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China
If you prefer your art to be edible, the Mandarin Grill + Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is offering a special art inspired lunch and dinner menu until 20th May. Michelin-starred chef, Uwe Opocensky, has spent six months creating a multimedia menu with each course inspired by a different aspect of art. I have it on excellent authority that the food is outstanding and almost too exquisite to eat (but ultimately too delicious to resist). Book early to avoid missing out!
www.mandarinoriental.com
5 Connaught Road, Hong Kong
+852 2522 0111
Google map: bit.ly/JinZU4
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
From 17th – 20th May the Hong Kong International Art Fair is coming to town. Now in its fifth year, Hong Kong Art is the leading showcase for international modern and contemporary art in Asia. Over 266 galleries from 38 countries will be exhibiting a diverse range of work from a huge range of artists from the up and coming to the well established.
www.hongkongartfair.com
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong Island
+852 3111 9660
Tickets can be purchased via: www.hkticketing.com
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
It’s a common complaint that there’s a general lack of culture in Hong Kong. While it’s undeniable that there’s less theatre and music than in London and we don’t have the range of Broadway shows and large art galleries that New York has, Hong Kong does have culture in spades, it’s just that it’s not so obvious as in other cities; you usually have to seek it out.
This month though, Hong Kong is the epicentre of culture and it’s virtually impossible to miss. As you travel along the Central Mid-Levels escalators, you can’t help but notice the red white and blue lights that illuminate the posters proclaiming that it’s ‘Le French May’.
Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, this French arts festival is bigger and better than ever before. Comprising of over 500 events (some of which run until the end of August) Le French May is dedicated to all elements of art from dance to opera, photography to sculpture and fashion to food. With all bases covered, there truly is something for everyone.
Personally, I’m most excited about Crazy About Yves: a free fashion exhibition featuring stylist, Olivier Châtenet ‘s private collection of Yves Saint Laurent clothing collected over the last fifteen years, and the Picasso Masterpieces Exhibition: an exhibition of 55 Picasso works which belong to the the Musée National Picasso in Paris and span the eight decades of his career from his Blue Period to Surrealism.
www.frenchmay.com
Various locations across Hong Kong.
Tickets can be purchased from www.urbtix.hk
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
Gambling is a national obsession in China. In Hong Kong it’s illegal to gamble unless it’s through the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Unsurprisingly then, Hong Kong’s largest single tax payer, largest private charity donor and largest employer is the Hong Kong Jockey Club. If you want to see Hong Kong doing something it passionately loves, head to Happy Valley Race Course on a Wednesday night between September and June.
The race course in itself is pretty impressive. The floodlit loop of sweeping green track is dramatically set against the backdrop of encircling, towering apartment blocks glittering against the night sky. For a bargain HK$10 entrance fee (about 80p) you get access to the public stands and public betting hall. If you’re a tourist and you present your passport, you can pay an extra HK$100 (about £8) to get entry to the Members’ Enclosure but for atmosphere and value for money, I don’t think the public stands can be beaten. Tourists and expats tend to gather by the beer tent next to the race course, for a glimpse of the locals at play and a superb birds-eye view of the action head further up the stands. Races run approximately every thirty minutes from 7:30pm. Get there early, grab a good spot by the railings and study the form ready to place your bets before the first race. If all else fails, my failsafe tip is to choose the horse with the best name.
www.happyvalleyracecourse.com/
2 Sports Rd., Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island
+(852) 2895 1523 or +(852) 2966 8111
Google map: bit.ly/JwXuJP
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
Whether you're in Hong Kong for business or you're doing a stopover en route to Australia, a great way to soak up the Hong Kong vibe is to take a beginners Tai Chi class on the waterfront.
The class is in English and assumes no previous knowledge of Tai Chi. There are a few demonstrations first followed by lessons on how to do the most basic tai chi routines. All this in front of Victoria Harbour with the skyscrapers in full view. It captures the whole East-West fusion that Hong Kong is all about.
Best of all - the lessons are free.
The lessons take place in front of the Museum of Art on Salisbury Road by the waterfront. It is a five minute walk from the Star Ferry terminus on Kowloon. They start at 8am and run on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Ring the Hong Kong Tourist board on +852 2508 1234 to ckeck days before going.
I had some free time to go to Lantau, an island off Hong Kong, which is reachable by road and rail.
This is actually most people's arrival point, as Hong Kong's new airport was built on an artificial piece of land that was added to accommodate the huge structure.
The island is home to some amazing little fishing villages (Tai O), where locals go at weekends to buy their dried fish, as well as Big Buddha, the biggest outdoor buddha in the world. Next to the Big Buddha temple, is a monastery, where its possible to eat some fantastic vegetarian food, with beautifully decorated and ornate surroundings.
A great afternoon out, and the chance to be outside of the polluted areas like Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
IIn Shek Kip Mei one is able to see exactly how some of the territories poverty locked 40% live. It is one of the few accessible places where one can still find first generation public housing blocks in all their glory.
HK has wilfully forgotten the very people whose hard work and labour allowed it to prosper. It is important for people living in HK as well as those visiting to realise that the much publicised shopping malls and expensive hotels, eateries, and clubs that service expatriates and the local elite do not represent the HK the majority of residents recognise.
HK's majority are, amazingly, all too often the forgotten people. It certainly puts into perspective the shopaholic culture and the trend towards excess that characterises what was once the heart of HK: Central district. A heart does not distinguish between those who are a part of the hang send economy (those with property) and the vast majority who are not.
Shek Kip Mei is one of several such districts visitors hardly venture. In some ways it is a gem as these are the only districts of HK that advertisers don't bother to smother.
Visitors wanting to understand the real HK, or those who really believe HK has found, or more correctly found but lost, that elusive form of capitalism that seems to work for all, ought to take a trip down to Shek Kip Mei.
HK does show that Chinese capitalism (whatever that means) can work and can be fun for the cream. I wouldn't taste the milk.
Take the MTR to Shek Kip Mei station. Exit and walk west
It’s a beautiful setting, reached via a long staircase with life-size golden Buddhas on either side and when we arrived about 10am it was almost deserted.
Incense burns everywhere, with gifts of flowers and fruit to Buddha left on tables outside the temples and pagoda. There is a vegetarian restaurant and a small souvenir stall.
KCR to Sha Tin
For those interested in Hong Kong flora and history, I recommend a visit to Sheung Yiu Folk Museum, in Sai Kung Country Park. This centres around a restored Hakka dwelling built by the Wong clan in the 19th-century, recreated with great care and attention to detail.
The walk to the house takes you along a path through ancient woodlands, in which can be found many of the indigenous plants and herbs used by the Hakka community for a huge variety of purposes,
medicinal, culinary and practical. Entry to the house is free, and you can wander around the rooms and defences at your leisure.
Farming implements and many of the accoutrements of Hakka life have been built solely for this site. Close to the house is an original lime kiln and jetty for bringing in coral: relics of the cement industry that provided an important source of income to the Wong clan.
There are few of these types of heritage site in Hong Kong, and Sheung Yiu receives few visitors - which is part of the attraction.
Pak Tam Chung Nature Trail, Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
To get to Sheung Yiu Folk Museum, take the number 94 bus from Sai Kung town, or the 96R / 289R (which only run on public holidays). Get off at the bus terminus by the Country Park Management Centre, and walk into the park past the traffic barrier. Walk down Pak Tam road until you see a footbridge crossing the river to your right: Cross the bridge and take the path to the right.
Sheung Yiu is closed on Tuesdays, Christmas day, Boxing day, New
Year's day and the first three days of Chinese New Year
Wong Tai Sin is a temple complex seemingly dumped into a suburb. Far from being just a tourist site, the temple is regularly used by the local people - I saw people there hoping for luck in exams and driving tests, among other things. Round the back, away from the bustle, is a quiet garden.
Chi Lin nunnery is a beautiful Buddhist building entirely made of wood - no steel or nails. Peaceful gardens and lily pools and few people other than nuns and gardeners. There’s sweet souvenirs too - all proceeds go towards the upkeep of the complex. Out of central Hong Kong, but a great place to find peace and quiet as well as a little culture.
MTR to Wong Tai Sin station, then a short (signed) walk. For Chi Lin, take the MTR to Diamond Hill, again the walk is signed
There are actually many free cultural tours in Hong Kong. I've checked out the tourist board website and found something called Cultural Kaledeiscope Program, which you can book online. There are so many to choose from, like watching Chinese opera, cooking classes, feng shui class, or tai chi in front of the harbour. It's a lot of fun.
This is a fabulous, much under-visited museum which offers fantastic insights into Hong Kong in the context of Chinese Culture. There is a superb display of pre-British archaeological and cultural artefacts, fantastic recreations of Hong Kong's past, present and possible futures, and some entrancing mock-ups of Chinese opera and theatre.
Not hugely easy to find (hence under-visited) but take the KCR to Shat Tin (New Territories) and then either take a short taxi ride or make your way through the Festival Walk Shopping Mall, heading South and East and you'll come to signposts.
Is this your business?Search Been there
