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<p>High above the humid swirl of Victoria Harbour in the early 20th century, Hong Kong society built its most exclusive world. Before the Japanese occupied the British territory in December 1941, Victoria Peak and its surroundings formed an elevated theatre of privilege, where governors, taipans, industrialists and philanthropists constructed residences that served as declarations of status.</p>



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<p>With their deep verandas, colonnaded façades and manicured lawns, these houses embodied the architecture of empire and ambition. To be invited uphill was to be admitted into a carefully curated circle; to reside there was to belong unmistakably to the ruling constellation of colonial Hong Kong.</p>



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<p>The Peak Reservation Ordinance of 1904 codified this exclusivity by effectively restricting residency to European expatriates, save for rare exemptions granted only to the most influential Chinese. Geography and legislation worked together. The steep ascent up to 1,811 feet above sea level acted as a natural barrier, while social conventions reinforced separation.</p>



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<p>Below the bustle of Central’s mercantile energy stretched a quieter domain of garden parties, diplomatic dinners and summer retreats. Each arrival at a gated drive along the narrow roads that circled the Peak carried significance, a subtle announcement that one had crossed into rarified territory.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Top of the World</h3>



<p>Serving as the Governor’s summer residence, Mountain Lodge at the summit of Victoria Peak crowned this hierarchy. Completed in 1900 to replace the previous official bungalow, it offered respite from the tropical heat and a Mount Austin Road vantage point that symbolised oversight of the colony itself. Photographs show a gracious residence framed by clipped hedges and panoramic views, hosting garden receptions that gathered the highest ranks of officialdom.</p>



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<p>Such houses were central to the choreography of colonial power and seasonal ceremony. One of the highest homes was The Eyrie, built on Mount Austin Road in 1877. Its owner, Emanuel Raphael Belilios, a Sephardic Jew born in Calcutta, chaired such august commercial institutions as Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Something of an eccentric, Belilios is said to have ridden from his Peak home to his office on a camel.</p>



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<p>Mount Austin Road was known for its refined villas, many of which have since yielded to luxury apartment towers. In their prime, these residences reflected a restrained British aesthetic: pale façades, pitched roofs and deep eaves shading corridors from monsoon rains. Tennis lawns and croquet grounds provided leisure within private boundaries. On clear evenings, distant ship horns drifted upward from the harbour below, a reminder of the commerce underwriting such elevated ease.</p>



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<p>Coombe Road, Guildford Road and Barker Road were likewise lined with large detached houses, each set back behind hedges or stone walls. Their architecture favoured generous verandas supported by classical columns, high ceilings to encourage ventilation, and broad windows framing harbour views.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Chinese Ascent</h3>



<p>Ho Tung Gardens on Peak Road offered another variation on elite living. Designed in Chinese Renaissance style, its blend of Chinese architectural motifs with Western structural forms reflected the layered identity of Sir Robert Ho Tung, the patriarch of one of Hong Kong’s most prominent Eurasian families, who purchased the property in the 1920s.</p>



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<p>In an era when the Peak’s residency rules underscored division, Ho Tung’s presence signalled both exceptional status and gradual transformation within an evolving colonial society. The estate’s landscaped grounds hosted social functions that bridged communities often separated by race and regulation. Ho Tung Gardens remained in the family for three generations. The mansion was demolished in 2013 and redeveloped into luxury townhouses after a failed attempt to preserve it as a historic monument.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Grandeur Down &amp; Around</h3>



<p>Downhill from the Peak, though still elevated at 500 feet above Central on Conduit Road in Mid-Levels, Marble Hall was a statement that Hong Kong’s mercantile elite could rival the aristocratic splendour of London or Calcutta. It was built in 1901 for Sir Catchick Paul Chater, a businessman of Armenian descent who was instrumental in the founding of Hongkong Land and Wharf. This testament to Edwardian grandeur boasted marble columns imported from Europe, sweeping staircases and reception rooms designed for spectacle. Within its walls hung art collections and treasures acquired through global networks of trade.</p>



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<p>Other enclaves on Hong Kong Island developed their own society rhythms. Stubbs Road, perched above Happy Valley, attracted merchant families who desired prestige without total isolation. Houses here often displayed a subtle blend of European and regional influences, with tiled roofs and shaded balconies adapted to the climate.</p>



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<p>On the southside, Repulse Bay emerged as a coastal counterpart to the heights. Before high-rise redevelopment, the shoreline was dotted with villas that offered sea breezes, Riviera ambience and carefully orchestrated hospitality. Invitations embossed on heavy cream paper summoned guests to charity galas, diplomatic receptions or intimate suppers. Silverware gleamed and floral arrangements were sourced from carefully tended gardens. The original Repulse Bay Hotel, built in 1920, functioned as both a seasonal residence and social hub, hosting dances and formal dinners that drew the colony’s glittering set.</p>



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<p>Hong Kong’s pre-Second World War mansions shared certain architectural hallmarks. Verandas wrapped around façades to temper sun and rain, allowing residents to inhabit transitional spaces between indoors and out. High ceilings facilitated air circulation before the advent of modern air-conditioning. Materials were selected for durability against humidity: granite foundations, plastered brick walls, hardwood floors polished to a muted sheen. Gardens framed approach roads and offered vistas that emphasised elevation. The houses were not fortresses but statements of cultivated permanence and social assurance.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rise of the High-Rise</h3>



<p>The Japanese occupation disrupted this world irrevocably. Many residences were requisitioned, damaged or abandoned. After the war, demographic shifts and land scarcity accelerated redevelopment. By the 1960s and 1970s, economic imperatives favoured high-rise apartments over sprawling villas. Marble Hall burned down in 1946; Mountain Lodge was demolished in the same year; and numerous Guildford Road mansions yielded to towers promising greater density and profit. What had once been private domains became collective addresses, and gardens gave way to podium decks and parking levels.</p>



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<p>Yet memory persists. Archival photographs capture women in summer dresses posing against balustrades, governors descending garden steps, and lantern-lit terraces overlooking a harbour still free of towering skylines. Surviving structures such as Government House on Upper Albert Road and Flagstaff House in Hong Kong Park offer tangible reminders of that earlier era. Even where buildings have vanished, street names and estate boundaries echo their presence, preserving faint cartographies of former privilege within the contemporary city.</p>



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<p>To examine Hong Kong’s pre-war society residences is to glimpse a city negotiating identity at a crossroads of empire and commerce. They defined a chapter in which architecture, climate and class converged dramatically above the harbour. These houses were built by British administrators and international merchants, but they were also shaped by Chinese, Eurasian and Jewish families whose fortunes were then intertwined with colonial frameworks. Within their walls, alliances formed and hierarchies were rehearsed.</p>



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<p>Today, luxury on the Peak is measured in panoramic glazing and guarded driveways, yet the mythology of the old houses endures. The idea of elevation as a metaphor for power remains potent. Their verandas may have fallen silent, but their imprint lingers in the collective imagination of a city perpetually balancing memory and reinvention, aware that its grandest homes once stood as symbols of certainty on the edge of change.</p>


Mansions in the Clouds: Inside the grand mansions that opened the door to high society in colonial Hong Kong


<p>There are few spectacles in Hong Kong as arresting as dragon boats slicing through Victoria Harbour. The sound arrives before the sight: a deep, rhythmic drumbeat echoing across the water, steady and commanding. Then come the paddles, rising and falling in disciplined unison, blades flashing beneath a skyline that symbolises speed, ambition and reinvention.</p>



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<p>It’s a scene that feels both ancient and electric, and this summer, it carries added resonance as the city celebrates the 50th milestone of its International Dragon Boat Festival, marking a journey that transformed a ritual into a global lifestyle phenomenon. On the weekend of 27-28 June, the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade will hum with anticipation as crowds cheer on teams from all over the world in races that mark the golden anniversary of an iconic waterborne sporting event.</p>


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<p>The Dragon Boat, or Tuen Ng, Festival traces its roots back more than two millennia, observed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and said to commemorate esteemed poet Qu Yuan (circa 340–278 BC). Banished and accused of treason, Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River in northern Hunan, an action that incited locals to race out in their boats in a failed attempt to save him. The tradition of consuming sticky rice dumplings during the holiday stems from balls of rice dropped into the water by villagers to deter fish from eating the fallen hero’s body.</p>



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<p>In Guangdong’s river communities, paddle-boat racing was once inseparable from ritual. Long boats carved from solid timber were adorned with fierce dragon heads and painted in brilliant colours. Before touching water, they were awakened through eye-dotting ceremonies believed to invite protective spirits. Villagers raced not only for pride but for blessing, unity and communal strength.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Racing Through Centuries</h3>



<p>This tradition unfolded in the narrow inlets and fishing harbours of Hong Kong’s early coastal settlements. The races were intimate, sacred and profoundly local. As participation widened over many decades, dragon-boat racing evolved into more than a celebration of folklore and a contest of speed.</p>



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<p>Corporate teams embraced it as a test of teamwork and endurance. Universities formed clubs that blended athletic ambition with cultural exploration. Community organisations found in it a platform for inclusion and cross-cultural connection. In the months and weeks before the Tuen Ng Festival, training sessions at dawn and on Sundays in the sea off Shau Kei Wan and Stanley became rituals in themselves, transforming colleagues and classmates into crews bound by rhythm and trust.</p>



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<p>As the city evolved into an international metropolis, the question arose of how such customs would survive in a new world of global finance. Rather than allowing dragon-boat racing to recede into nostalgia, Hong Kong propelled it forward. Local races customarily held in bays and typhoon shelters during the festival, which falls on 19 June this year, were extended to include open races in Victoria Harbour over a later weekend. Inviting overseas teams to compete in these events shaped the narrative entirely.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">International Beat</h3>



<p>Against a backdrop of mirrored skyscrapers and busy ferry lanes, dragon boats appeared both timeless and startlingly modern. The harbour became a theatre, framing an ancient cultural practice within a cosmopolitan stage. International crews arrived curious and departed inspired, carrying stories of synchronised paddles and ceremonial drums back to their own cities. Dragon-boat clubs began forming across North America, Europe, Australia and beyond. What had once been anchored to regional waterways now travelled freely across continents.</p>



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<p>Under the auspices of the International Dragon Boat Federation since 1991, the sport has been adapted through globally standardised race distances and lighter vessels. Carbon-fibre boats replaced heavy wooden hulls for international competition, ensuring accessibility and consistency. Yet Hong Kong guarded the tradition’s symbolic core. Eye-dotting rituals continued. Incense curled beside the water before major heats. The drummer remained at the bow, setting pace and purpose. Modern sport grew from ancient channels without severing its ties to the past.</p>



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<p>The harbour setting of the International Dragon Boat Festival amplified everything. Photographs of dragon boats surging forward beneath a forest of skyscrapers circulated globally, encapsulating Hong Kong’s dual identity. The visual contrast was irresistible: traditional dragon motifs glinting in sunlight against steel and glass. International media coverage magnified the spectacle, embedding the festival within the world’s sporting and cultural calendars.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Strokes of Harmony and Strength</h3>



<p>Over time, the event grew into a waterfront carnival of colour, sound and taste. Spectator stands expanded along the promenade. Food vendors filled the air with the fragrance of bamboo-wrapped zongzi, the pyramids of sticky rice stuffed with pork belly and egg yolk that are synonymous with the festival. Musicians performed against panoramic harbour views. Families arrived early and lingered long after the final heat, drawn as much by atmosphere as by competition.</p>



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<p>Yet for all its pageantry, dragon-boat racing remains intensely physical. Twenty paddlers sit shoulder to shoulder, guided by a steersperson and driven by the drummer’s cadence. Synchronisation is everything. A fraction of hesitation can break momentum, while perfect harmony can propel a crew forward with breathtaking speed. The discipline required is immense: muscles burn; hands blister; breathing must align with stroke and rhythm. It is sport distilled to collective precision.</p>



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<p>Dragon-boat racing mirrors the balance of endurance and unity that resonates deeply within Hong Kong, a city where heritage and innovation, East and West, thrive. It invites international participation while affirming local identity; it celebrates athletic excellence while preserving ritual symbolism. Few events manage this equilibrium with such vibrancy. As the festival’s reputation expanded, so did its prestige. Competing in Victoria Harbour became a badge of honour within the global dragon-boat community. Teams trained year-round for the opportunity to race where modern international competition first flourished.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Shoreline Spectacle</h3>



<p>This summer’s golden milestone heightens that sense of occasion, offering not only thrilling races but reflection on transformation. Special installations along the waterfront trace the journey from carved village boats to streamlined racing shells. Archival images reveal modest early gatherings evolving into today’s international spectacle. Veteran paddlers share stories of first races and lifelong friendships forged through shared exertion.</p>



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<p>Visiting teams parade flags representing continents, underscoring the sport’s extraordinary reach. Evening light displays shimmer across the harbour, casting dragon silhouettes against illuminated towers. The atmosphere feels celebratory yet reverent, acknowledging history while embracing momentum.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ancient &amp; Modern</h3>



<p>Fifty years of international growth have transformed Hong Kong’s Dragon Boat Festival into a defining cultural expression, demonstrating that tradition need not stand still to survive. By inviting the world into its waters, Hong Kong ensured that an ancient ritual would evolve rather than fade. The festival became a bridge, connecting fishermen’s chants with global athletic ambition.</p>



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<p>As spectators gather along Victoria Harbour this June, they will witness more than competition. They will see heritage in motion, powered by discipline and shared purpose. They will taste rice dumplings wrapped in memory and hear drumbeats that echo across generations. They will watch dragon heads rise proudly against a backdrop of glittering towers, fierce and luminous.</p>



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<p>In those moments, the city reveals itself. Hong Kong is rhythm and reinvention, resilience and reach. Its dragon boats embody that spirit – rooted yet restless, ceremonial yet contemporary. And as the golden celebration unfolds, the message carried across the harbour is clear: some traditions grow stronger with every stroke, gathering the world into their wake and racing confidently toward the horizon.</p>


Golden Dragon: From poet to paddlers – festive racing in Hong Kong waters marks 50 years of global evolution


<p>Emerging from a diplomatic and artistic vision to build a bridge between France and Asia, the French May Arts Festival stands today as one of Hong Kong’s most influential annual cultural events. It was conceived in 1993 by the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, together with Alliance Française de Hong Kong, as a month-long celebration of French creativity designed to deepen cultural exchange and mutual understanding.</p>



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<p>From the outset, French May was more than a programme of performances and exhibitions. It was a statement of intent, affirming that art could serve as a conduit between histories, geographies and identities. The atmosphere was intimate yet purposeful. Organisers sought not merely to entertain but to cultivate curiosity and sustained engagement.</p>



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<p>Programming first centred upon classical music recitals, French cinema screenings and carefully curated art exhibitions. The aim was to introduce Hong Kong audiences to a broad spectrum of French artistic expression, from canonical masters to emerging contemporary voices. Then, as it returned each spring, the festival began establishing itself as a dependable fixture within the city’s cultural calendar, nurturing loyal audiences while building trust with local institutions and creative partners.</p>



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<p>Even in its formative stage, French May’s ambition extended beyond presentation. The founders envisioned Hong Kong as a meeting point between European heritage and Asian dynamism, and the festival structure reflected this aspiration. Events were distributed across venues that symbolised the city’s evolving identity, including historic concert halls, modern galleries, university campuses and independent cinemas.</p>



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<p>Through this citywide presence, French May embedded itself within Hong Kong’s creative ecosystem rather than remaining a visiting showcase. It gradually became part of the rhythm of urban cultural life, anticipated by artists and audiences alike.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="677" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-1024x677.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-91107" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-423x280.jpg 423w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-768x508.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-2048x1354.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-200x132.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-5-800x529.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Masters of Paris</h3>



<p>As the festival matured, its scope expanded with confidence and clarity. Flowing beyond the confines of May, it became a two-month spectacle. Major exhibitions began arriving from renowned French museums and cultural institutions, showcasing significant works in painting, sculpture, photography and design. Audiences encountered masterpieces that might otherwise have required travel to Paris, Lyon or Marseille.</p>



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<p>This access reinforced Hong Kong’s position as an international arts hub while underscoring the festival’s commitment to excellence. With each ambitious exhibition, French May strengthened its reputation as a platform capable of presenting museum-quality experiences on a global scale.</p>



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<p>The performing arts flourished alongside visual programming. Contemporary dance and theatre joined the established pillars of music and art, broadening the festival’s artistic vocabulary. Classical repertoire coexisted with avant-garde experimentation. A baroque ensemble might be followed by a boundary-pushing multimedia production.</p>



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<p>This juxtaposition reflected an understanding of culture as living and evolving rather than static and preserved. French May has long embraced heritage and innovation in equal measure, allowing audiences to encounter centuries-old traditions alongside bold contemporary interpretations.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Community Care</h3>



<p>Partnership became central to the festival’s enduring success. Collaborations with local museums, universities, orchestras, galleries and performance venues ensured deep integration into Hong Kong’s cultural fabric. These alliances transformed French May from a diplomatic initiative into a shared civic enterprise.</p>



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<p>Educational initiatives further strengthened this role. Artist talks, masterclasses, workshops and school outreach programmes enabled students and emerging practitioners to engage directly with visiting creatives. For many young musicians and visual artists, these encounters provided formative moments of inspiration, mentorship and professional connection.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="567" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-1024x567.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-91108" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-1024x567.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-506x280.jpg 506w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-768x425.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-1536x850.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-2048x1134.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-200x111.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2-4-800x443.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>The launch of French GourMay in 2009 marked another significant evolution. Recognising that culture extends beyond galleries and concert halls, organisers welcomed gastronomy as an expressive art form in its own right. Each year, a specific French region is highlighted, bringing its culinary traditions, wine heritage and artisanal craftsmanship to Hong Kong’s restaurants and dining rooms.</p>



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<p>For May 2026, the high-altitude tastes of Savoie in the French Alps can be sampled at selected spots all over town. Participating chefs collaborate on themed menus, while tastings and demonstrations invite the public to explore the sensory dimensions of French culture. Through food and wine, French May reinforces the idea that creativity permeates everyday life.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">International Relationships</h3>



<p>Over time, the festival gained substantial international recognition. Large-scale exhibitions and headline performances by acclaimed orchestras, ballet companies and contemporary ensembles attracted significant audiences. The annual programme frequently encompasses more than 100 events, reflecting both ambition and sustained demand. As Hong Kong strengthened its global arts profile, French May contributed meaningfully to that reputation, positioning the city as a crossroads where East and West engage in sustained artistic dialogue.</p>



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<p>Recent editions have extended across spring and early summer, allowing deeper engagement across disciplines. Large exhibitions animate museum spaces, while theatres welcome international performers. Community participation continues to grow, and collaborations between French and Hong Kong artists have intensified. These co-productions underscore the festival’s evolution from presentation to partnership, and from invitation to genuine dialogue shaped by shared experience.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="662" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-1024x662.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-91109" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-1024x662.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-433x280.jpg 433w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-768x496.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-1536x992.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-2048x1323.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-200x129.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3-4-800x517.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Renaissance Now</h3>



<p>This year’s centrepiece exhibition exemplifies this trajectory. As French May 2026 adopts the theme Re/naissance, calling for creative renewal and rediscovery and new rushes of imagination, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Series at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum has been curated as a visual hybrid. Meet Mona Lisa, an immersive digital journey by the Louvre and Grand Palais Immersif, is paired with a gallery of masterpieces, Portraying the Renaissance, where holographic storytelling and multi-sensory experiences enrich Leonardo da Vinci’s intricate drawings.</p>



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<p>Music remains at the core of the programme. The multigenre mix assembled for 2026 includes Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra bassoon soloist Sophie Dervaux performing baroque and classical concertos with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong; jazz star Youn Sun Nah taking the stage with pianist Bojan Z; and French electronic icon DJ Snake unleashing his vibe at the Central Harbourfront.</p>



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<p>Through such varied concerts, audiences experience the breadth of French musical identity, spanning centuries and stylistic movements, and discover unexpected connections between tradition and experimentation.</p>



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<p>Dance and theatre provide equally daring narratives, affirming French May’s role as a forum for shared storytelling and cross-cultural resonance. Belgian choreographer Jan Martens challenges dance conventions with The Dog Days Are Over 2.0, while Hong Kong Dance Company and guest performer Ivana Wong bring a contemporary Chinese art master’s works to life for In Between – Wu Guanzhong’s Ink Odyssey. Fresh from France’s National Centre for Circus Arts, Cirque du Corbak unveils the acrobatic drama of Voûte in Tai Kwun.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="596" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-1024x596.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-91110" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-1024x596.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-481x280.jpg 481w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-768x447.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-1536x894.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-2048x1192.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-200x116.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/4-5-800x466.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">A Bridge So Far</h3>



<p>Sustainability has emerged as a meaningful thread within recent programming. Environmentally conscious exhibition design, responsible sourcing within culinary events, and discussions on sustainable artistic practice reflect broader global priorities. By integrating ecological awareness into its presentation, the festival demonstrates responsiveness to contemporary concerns while maintaining artistic excellence.</p>



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<p>Looking across its evolution, French May reveals a steady arc of ambition, resilience and partnership. What began as a diplomatic initiative has grown into a landmark multidisciplinary festival shaping Hong Kong’s international cultural identity. Its success lies not only in scale but in continuity, in the annual reaffirmation of dialogue between France and Hong Kong through art, education and shared celebration.</p>



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<p>Today, French May stands as a testament to the enduring power of artistic exchange. It fosters creative networks, inspires audiences, and strengthens cross-cultural understanding. By balancing heritage with innovation, and tradition with experimentation, it continues to redefine what a cultural festival can achieve. More than a celebration of French art, French May is a living bridge, built not of stone or steel, but of imagination, collaboration and enduring connection.</p>


Come Each May: Diplomatic coup turned cultural tour de force, the annual French festival deserves our applause


<p>The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens did not start as a spectacle at kick-off in Happy Valley half a century ago. It began, as many enduring cultural institutions do, almost accidentally. Back then, the sport existed on the margins. Rugby was played largely within the expatriate community, sustained by club culture and social networks that operated somewhat apart from the city’s mainstream consciousness. In this context, the tournament’s role in bringing the city and people from around the world together over an oval ball for an exhilarating long weekend is a remarkable feat.</p>



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<p>Hong Kong was a very different city in the mid-1970s; smaller, rougher at the edges, and still negotiating its identity as an international hub, it was defined more by transit and trade than by lifestyle. Skyscrapers had not yet fully asserted the skyline’s authority, and while finance was growing, it had not yet become the city’s dominant narrative. The prevailing mood was industrious rather than expressive.</p>



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<p>When the idea of hosting a Rugby Sevens tournament was first proposed during discussions between the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union and then sponsors Rothmans and Cathay Pacific, it carried none of the ambition or theatrical scale that would later define it. There was no sweeping cultural blueprint, no strategic ambition to manufacture a global brand.</p>



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<p>The shortened format of Sevens – seven players per side for rapid matches – appealed for practical reasons. It allowed multiple games to be staged across a single weekend, making travel worthwhile for visiting teams. It was efficient, compact and manageable. In a city that valued efficiency above excess, that practicality was sufficient justification.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-1024x625.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90829" width="768" height="469" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-1024x625.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-459x280.jpg 459w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-768x469.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-1536x937.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-2048x1250.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-200x122.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-2-800x488.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rugby Roar</h3>



<p>Yet that modest premise proved quietly transformative. When the first Hong Kong Sevens took place in 1976, featuring teams from across Asia and the Pacific, it did more than fill a sporting gap. It positioned the city as a regional meeting point at a time when global connectivity had not yet entered everyday vocabulary. Hong Kong’s economic role as an intermediary between continents found a cultural parallel inside the stadium. Teams arrived from different countries; supporters followed; flags appeared in the stands. For a few days, the city’s outward-facing identity condensed into a shared physical space.</p>



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<p>What distinguished the tournament in its early years was not only the quality of play but the atmosphere that began to form around it. The shortened format generated momentum. Matches were brief, intense and closely scheduled, leaving little room for inertia. The pace encouraged constant engagement, with spectators becoming animated participants. The crowd responded collectively to sudden tries and dramatic turnovers. Laughter, chanting and applause moved in waves.</p>



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<p>Since the Sevens grew organically, it feels fundamentally different from other large-scale gatherings. Its character formed through repetition – staged on the same weekend, year after year – and through the steady layering of memory. Attendees learned the rhythm of the event almost instinctively. They knew when anticipation would peak and when energy would dip, and this shared familiarity reduced the distance between strangers.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-1024x531.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90830" width="768" height="398" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-1024x531.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-540x280.jpg 540w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-768x399.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-1536x797.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-2048x1063.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-200x104.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-800x415.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Success and Fancy Dress</h3>



<p>As Hong Kong established itself as a financial powerhouse and global crossroads in the 1980s and 1990s, the Sevens evolved alongside it. The tournament broadened its international reach and migrated venues – from the Football Club, where 3,000 spectators watched the debut one-day event, to the 28,000-capacity Government Stadium in 1982, which was modernised in the 1990s and renamed the Hong Kong Stadium, to the spanking new 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium last year. The Sevens embedded itself into the city’s annual calendar, becoming a fixed point in an environment otherwise defined by constant acceleration.</p>



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<p>The tournament culture was shaped more by the people who attended than by official programming. Traditions accumulated gradually. Attending in fancy dress emerged not as orchestrated fashion statements but as spontaneous gestures among groups of friends. One year’s joke became the next year’s expectation. The humour was playful, and the visual chaos in the stands signalled collective belonging rather than curated identity.</p>



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<p>This ethos was already cemented by 1997 when the tournament achieved global recognition – this was the year Hong Kong hosted the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and its success was instrumental in the launch of the World Sevens Series in 1999. Loud, irreverent and communal, the emphasis rested on a raucous collective mood – epitomised by the alcohol-fuelled party atmosphere of Hong Kong Stadium’s South Stand – rather than individual performance.</p>



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<p>People were absorbed into a larger current of energy. Expertise in rugby was welcome but unnecessary. Enthusiasm was the only requirement, and the crowd functioned as a temporary community, unified by rhythm rather than background.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-1024x636.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90831" width="768" height="477" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-1024x636.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-450x280.jpg 450w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-768x477.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-200x124.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2-800x497.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3-2.jpg 1855w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Communal Party</h3>



<p>Until this day, exuberance coexists with inclusivity during the Sevens weekend. Families share sections with longtime supporters and first-time visitors. Colleagues temporarily suspend workplace hierarchies. Conversations unfold without formal introduction. Groups select shared costume themes that transform them into collective characters. The result is an egalitarian spectacle in which participation matters more than polish. The stands resemble a living collage, constantly shifting yet unified.</p>



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<p>Beyond the stadium, the city subtly reconfigures itself. Bars and restaurants function as informal meeting points, encounters between strangers occur with unusual ease, and the streets feel even more vibrant. The tempo of daily life adjusts, if only briefly. The Sevens reframes Hong Kong’s intensity, and energy becomes celebratory rather than transactional.</p>



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<p>While the tournament does not promise reinvention or transformation, it permits suspension of boundaries between economic status and cultural divide, between locals and expatriates, between residents and visitors. In a city known for discipline and efficiency, collective exuberance carries symbolic weight. The permission to relax, to cheer loudly and dress absurdly feels restorative – and because that permission is shared, it rarely tips into bad behaviour or mayhem.</p>



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<p>Although social media captures fragments of the weekend, the memory of the Sevens resides in sensation: tired legs from standing, hoarse voices from chanting, sun-warmed skin or soaked to the skin – monsoon-like downpours are not uncommon on the tournament weekend – and the faint disorientation of Monday morning. These embodied traces anchor recollection more powerfully than photographs.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-1024x652.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90832" width="768" height="489" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-1024x652.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-440x280.jpg 440w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-768x489.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-1536x978.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-200x127.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2-800x509.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4-2.jpg 1863w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Inclusive Scores</h3>



<p>As the Hong Kong Sevens has matured over 50 years, it has absorbed social change without abandoning its foundations. Women’s rugby has gained deserved prominence, and youth engagement has expanded. Local representation has deepened, reflecting Hong Kong’s evolving demographics. These developments extend the tournament’s inclusive spirit.</p>



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<p>By Sunday evening, as final matches conclude and the crowd thins, the release subsides gently. Costumes are folded away until next year. Bars quieten, and the city resumes its habitual tempo. Yet a subtle recalibration lingers. The Sevens endures because it offers continuity within change. It is not spectacle engineered for consumption, but ritual sustained by return.</p>



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<p>From 17-19 April this year, Hong Kong will gather once again over multiple rugby matches, heralding recognition of shared history, shared space and shared release. The Sevens is not about the self; it champions collective presence and community – and that enduring simplicity remains its quiet distinction and lasting relevance.</p>



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<p>For many residents, particularly those who have witnessed Hong Kong’s rapid economic and political transformations, the Sevens acts as a temporal anchor. The city has weathered cycles of prosperity and uncertainty, demographic change and shifting global relationships. Neighbourhoods have been reshaped; industries have risen and receded. Through these fluctuations, the Sevens has remained. Its recurrence provides continuity in a landscape often defined by impermanence.</p>


Sevens Heaven: Five decades after Hong Kong’s first tournament, tries still excite and unite the community 


<p>Every March, Hong Kong becomes more than a financial capital or transit hub – it transforms into a living, breathing laboratory for contemporary culture. Art Basel Hong Kong, returning this year from 27-29 March, is not simply the Asian stop of an art-fair juggernaut; it’s a statement of the city’s importance on the world art map.</p>



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<p>The Hong Kong fair feels unmistakably different this time: quieter in its confidence, sharper in its focus, and more committed than ever to the urgency of the present moment. Rather than leaning on spectacle or legacy alone, it has placed its weight on recent artistic production, Asia-led curatorial voices, and cross-regional dialogue that feels lived rather than theoretical. The result is a citywide cultural week that rewards thoughtful viewing and curiosity beyond the exposition booth.</p>



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<p>The most telling development of Art Basel Hong Kong is the recalibration toward the now. While the fair has always been attentive to contemporary practices, the 2026 edition marks a more disciplined commitment to works made within the last five years. It reflects a world shaped by pandemic aftershocks, climate instability, accelerated digitalization and shifting geopolitical alignments.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Present Push</h3>



<p>This emphasis crystallises most clearly in Echoes, a newly introduced sector that foregrounds recent creative output without framing it as emerging or provisional. Ten curated booths display works by up to three artists each, offering a compelling glimpse into the most current artistic applications and narratives. It reads like a pulse check on what artists are thinking, making and questioning at this exact moment.</p>



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<p>The works here are materially ambitious but conceptually intimate, grappling with issues like migration, ecological systems and the uneasy coexistence of technology and embodiment. Highlights include Vietnamese-American artist Tiffany Chung’s embroidered maps of spice routes and the carved book sculptures of Colombia’s Miler Lagos, both presented by Madrid gallery Max Estrella. An immersive spatial installation by Polish artist Natalia Załuska, displayed by Hong Kong’s Double Q Gallery, will also seize the imagination.</p>



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<p>Walking through this new section will feel like entering a series of conversations already in progress. With textile works doubling as geopolitical maps, and sculptures referencing the fragile balance between nature and human civilisation, there is plenty to digest. Echoes resists easy categorisation, which is precisely the point: it insists that contemporary art is not a trend forecast but a lived condition.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-532x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90500" width="399" height="768" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-532x1024.jpg 532w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-146x280.jpg 146w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-768x1478.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-798x1536.jpg 798w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-1064x2048.jpg 1064w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-200x385.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-800x1539.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Miler-Lagos_Tree-of-Civilizations-2024_01-scaled.jpg 1330w" sizes="(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Dominant Asia</h3>



<p>Equally significant is who is shaping the fair’s intellectual spine. For the first time, all major curated sectors at Art Basel Hong Kong are overseen by Asia-based practitioners, signalling a structural rather than symbolic shift. This is not about replacing one dominant voice with another; it is about embracing multiplicity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Encounters sector, long known for its monumental installations and large-scale gestures.</p>



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<p>This year, Encounters adopts a collective curatorial model, bringing together voices from Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia – namely M+ Visual Art Curator Isabella Tam; Director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, Mami Kataoka, and her Senior Curator Hirokazu Tokuyama; and Jakarta-based researcher Alia Swastika. Instead of a singular curatorial narrative, the sector unfolds as a constellation of perspectives, sometimes complementary, sometimes deliberately dissonant.</p>



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<p>The works here are expansive but not bombastic. Several projects are conceived specifically for the fair, underscoring a move away from transportable spectacle towards site-responsive thinking. Encounters feels less like an Instagram moment and more like a spatial essay, something to be read with the body as much as the eye.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-1024x666.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90501" width="768" height="500" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-1024x666.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-430x280.jpg 430w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-768x500.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-200x130.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01-800x521.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Isabella-Tam-Mami-Kataoka-Alia-Swastika-Hirokazu-Tokuyama_01.jpg 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Hong Kong Direction</h3>



<p>The Asia-led approach, which continues with Hong Kongers Ellen Pau and Venus Lau overseeing the Film and Conversations programmes respectively, subtly reframes the fair’s centre of gravity. The language of East meets West has long outlived its usefulness, and Art Basel Hong Kong seems keenly aware of that. Rather than positioning Asia as a regional subset within a global hierarchy, the fair presents the continent’s art as a network of nodes that are internally diverse, outward-looking and fully entangled with global cultural currents.</p>



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<p>With pioneering video artist Pau at its helm, Film showings position moving image as both artistic medium and historical document. The curation spotlights artists who use time-based media to examine memory, surveillance, displacement and collective authorship. The day of Conversations, meanwhile, leans away from market prognostication towards institutional exchange. Lau, who serves as Director of Jakarta’s Museum MACAN, presents panel discussions that feel refreshingly grounded.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-1024x666.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90502" width="768" height="500" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-1024x666.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-430x280.jpg 430w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-768x500.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-200x130.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01-800x521.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ellen-Pau-Venus-Lau_01.jpg 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Confident Curation</h3>



<p>Across the fair, the most compelling booths among 240 galleries from 42 countries this year are those that resist the temptation to overdisplay. Fewer works, thoughtfully installed, tend to reward sustained attention – mirroring the fair’s broader shift toward depth over density. Several established galleries stand out for their curatorial ambition rather than sheer scale. Equally important are those that have matured through the fair’s earlier sectors and now occupy the main floor with renewed confidence. These presentations often signal long-term institutional investment and are worth watching closely.</p>



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<p>Art Basel Hong Kong newcomers include Tokyo’s A Lighthouse called Kanata, showcasing Japan’s renewed interest in abstraction through works by postwar masters and emerging painters, and Sydney gallery The Commercial, debuting works that interrogate Australian identity and colonial history. Pilevneli from Istanbul presents AI-generated works, porcelain sculpture and mixed-media installations, and New York’s Uffner &amp; Liu focuses on artists examining distortion, transformation and disguise.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Beyond the Booths</h3>



<p>What truly distinguishes Art Basel Hong Kong is how seamlessly it extends into the city itself. During fair week, Hong Kong becomes a distributed exhibition space, with museums, heritage sites and public façades activated in conversation with the fair.</p>



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<p>At M+, a major façade commission transforms the building into a luminous, city-scale canvas. This year, an animation of hand-painted watercolours by Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander references historical trade routes and contemporary geopolitics, merging traditional visual languages with digital invention. Seen from a distance, it functions as both artwork and urban signal: a reminder that art here is not confined indoors.</p>



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<p>Across the harbour, Tai Kwun pulses with energy during its annual Artists’ Night. Performances unfold across courtyards and corridors of the former Central Police Station, emphasising sound, movement and collective experience. In a counterpoint to the polished choreography of the fair, the atmosphere here is less formal and more experimental.</p>



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<p>Meanwhile, independent spaces such as Para Site offer rigorously researched exhibitions that engage political, ecological and social questions head-on. These shows reward visitors willing to step off the main circuit, offering some of the most intellectually demanding and emotionally resonant experiences of the week.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-1024x666.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-90503" width="768" height="500" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-1024x666.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-430x280.jpg 430w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-768x500.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-200x130.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01-800x521.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Shahzia-Sikander_3-to-12-Nautical-Miles_M-Facade_01.jpg 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Quiet Power</h3>



<p>Taken together, Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 feels less like a market crescendo and more like a sustained conversation. Its power lies not in headline-grabbing sales or monumental gestures, but in its attention to process, authorship and context. The fair no longer asks viewers to marvel at scale alone; it invites them to listen.</p>



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<p>For collectors, this means engaging with practices still in motion. For curators, it offers a snapshot of how Asia-based voices are shaping global discourse from within. For the culturally curious, it provides a rare opportunity to experience a city thinking out loud through art.</p>



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<p>In March each year, Hong Kong does not simply host Art Basel; it becomes Art Basel. And in doing so, it reminds us that the most compelling art is not about predicting the future, but about understanding the present with clarity, complexity and care.</p>


Works of Progress: Curated by Asians and committed to diverse conversations, Art Basel Hong Kong amps up the contemporary


<p>The skyline looks almost identical from a distance. Lights shimmer across the Pearl River Delta, mirrored on both sides of the narrow border that once signified two entirely different worlds. Yet as the Greater Bay Area matures, the divide between Hong Kong and Shenzhen begins to look more like a connection – a glittering artery of finance, creativity and ambition.&nbsp;</p>



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<p>Hong Kong has long been the elder statesperson of elegance: cultured, composed and globally admired for its seamless fusion of East and West. Shenzhen is its brash, magnetic younger sibling, born out of China’s 1980 Special Economic Zone experiment that turned fishing villages into an innovation powerhouse – futuristic, fearless and fluent in the language of tomorrow. Together they form a single story of contrast and convergence, one built on the rhythm of two very different hearts beating in perfect time. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="680" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-1024x680.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-89841" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-422x280.jpg 422w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-768x510.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-2048x1360.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-2-800x531.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>Hong Kong still wears its heritage like tailored silk. Its streets may adjust to new tempos, but beneath the glass and steel lies a city of ritual and refinement. Business meetings unfold over dim sum at the China Club, contemporary art is admired at M+, and jazz floats beneath the dramatic ceiling installation of the Rosewood’s DarkSide. What was once loud luxury has softened into quiet confidence. For the world’s well-heeled, success here is discreet, delivered through serviced apartments, club memberships and unspoken access.</p>



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<p>Across the water, Shenzhen gleams like possibility incarnate. Since its 1980s uplift, it has matured into China’s Silicon Valley and maybe its purest experiment in aspiration. The city’s skyline shifts faster than stock charts, each new tower an architectural declaration that the future can be built overnight. Corporate campuses for Tencent, Huawei and BYD spread across acres, coated in high-tech materials and optimism. Coffee shops function like brainstorming labs; industrial warehouses double as art galleries; and youthful designers hold exhibitions that merge robotics with calligraphy. Where Hong Kong polishes, Shenzhen prototypes. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Sophistication / Adrenaline</h3>



<p>Hong Kong’s nightlife has long been shorthand for sophistication. Rooftop terraces crown skyscrapers with celestial accuracy. At Cardinal Point or Fayy, evenings unfold in warm light and restrained laughter. The soundtrack is house music softened by the breeze sweeping off Victoria Harbour, one hand on a Martini glass and another scrolling through global markets. Lan Kwai Fong still dazzles, but the modern elite prefer their pleasures quieter: a DJ set that ends before midnight, a cigar paused between discussions about art auctions and philanthropy. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="649" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-1024x649.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-89842" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-1024x649.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-442x280.jpg 442w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-768x486.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-1536x973.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-2048x1297.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-200x127.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2-2-800x507.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>Shenzhen, by contrast, hums with the urgency of youth. Its clubs pulse with LED dreamscapes and the adrenaline of creation. Crowds form without invitation, united by curiosity. There’s something liberating about the lack of hierarchy – designers, engineers, expatriates and artists sharing the same dancefloor. Rooftop decks overlook Fujian’s futuristic skyline, the air brimming with techno buoyancy. For a generation raised on progress bars, the beat of Shenzhen is a form of language: energetic, unfiltered, brilliantly alive. </p>



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<p>Both cities are driven by ambition, yet style distinguishes them. In Hong Kong, luxury is heritage – the craftsmanship of a shoe, the patina on a leather briefcase, the familiarity of a maître d’. It seduces through quality and service refined over time. Shenzhen’s luxury, however, is immediate and digital; it exists in smart living, curated gadgets and spontaneous design. There, the concept of premium lies in connectivity – homes that respond to mood, cars that drive through intuition rather than instruction, and retail spaces that dissolve the boundary between online and tactile. The two cities approach desire differently: Hong Kong recalls it, Shenzhen reinvents it. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Investment / Invention</h3>



<p>Finance strengthens one; innovation fuels the other. Hong Kong remains among the world’s top financial centres, its skyline a monument to global trust. Its banks and legal systems still anchor Asia’s capital flows, the place where international investors find both transparency and tradition. Shenzhen, on the other hand, produces value rather than stores it. Its laboratories and incubators push boundaries in electric mobility, robotics, biotech and digital art. Yet, the border between invention and investment narrows each year until they appear as two sides of a single page. </p>



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<p>That same duality defines their art and architecture. Hong Kong’s creative spaces carry restraint – think of the repurposed colonial courtyards of Tai Kwun, or the marble-lined calm of Asia Society. Shenzhen treats art as oxygen. Oil paintings spill out of Dafen Village; light installations wrap around skyscrapers; exhibitions explore artificial intelligence as performance. In Hong Kong, art asks for reflection. In Shenzhen, it demands participation. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Refinement / Results</h3>



<p>Living between the two cities feels increasingly seamless. The high-speed train between West Kowloon and Futian takes only 14 minutes, collapsing geography and state borders into the inconvenience of a coffee queue. Many executives now maintain dual lives: homes on Hong Kong Island for refinement, offices in Shenzhen for results. Designers commute daily with prototypes in one hand and an espresso in the other. The Greater Bay Area has changed behaviour from cross-border to cross-lifestyle. The question is no longer “Where do you work?” but “Where do you wish to wake up?” </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="646" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-1024x646.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-89844" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-444x280.jpg 444w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-768x484.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-1536x968.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-2048x1291.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-200x126.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/4-1-800x504.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>The culinary language of both cities expresses this new synergy beautifully. Hong Kong continues its reign as Asia’s fine dining capital: the deft French technique of Caprice and the poetic flair of Tate Dining Room remind diners that precision and patience are still the ultimate luxuries. Shenzhen answers with experimentation. Its chefs blur boundaries between science and flavour. Ensue’s Californian Cantonese tasting menu transforms local ingredients into abstract art, while dishes at Orbit One arrive by magnetic levitation technology. One conserves mastery; the other builds new languages for taste.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Heritage / Horizon</h3>



<p>Even property tells a story of philosophy. Hong Kong’s addresses whisper heritage: Peak mansions looking down on a glittering harbour, Mid Levels apartments carved into hillsides, Repulse Bay homes guarded by banyan trees. Compact yet composed, they signal prestige through history. Shenzhen stretches outward instead, its luxury measured in square footage. The contrast mirrors the inhabitants’ mindset: Hong Kong refines space; Shenzhen expands it. </p>



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<p>Culturally, their energies wrap around each other like yin and yang. Hong Kong sips aged whisky to piano music; Shenzhen downs craft gin amid digital art. Hong Kong collects, Shenzhen creates. Yet they share the same pursuit: a hunger for meaning in experience, beauty anchored in intelligence, and connection forged through creativity. </p>



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<p>The bridge linking them, both literal and figurative, shows that difference need not divide; it can define a dual identity capable of steering an entire region. The finance meeting in Central funds the technology written in Shenzhen. The art conceived in OCT-Loft is unveiled at a Hong Kong auction. Together, they are becoming the world’s newest metropolis of merged energies: heritage meeting horizon, probability meeting poetry. </p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Two Stories, One Dream</h3>



<p>While ferries cross Victoria Harbour, trains glide under the Sham Chun River, carrying passengers who no longer think of leaving one city for another. The Elder City of glass and manners meets the Younger City of algorithms and courage, both aware that their partnership could redefine how urban luxury looks and feels. </p>



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<p>Hong Kong and Shenzhen are no longer rivals but realms of a shared empire of ideas. One looks at tradition through the eyes of experience, the other at the future through the lens of invention. Yet the more they collaborate, the more those labels blur. Perhaps that’s the essence of the modern Asian metropolis: multiplicity, movement and grace. As the lights blend on the horizon, the skyline becomes a mirror rather than a border, reflecting two faces of the same dream.&nbsp;</p>


Twin Purpose: Two neighbours, two energies – how Hong Kong and Shenzhen converge as a powerful modern metropolis


<p>Once known primarily as a financial powerhouse, Hong Kong has masterfully leveraged its strategic location, world-class infrastructure and cultural ambitions to become an indispensable hub for the global art market. The question is no longer whether Hong Kong belongs on the world art map; it’s how it got there so fast, and what it plans to do next.</p>



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<p>Hong Kong’s rise as an art capital didn’t begin with culture; it began with commerce. Indeed, it was the city’s reputation as a global financial centre that laid the groundwork for its art market dominance. The business case is compelling: Hong Kong offers first-rate logistics, secure storage facilities and proximity to mainland China and Southeast Asia. Its business-friendly policies, tax-free art trade and robust legal framework made it an attractive destination for international galleries, auction houses and collectors alike.</p>



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<p>The city’s connectivity and efficiency make it a natural gateway for art moving across continents. “Hong Kong is where East meets West – not just culturally, but commercially,” says Elaine Kwok, Managing Partner of the Hauser &amp; Wirth gallery in Asia. “It’s the perfect storm of infrastructure, wealth and ambition.”</p>


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<p><strong>Fair Play</strong></p>



<p>When the world’s premier art fair, Art Basel, arrived in Hong Kong in 2013, it marked a seismic shift. This was not only a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s potential, but also a declaration that the city had arrived. The fair brought international attention, institutional credibility, and a flood of collectors to the city’s shores. Today, Art Basel Hong Kong is a fixture of the global art calendar, drawing thousands of visitors and generating millions of dollars in sales. But its true impact lies in how it catalysed a broader transformation.</p>



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<p>Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, which had all established their Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, hosted record-breaking sales that rivalled New York and London. In 2022, the Zao Wou-Ki masterpiece 29.09.64 sold for HK$278 million at Christie’s – an auction record for a single painting by the late Chinese-French artist – underscoring the city’s clout and its ability to command top-tier prices.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Hub of the Scene</h3>



<p>As well as money, though, a market needs meaning. Hong Kong’s transformation into a cultural hub accelerated with the opening of tM+ art museum in 2021. Often dubbed Asia’s answer to Tate Modern, M+ has emerged as a monumental institution dedicated to visual culture, from contemporary art to architecture and the moving image. When its LED façade lit up the West Kowloon skyline, it signalled a new era for the city.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88540" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_M-plus.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Just steps away, the Hong Kong Palace Museum offers a counterpoint – a bastion of Chinese heritage showcasing imperial treasures and classical art. Together, these institutions create a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation. They reflect Hong Kong’s dual identity: cosmopolitan yet deeply rooted in history.</p>



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<p>Commercial galleries have also flourished. Blue-chip names like Hauser &amp; Wirth, Gagosian and White Cube have opened sleek spaces in Central, while local galleries such as 10 Chancery Lane, Rossi &amp; Rossi and Kiang Malingue continue to champion regional talent. The result is a layered ecosystem that supports both blockbuster exhibitions and emerging voices. This diversity is essential to sustaining a vibrant art scene.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88542" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_OP1A.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Market Shift</strong></h3>



<p>But beyond the multimillion-dollar auctions, the glitzy fairs and the swanky galleries, a deeper cultural ecosystem is thriving – one that positions the city as the definitive bridge between Asian art and the world. Hong Kong’s art scene has evolved beyond a marketplace into a movement.</p>



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<p>There is now a conscious effort to move from art hub to home, cultivating a creative culture that is distinctly Hong Kong’s own. This shift is crucial for long-term sustainability and cultural relevance. Thus, the next chapter in the city’s art story isn’t about auctions or architecture, it’s about identity.</p>



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<p>In one facet of this evolution, art spaces are no longer confined to traditional districts. Wong Chuk Hang, once an industrial zone, has become a creative enclave, with warehouses converted into studios and galleries. Sham Shui Po, known for its gritty charm, is attracting curators and artists drawn to its authenticity and affordability. The decentralisation of art is making it more accessible, more democratic and more reflective of the city’s diversity.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88554" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/opt-Feature4_Nov2025_Studio-Art_3.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Talent Show</h3>



<p>Spurring the momentum, local artists are gaining visibility on the global stage. Take South Ho, whose haunting photography captures the tension of urban life in Hong Kong. Or Angela Su, who followed her 2022 Venice Biennale debut with a solo exhibition in the US last year.  These artists aren’t just participating in the market, they are shaping its narrative. Their work reflects the complexities of Hong Kong’s social and political landscape, offering perspectives that are both personal and universal.</p>



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<p>Support systems are growing, too. Non-profit spaces like Para Site, Asia Art Archive and Tai Kwun offer residencies, mentorship and experimental programming. These institutions play a vital role in nurturing talent, fostering dialogue and challenging conventions. They provide platforms for risk-taking and innovation, which are essential for artistic growth.</p>



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<p>Education is also part of the equation. Universities and art schools are expanding their programmes, while initiatives like the Jockey Club’s Creative Arts Centre provide resources for young artists. Public art projects and community festivals are engaging broader audiences, breaking down barriers between art and everyday life. The goal is to build not just an art market, but an art culture.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88547" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Wong-Chuk-Hang_2-1.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Asian Ascendancy</h3>



<p>Hong Kong’s journey from commercial outpost to cultural powerhouse has been remarkable, but challenges remain. Political shifts have raised questions about artistic freedom, while regional rivals like Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo are vying for influence. Each Asian powerhouse brings its own strengths – Seoul boasts a creative youth culture, Singapore benefits from government-backed infrastructure, and Tokyo builds upon its avant-garde legacy. The competition is fierce, and Hong Kong must continue to innovate to stay ahead.</p>



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<p>Still, Hong Kong’s resilience – and its ability to reinvent itself – is part of its DNA. The city has weathered economic downturns, political upheaval and global pandemics, emerging each time with renewed energy. Its art scene reflects that spirit: adaptive, ambitious and unapologetically bold.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88549" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Feature4_Nov2025_Street-Art_02-1.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Art of the People</h3>



<p>The city stands at a crossroads. Will it remain the definitive connector between Asian art and the world, or will it forge a unique artistic voice that transcends its market roots? The answer may lie not in its auction houses or museums, but in its studios, alleyways and conversations. It will depend on how well Hong Kong supports its artists, engages its communities, and protects its creative freedoms.</p>



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<p>Technology will also play a role. Digital art, NFTs and virtual exhibitions are reshaping how art is created, shared and sold. Hong Kong’s tech-savvy population and robust digital infrastructure position it well to lead in this space. But the challenge will be to balance innovation with authenticity, and to ensure that digital platforms enhance rather than dilute artistic expression.</p>



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<p>Hong Kong’s story is still unfolding, and its canvas is far from complete. This dynamic and undaunted city certainly possesses the tools, the talent and the tenacity to shape the future of art in Asia and beyond. Hong Kong is still painting, and the collectors, curators and art critics of the world watch on. The picture that is emerging is one of complexity, creativity and connection.</p>


Canvas City: Hong Kong is evolving from a million-dollar art mart into a hub of rich creativity


<p>In the heart of Hong Kong Island lies a district where time folds into itself. Neither flashy nor loud, it pulsates with dignity. Here, dried seafood hangs above narrow shopfronts, incense curls above weathered temples, and older residents push carts through morning mist with a quiet rhythm that defines the neighbourhood.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88068" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>This is Sheung Wan, nestled adjacent to Central and spilling westward into Sai Ying Pun. It is an area rooted in tradition, refreshed by art, and animated by the resilient spirit of an ageing population whose daily labour – borne not out of necessity alone, but out of pride, habit and heart – has shaped its enduring charm.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88069" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/imgproxy-1-1-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Historical Backbone</h3>



<p>Sheung Wan’s story begins at the very inception of modern Hong Kong. It was one of the first areas settled after British colonisation in 1842, and Possession Point, now memorialised in Hollywood Road Park, marks the literal birthplace of colonial Hong Kong. But before British flags fluttered here, Sheung Wan was already a thriving Chinese settlement, known for its maritime economy and bustling market culture.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88043" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image11-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>The streets whisper these layers of history. Old tenement buildings stand beside colonial façades. Tram bells echo through Des Voeux Road West, a stretch famous for its dried seafood vendors – a trade rooted in Sheung Wan’s seafaring legacy. You can trace the district’s origins in its smells, textures and street names: Wing Lok Street, Bonham Strand, Queen’s Road. Each one tells a story of migration, adaptation and diligence.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88045" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image06-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Age of Majority</h3>



<p>Perhaps the most poignant element of Sheung Wan’s character is its people – many of whom are ageing, yet tireless. As dawn unfolds over the harbour, you’ll find septuagenarians and octogenarians unlocking iron gates, brushing off delivery crates, and sweeping temple courtyards. These are not retirees tucked away in suburban flats; they are stewards of tradition, often running family businesses established decades ago. Their faces, lined with time, are maps of perseverance.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88046" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image01-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Mrs Chan, who hand-selects scallops from massive burlap sacks outside her dried seafood shop, doesn’t rely on online inventory systems or marketing campaigns – just instinct and reputation. Mr Leung has operated a traditional herbal medicine shop in Wing Lok Street for 50 years, and his fingers move from ginseng root to deer horn with practised grace, embodying generational knowledge.</p>



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<p>Sheung Wan’s older residents embody something rare: a lifestyle built on honest labour, personal connection and deep community ties. Their daily work is not nostalgic; it is essential. Without them, Sheung Wan would lose its pulse.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88048" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/opt-Feature4_Oct2025_image07-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Temples and Traditions</h3>



<p>Anchoring the district’s spiritual heritage is Man Mo Temple, constructed in the mid-1800s and dedicated to the gods of literature and war. Stepping inside feels like entering a living time capsule – burning incense spirals from the ceiling, red altars glint in flickering candlelight, and whispers of prayers hang in the air.</p>



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<p>It’s not uncommon to find elderly worshippers here in the morning, lighting incense for their grandchildren’s exam success or silently giving thanks for continued health. These mundane yet profound rituals bridge Sheung Wan’s historical past to its present, one gesture at a time.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88050" width="720" height="540" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03.jpg 960w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/man-mo-temple-03-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></figure></div>


<p>Around the corner, smaller altars and shrines tucked into alleyways honour local deities. These sacred spaces may not appear in guidebooks, but they are sacred touchstones for the community.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Creative Undercurrent</h3>



<p>While tradition anchors Sheung Wan, creativity gives it new breath. The district has quietly transformed into a hub for artists and designers who thrive amid its layered textures. At PMQ in Aberdeen Street, the former Police Married Quarters building has been reimagined as a home for innovation. Fashion designers, ceramicists and illustrators sell hand-crafted wares and host workshops alongside curated exhibitions. The juxtaposition is striking: sleek lines inside an ageing structure, just minutes from streets lined with antique calligraphy.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88052" width="750" height="500" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3.jpg 1000w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3-420x280.jpg 420w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1_CW_8_PMQ元創方_3-800x534.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /></figure></div>


<p>Elsewhere, quiet corners boast vibrant murals, particularly along Sai Street and Upper Station Street, where spray-painted dragons and abstract portraits climb stone walls. These artworks are not just decorative; they speak to Hong Kong’s evolving identity, especially in a district like Sheung Wan that exists between permanence and transformation.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88051" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/optt-Feature4_Oct2025_image04-1-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Culinary Layers</h3>



<p>Food in Sheung Wan is sensory storytelling. The district’s cuisine isn’t just about flavour, it’s about craftsmanship, memory and personal connection. A bowl of congee from a long-established eatery, like Sang Kee in Burd Street, is a cherished ritual. They don’t boast modern plating; they serve dishes rooted in ancestral recipes, made with hands that remember every step by feel. In places like this, such favourites as pork bone soup, shrimp wonton noodles and steamed sponge cake are assembled without fanfare, but with the care that only repetition and love can yield.</p>



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<p>On the flip side, contemporary cafés reinterpret these traditions, blending French pastry techniques with Hong Kong culinary heritage to create chiffon cakes that feel both nostalgic and novel. The coexistence of time-honoured flavours and fresh interpretations reflects Sheung Wan’s cultural layering.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-88054" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv.webp 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv-373x280.webp 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv-768x576.webp 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv-200x150.webp 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/0FIFV1F61A9FF45BCF34E5lv-800x600.webp 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Whether it’s a tea-seller scooping dried leaves with a brass ladle or a young barista brewing single-origin espresso beside his grandmother’s joss sticks, food here is never just food – it’s a bridge between cultures and generations.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Shops With Soul</h3>



<p>Forget the megamalls of Central – Sheung Wan’s shopping experience is deeply personal and idiosyncratic. G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) in Hollywood Road, for instance, offers witty designs inspired by quirky Hong Kong icons like neon signs, double-decker buses, and even nostalgic snack packaging.</p>



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<p>Once the home of priceless antique shops, Sheung Wan presents treasure hunters with a more mass-market appeal. At Cat Street market in Upper Lascar Row, second-hand porcelain, vintage posters and kitschy oddities are sold at stalls manned by vendors who have collected for decades. Bargaining here isn’t just about price; it’s about stories.</p>


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<p>The district also celebrates artisanship through brands like Loveramics, whose Tai Kwun shop purveys ceramic bowls that are part sculpture, part functionality. Here, the ageing art of porcelain-making gets a sleek, urban update.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Green Respites</h3>



<p>Amid its bustle, this stretch of the Western district offers rare moments of pause. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, facing Victoria Harbour in Sai Ying Pun, is a sanctuary of green. Elderly couples stroll its walkways in the early hours and practise tai chi. The park honours one of China’s great revolutionaries while serving as a day-to-day refuge for those seeking breath in a dense city.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88053" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy-373x280.jpg 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy-200x150.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sun_Yat_Sen_Memorial_Park_Memorial_Lawn_201008-copy-800x600.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Blake Garden, a small but popular space flanked by residential blocks at the back of Sheung Wan, is where old men gather for board games and gossip, and children play ball games. It’s proof that even in a city obsessed with progress, community spaces still matter.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Movement and Memory</h3>



<p>Sheung Wan moves at its own speed. While the MTR rushes people in and out, and the tram glides past dried fish stalls, the essence of Sheung Wan lies in the slower steps.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-88055" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market.webp 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market-373x280.webp 373w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market-768x576.webp 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market-200x150.webp 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/464890-Dried-Seafood-Market-800x600.webp 800w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>The Centre Street escalator, overshadowed by its bigger sister in Central, helps residents navigate the hillier parts of Sai Ying Pun. As you ascend, you pass laundry fluttering in alleyways, staircases sprayed with graffiti, and balconies holding generations of stories. It’s this vertical layering – both physical and metaphorical – that gives the district its depth.</p>



<p>To walk through Sheung Wan is to move through memory. It’s knowing that the woman heaping dried mushrooms onto her scales has been there for 40 years. It’s seeing time ripple through each stairway, each temple door, each steamer basket. And above all, it’s feeling the quiet resilience of a community where labour is love; and legacy isn’t just remembered, it’s lived.</p>


West Side Story: Swanky Central’s next-door neighbour, soulful Sheung Wan thrives through heritage and hard work


<p>An ancient fortress turned 20th-century urban aberration, the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City has acquired almost dystopian cult status as Hong Kongers look back. The distaste once held for this tiny, unruly hotspot of crime and poverty – a city of darkness – has been replaced in some minds by pride for a shared and distinct past. Beautified into an oasis of calm within the bustling Kowloon City district, the ground upon which the walls once stood remains a tourist attraction, but one of a very different kind.&nbsp;</p>



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<p>Kowloon Walled City began life as an Imperial Chinese military outpost and evolved into a unique geopolitical anomaly. Originally built in the Song dynasty (960–1279) to manage the salt trade, the walled compound nestled in the heart of Kowloon was seen as a defender of colonial encroachment after Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British in 1842.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87815" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_07.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>After the 1898 Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Britain leased the New Territories but excluded the walled city, leaving it in a legal limbo – claimed by both China and Britain, but governed by neither. This ambiguity laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most densely populated and lawless urban settlements in modern history.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rise of the Darkness</h3>



<p>By the mid-20th century, Kowloon Walled City had morphed into a vertical labyrinth of interconnected buildings. With no formal oversight, residents constructed haphazard extensions, often without regard for safety or sanitation. At its peak in the late 1980s, it housed an estimated 35,000-plus people in just 2.6 hectares, resulting in a population density of more than 1.2 million per square kilometre.</p>



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<p>The locale became infamous for its lack of regulation. Triad gangs controlled much of the area, and illegal activities such as gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking flourished. A US newspaper reported in 1967 that the “area is neither walled nor is it a city… In reality it is a tiny enclave of sin and filth”.</p>
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<p>Yet, despite its reputation, the walled city was also a place of resilience. Families lived side by side, children played on rooftops, and small businesses thrived in the shadows, producing everything from fish balls to plastic toys.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87799" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_02.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Life Inside the Maze</h3>



<p>Navigating Kowloon Walled City was like entering another world. Narrow alleyways, often only shoulder-width, twisted through the complex. Electrical wires dangled overhead, sewage dripped from ceilings, and sunlight barely penetrated the dense architecture. Yet, within this chaos, a sense of community prevailed.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87800" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City_04.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Its impoverished residents described the compound as a place of mutual support. Neighbours helped each other, shared meals, and created informal networks of care. Despite the lack of formal infrastructure, there were dentists, doctors, schools and even temples operating within the maze.</p>



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<p>One postman who worked there for more than a decade recalled being shocked – literally – by exposed wires while delivering mail. He also remembered rats the size of cats, yet he spoke fondly of the friendships and camaraderie that defined daily life.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Walls Come Tumbling Down</h3>



<p>The boundaries of the original walled city included cannons, a gate and watchtowers. This fortified barrier did not survive the Second World War. It was torn down by the Japanese forces occupying Hong Kong, who used the stone for a runway extension at nearby Kai Tak airport.</p>



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="646" height="806" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_03-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87804 size-full" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_03-1.jpg 646w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_03-1-224x280.jpg 224w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_03-1-200x250.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p>By the 1980s, the Hong Kong government, in agreement with China, decided that the walled city had to go. The decision was met with mixed emotions. For some, it was a chance to escape the squalor; for others, it meant the loss of a tight-knit community. Demolition began in March 1993 and was completed by April 1994. The process involved relocating thousands of residents and compensating property owners. It was one of the most complex urban clearance operations in Hong Kong’s history.</p>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">From Chaos to Calm</h3>



<p>In December 1995, the site was reborn as Kowloon Walled City Park, a tranquil green space that pays homage to its chaotic predecessor. Designed in the style of a Jiangnan garden, the park features winding paths, lotus ponds and traditional Chinese pavilions. It’s a stark contrast to the dense, anarchic city that once stood there.</p>



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<p>Several historical artifacts were preserved, including the original yamen building – the administrative office of the Qing officials – and remnants of the southern gate. These serve as quiet reminders of the site’s layered past.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Redevelopment and Renewal</h3>



<p>Today, Kowloon City is undergoing a new wave of transformation. The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has launched multiple redevelopment projects aimed at revitalising ageing neighbourhoods while preserving cultural heritage.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87807" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kowloon-Walled-City-Park_02.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>One of the most ambitious involves the redevelopment of low- to mid-rise buildings dating back more than 55 years along Ma Tau Wai Road and Lok Shan Road. The initiative began in August last year and will integrate modern urban planning with community needs, promising improved connectivity, pedestrian-friendly spaces and enhanced infrastructure. The project will yield more than 230 new flats and commercial spaces, with completion expected by 2033.</p>



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<p>The redevelopment also includes plans for an underground shopping street, improved access to To Kwa Wan MTR station, and shared vehicular routes to minimise traffic disruption. The URA emphasises a “planning-led, district-based” approach, aiming to create a more liveable and sustainable urban environment.</p>


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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Memory vs Modernity</h3>



<p>The transformation of Kowloon Walled City into a park and the surrounding redevelopment projects reflect Hong Kong’s broader struggle between preserving memory and embracing modernity. While the lawless enclave is gone, its legacy lives on in photographs, documentaries, and the stories of former residents.</p>



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<p>Whether realistically or romantically, the walled city spirit has also been captured in a succession of popular Hong Kong movies, including last year’s Best Film, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. This award-winning adaptation of the manhua (Chinese-language comic) City of Darkness focuses on crime lords operating within the city walls in the 1980s. The gangster movie Long Arm of the Law (1984) was shot inside the walled city during this period, and Jackie Chan’s Crime Story, filmed in 1993, includes scenes of actual building explosions during the enclave’s demolition.</p>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-1024x640.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87810" width="768" height="480" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-448x280.jpg 448w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-480x300.jpg 480w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-200x125.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai-800x500.jpg 800w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jiulongchengzhai.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure></div>


<p>Internationally, Jean-Claude Van Damme entered the walled city for a martial arts tournament in Bloodsport (1988), and its reputation for shady lawlessness entered the pages of spy fiction, courtesy of Jason Bourne (Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Supremacy, penned in 1986). For a factual account of the walled city’s woes, Christian missionary Jackie Pullinger described encounters with resident drug addicts in her 1989 memoir, Crack in the Wall.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tale of Two Cities</h3>



<p>Architects and urban historians continue to study the walled city as a case of organic urbanism – where necessity, not regulation, shaped the built environment. It’s a reminder that cities are not just collections of buildings, but living organisms shaped by the people who inhabit them.</p>



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<p>Kowloon Walled City was a paradox: chaotic yet communal, lawless yet lively. Its demolition marked the end of an era, but its essence endures in the park that replaced it and the memories of those who called it home.</p>


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<p>As Kowloon City continues to evolve, the challenge lies in balancing development with remembrance. The new city may be cleaner, safer and more efficient, but the old city, in all its gritty glory, remains unforgettable.</p>



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Call of the Walls: Flowers have replaced Kowloon Walled City’s darkness, yet a sense of loss lingers


<p>The collapse of Physical Fitness, one of the stalwarts of Hong Kong’s gym industry, was a shock to many of its loyal customers and those unfamiliar with the dynamics of the industry. It has left some wondering whether there are simply too many gyms in Hong Kong and if they provide value for money.</p>



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<p>Physical, which had operated in Hong Kong for 38 years and once boasted 23 branches, ceased trading this September after the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority demanded it settle unpaid contributions to more than 700 employees amounting to millions of dollars. The decision by the gym chain owners to close shop left staff jobless and triggered thousands of complaints to the Consumer Council over loss of membership fees. Some customers were on decade-long membership packages. There were also reports of lengthy packages sold just prior to its closure.</p>



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<p>Given the recent upsurge in investment in the sector, Physical’s failure did not come as a shock to many gym insiders. “I can’t say that Physical going under felt like a massive surprise,” says Ed Haynes, founder and CEO of boutique gym Coastal Fitness, who also made reference to some of the “amazing” deals the chain offered just before its ignominious collapse, perhaps in a desperate bid to cut its losses.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fall of the mighty</h3>



<p>Haynes notes this is the fourth big commercial gym operation to shut down during the 16-year lifespan of Coastal Fitness – on the heels of California Fitness in 2016, Goji Fitness and the Hong Kong branches of international chain Fitness First. The latter two faltered amid the pandemic, which interrupted business and made the recruitment of new members almost impossible.</p>



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<p>Certainly, many consumer discretionary sector businesses, including cafés, restaurants and cinemas as well as fitness centres, suffered financially during the Covid years. But the pandemic also had a benign influence on the fitness industry – people became worried about their health.</p>



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<p>“In the minds of the Hong Kong public, the idea of health and exercise came to the forefront a lot more,” says Haynes. “In the pandemic, when everything closed and people were confined to their homes in their small and immediate environments, a lot of people actually started exercising.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Gym crazy</h3>



<p>Since then, he has witnessed a huge upswing in many forms of physical activity practised in the community, which in turn has prompted a proliferation of investment in the industry. “Because the fitness industry saw this big boom in exercise participation, low-cost 24-hour gyms started popping up everywhere. And I think that’s almost saturated that market,” he states.</p>



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<p>From the less than 10 24-hour gyms believed to be operating in 2018, the number had ballooned to more than 110 by last year. Haynes believes too many gyms have opened up too quickly, causing supply to outpace demand. He also maintains that many of the newer gyms are soulless and lacking in a community feeling. “The way these gyms are set up is just you go in and do your hour; you’re isolated in many of them,” he opines.</p>



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<p>The pandemic not only sparked an increase in physical activity but also a desire for community-based fitness where people can connect with each other, according to Haynes: “If you go out to any of the waterfronts right now, every morning, every night, they are packed with groups of people in running clubs, sweating, moving, having a good time.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Cash flow precautions</h3>



<p>He also outlines a key learning curve in the gym business from the pandemic years: the importance of maintaining cash flow through offering membership packages. More than two-thirds of the Coastal Fitness membership sign up for six or 12 months in advance, providing money in the bank. The pay-when-you-use model adopted by some of the newer gyms, by contrast, does not give owners this security.</p>



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<p>Haynes has witnessed a rise since the pandemic in the purchase of long-term packages by clients willing to commit to regular exercise. He does caution against lengthy prepayment deals though; at Coastal Fitness 12 months is the maximum term offered.</p>



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<p>The majority of his clients come through referrals or word of mouth, and they include people from all walks of life. Most use the North Point gym’s services at least three times a week, and all receive some type of coaching, whether through attending a group class led by a coach, having a personal training session, or by following a tailored fitness programme designed by a coach.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Operational stress</h3>



<p>During the post-pandemic investment splurge in the gym business, John Bower took on the managerial responsibilities of a new fitness start-up in Hong Kong. As an entrepreneur who had created and sold a human resources business earlier in his career, he seemed an ideal fit to launch the venture. However, the market glut in gyms soon exacerbated the stresses of running a fledgling operation, and breaking even took longer than planned. Exhausted, he quit after two years and now freelances as a personal trainer and executive coach.</p>



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<p>Bower believes the gym sector has been flooded with entrants and the next two years will favour the consumer. He says managers of gyms should be crystal clear what market they are going to dominate. “In the longer term, the harsh truth is that many gyms are on borrowed time and need to figure out their strategy – being number one in the local market and number 10 in Hong Kong might be fine,” he says.</p>



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<p>Far happier working as a freelance coach, he often conducts sessions for clients at the city’s many boutique gyms. He loves the interpersonal interaction with clients and can advise on all aspects of life aside from physical training. “The value of personal training is that it enables the client to physically challenge themselves,” he says.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Market jitters</h3>



<p>Some gym-goers may be tempted to turn to personal instruction rather than sign up for memberships as fears over the stability of the wider fitness sector mount. Recent disputes over unpaid rent at branches of Pure Fitness, an upmarket chain of fitness and yoga studios, caused jitters in the market, although the issues were quickly resolved.</p>



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<p>Hong Kong-based lawyer and writer Sanjeev Aaron Williams chose not to join a well-known commercial gym after their sales pitch left him unclear about what the fees would cover. He now attends gyms run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. While available at a fraction of the price of many private gyms, these government fitness rooms have their drawbacks, says Williams, such as blackout periods restricting use and irregular availability of equipment.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Essential regulation</h3>



<p>Williams sees a future for commercial gym operators, but calls for urgent government regulation. “Gyms in Hong Kong need to be regulated by legislation and monitoring. We are behind other countries in regulating consumer protection and gym operations,” he says. “Commercial gyms in Hong Kong have been the subject of failures and scams since the 1980s when the fitness trend began. We’ve gone over 40 years without regulated protection.”</p>



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<p>He believes any legislation should cover the entire fitness sector including large commercial gyms, 24-hour gyms, personal training studios, personal trainers, pilates and yoga studios, boxing and martial arts gyms, as well as the classes offered at these venues.</p>



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<p>The lawyer urges a limitation on the length of prepayments, saying they should not exceed more than two years, and calls for the implementation of a legal “cooling-off period [that] should be prominently advertised on the premises and to each customer”. He adds: “Consideration should be given to increasing criminal penalties for misleading advertising and sales tactics or carrying on business when [the operator] knew they couldn’t meet their debts.”</p>



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Tag: local feature