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The guide says: "Tsim Sha Tsui has replaced Wan Chai for concentration of all types and grades of night establishments, but every urban area of Hong Kong has fun places – bars, nightclubs, ballrooms (no liquor), discotheques, cocktail lounges, topless joints, etc ... especially etc!"

"Hong Kong's harbour is perhaps the most beautiful and no visit would be complete without a water tour," the guide says. One tour offers a two-hour cruise, featuring live music and a spacious observation deck for the "fresh-air fiend and the sun worshipper" for HK$95.

Made famous by Richard Mason's novel "The World of Suzie Wong", the quality of bars in Wan Chai had improved since the end of the Vietnam war, the guide says, and even though some of the "old atmosphere still prevails ... many new commercial office buildings are changing the character of the...

An aerial view of the Shaw Brothers studio in Clear Water Bay. The guide advises cinemagoers that the Palace cinema on Gloucester Road is the only one in Hong Kong with a non-smoking section.

Causeway Bay was "increasingly popular with visitors since its shops stay open just as late as those in Tsim Sha Tsui", the guide says, adding "It is by far one of the most favoured nightlife areas by local Chinese".

The guide warns that while cameras are an excellent buy in Hong Kong, visitors should beware of scams including unauthorised shops selling used cameras as new.

Some brands advertised in the guide remain popular in Hong Kong today. "Watches are best purchased only from reliable, authorised retailers," it says.

The guide advises visitors here during May to go to the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. It describes Cheung Chau as "perhaps the most interesting of the over 200 islands which comprise Hong Kong".

Shopping in Hong Kong is best because "high sales volume amortises rent to a smaller percentage per transaction than in many of the underdeveloped parts of the world", the guide says, adding "perhaps the largest single plus factor to explain the bargains ... is the astuteness of Hong Kong...

"Wigs are available in synthetics as well as human hair," the guide says. Among other shopping advice, it warns that while orange coloured imitation ivory has good castings, it is overpriced.

A view from The Peak in 1981. Many local residents used the Peak Tram for everyday transport, according to the guide.

The governor's residence in 1981, occupied by Murray MacLehose at the time. The building is today known as Government House and is the official residence of the chief executive.

Photos of "interesting people on busy streets and in colourful markets" can be "taken surreptitiously by not raising camera to eye level", the guide advises photographers.

Chinese food has some dishes "considered questionable or abhorrent to others", the guide says, listing deep-fried rice sparrows, barbecued bear’s paw, fish lips, duck web, cooked rice worms and "the unbelievable Shanghainese bean curd", the smell of which "even a Frenchman can't get past."

The guide lists several Western restaurants and a rough idea of their prices, from the budget Spaghetti House (soup HK$6.50; meat HK$17.50) to swanky Hugo's at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Kowloon (soup HK$40; meat HK$104).

Asking "Businessmen: why not stay an extra day?" the guide says: "Hong Kong has many fine beaches that are easily accessible. Your hotel can pack a picnic lunch basket and you can engage a bikini-clad escort for a truly enjoyable day".

The guide, sponsored by the Lee Gardens Hotel, says "If you are thinking of having a little party in your hotel room, even a quiet one, mind in bear [sic] that most hotels discourage visits by unregistered guests after midnight." The hotel is now a shopping mall.

Hong Kong was established in 1842 as a British crown colony, the guide says, and while that legal status had not changed in 1981 "the term colony is out of favour", phased out of use in the 1970s and replaced by "British administered territory on the south-east coast of China".

Some of the advice contained within the guide proves that you really never can judge a book by its cover.

And goes on to say: "If you pay a fee so that the hostess can leave before closing, nothing further is promised by the establishment."