Antiques Road Trip expert Anita Manning reckons there’s no beating hectic Hong Kong

Bargain Hunt, Flog It! and Antiques Roadshow star Anita Manning names Hong Kong as her favourite holiday destination.

“When I was growing up in the 1950s, holidays abroad weren’t very common.

So we used to go Doon The Watter, to the likes of Rothesay, on the Waverley paddle steamer.

They are such happy memories that when the BBC asked me to do an episode of their Holiday Of A Lifetime series with Len Goodman last summer, that’s what I picked.

We got Len in a tartan bunnet, having a shot at pitch and putt. He loves Scotland and said sailing down the Clyde got a 10 from Len!

The funny thing is that your memory plays tricks and I recall it always being sunny.

The same was when we had kids and were influenced by childhood holidays to stay in Scotland with camping trips.

The only time I remember it definitely wasn’t sunny was when we literally got washed away in Arran after it rained so heavily a nearby river burst its banks.

We refused to quit as we’d paid £40 for the ferry which was a huge amount then. A couple of the favourite places I’ve been to are through family.

My mum, who sadly died last year, lived in Australia for 35 years and I used to make the long-haul trip Down Under every couple of years. She stayed in Melbourne and then a little seaside place near Sydney.

Although we share the same language I was always taken by how different the place was. I used to love getting away and exploring the bush. But for somewhere totally different, there’s no beating Hong Kong.

My son has lived there for 20 years and it really is just such a culture shock.

It’s the busiest city you can imagine, one that really never sleeps. It’s a 24-hour culture with people on the move all the time.

Despite being so densely populated, you come across oases of green areas. You’d see people relaxing doing tai chi and it was fun joining in.

One of the other things I loved was the food I had the best fish I’ve ever tasted. I love Chinese dishes and you have brilliant options, none of them expensive.

You can eat fabulous street food, served fresh off the burner at market stalls. Or you dine in style at some fabulous luxury restaurants.

One thing that has changed is that I’ve become more of a city than a beach person and New York and Reykjavik are just a couple of the places I’ve enjoyed discovering recently.”

Anita Manning was Scotland’s first female auctioneer and runs her own auction house in her home city of Glasgow. From Monday, Anita will be taking part in Antiques Road Trip, BBC1 weekdays at 4.30pm.