry young bankers who double up as resident DJs, and the languid China dolls that angle for them. Concierges at better hotels can arrange access. M1NT, a new spin-off of the London private club, is thick with hedge-fund hotshots who've invested in the place. The Foreign Correspondents' Club serves journalists grousing about Hong Kong's government, and people in the media who are actually making money. Dragon-I is a shrine for models and fashionistas. The private rooms of the city's best Cantonese restaurants, such as the elegant Lei Garden, will give you a glimpse of Hong Kong's true real-estate, finance, and manufacturing power brokers-rather than the eager private bankers who manage their millions.

Where to Close a Deal
The library at David Tang's nostalgic-chic, sandalwood-scented China Club has generous seats to sink into post-handshake. The Mandarin Grill + Bar, at the Mandarin Oriental, has been spruced up by Terence Conran; it's an open space, so specify a corner table for privacy, or book the ten-person dining room. The city's true establishment eschews Central altogether for the clubhouse restaurants of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Happy Valley, but if you want entry into this Holy Grail, plan on pulling strings attached to wealthy Hong Kong families.

Local Codes
Hand over business cards with both hands, the type facing the recipient. Receive cards with both hands, and don't ever scribble on them or bend their edges-a big faux pas. At meals, do not plunge your utensils into the serving dishes; use the serving chopsticks and spoon on the table, and return them to the chopstick rest when done. Never stick them in your mouth. If someone is pouring you tea, two quick taps on the table with your middle and index fingers serves as a thank-you. Wait to be seated, as there is usually a seating plan, and let your host dig in before you start. Hong Kong is a superstitious place; when signing a contract, the customer/client may consult an astrologer or feng shui master for an auspicious date. Give a host gifts in eights; it's a lucky number.

Airport Intelligence
If you're traveling solo, skip the cab; the spotless Airport Express zips visitors from the airport to Central in 25 minutes for $13. An added bonus: When it's time to return, passengers can check in and check baggage in town up to a day before their flight, making for a luggage-free trip to the airport.

The Three-Hour Tour
Until a few years ago, Hong Kong Island's Wan Chai neighborhood was known for vegetable markets and a strip of seedy bars. But a pocket of it-Star Street and its surrounds-now provides eclectic diversions for even the savviest city explorer. Xi Yan Sweets takes the concept of a Chinese noodle joint and updates it with simple red-and-white decor and pan-Asian culinary influences. At the newly opened Ingredients, the eccentric menu-curry-crusted portobellos, anyone?-also lists comforting mains like oxtail with lemon polenta. The lounging-worthy Epoch Coffee Bar is one of the few places in town with a serious espresso. Mod-Asian homewares store Ovo will satisfy all of your Buddha-statue needs, and contemporary tea boutique Ming Cha stocks exquisite pots and fine teas. The narrow bar Slim's is a quiet place to loosen the tie after a meeting: Grab a pint and throw your peanut shells on the floor-everyone else does. Burger fans extol the hefty patties at the always busy hole-in-the-wall Shake Em Buns.