Believe us, Hong Kong is a city with range: name another place on this planet where you can wake up, eat a Michelin-starred dim sum breakfast for less than a tenner, hike a mountain, cop a new Coach bag at the summit, and watch a rugby match all in time for a late lunch. Indeed, Hong Kong’s reputation as one of Asia’s great urban destinations is hard to argue against, as the crowds that flock to the city for its cultural dynamism, superior retail and eating scenes, and resplendent natural beauty attest. Amid all that, though, is one of the world’s most impressive hotel scenes, spanning everything from proud grande-dames to edgy, culture-led “third spaces”; staggeringly luxurious palaces in the sky to cosy boutique nooks.
What is there to do in Hong Kong?
Put plainly, plenty. Whatever your criteria for a worthwhile trip, they’ll be fulfilled. If shopping’s your bag, a wander through Central’s warren of high-end malls or along Kowloon’s Canton Road will put your wallet to work – while the night markets around Temple Street in Jordan and Tai Yuen Street in Wan Chai are musts. Keen on a beach-and-a-book moment? The SAR’s archipelago offers no end of options, from village Shek O to the secluded white sands of Long Ke Wan.
And then there’s Hong Kong’s world-beating contemporary art scene. The pinnacle of the city’s cultural calendar is its annual art week – centred on Art Basel Hong Kong, the titanic art fair – in late March. Venture beyond the Exhibition Centre, though, and you’ll discover a scene to rival London’s or New York’s. Major blue-chip galleries like Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian and David Zwirner all have outposts here, while institutions like Tai Kwun, a former prison turned cultural complex, and M+, a mega-museum billed as the city’s answer to Tate Modern, regularly stage exhibitions of global repute. Venture further afield for the real gems, though. At the eastern end of Hong Kong Island sits Para Site, one of Asia’s most revered – and longest-running – art centres, while the southern side is home to some of the city’s most visionary commercial galleries, like Blindspot, Empty Gallery and Kiang Malingue. All of them are nested on the upper floors of faceless industrial buildings, but that only adds to the sense of reward when you eventually find them.
