36 Hours Hong Kong

In the director Wong Kar-wai’s nostalgic films about neon-tinged 1960s Hong Kong, characters yearn for loves lost. Today, many Hong Kongers are looking at their city with a similar longing as the Chinese territory (handed over by the British colonizers in 1997) undergoes a tumultuous political transformation. After giant pro-democracy protests in 2019, an ongoing crackdown on speech and dissent has dismantled civil society groups and set off a wave of emigration. Famous restaurants shuttered under pandemic restrictions, and locals are flocking to small businesses operating as they did generations ago, not knowing when these living relics could also disappear. It is a meaningful time to visit this glittering, international metropolis in a moment of collective soul-searching, as residents take stock of diminished freedoms, vanishing landmarks and what still makes the city special.

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Recommendations

Key stops

• Sheung Wan, a neighborhood dating to the mid-19th century, abounds with old shops selling tea and spices alongside some of the city’s trendiest cafes.
• Tai Kwun is a former colonial prison compound that has been restored and converted to a public art complex with galleries, restaurants, bars and outdoor performance spaces.
• M+, a major art museum that opened during the pandemic, holds one of the world’s most extensive collections of contemporary Chinese art and offers expansive views of the harbor from its rooftop.
• Sharp Island is a verdant coastal area away from the city center with easy hiking trails, pristine beaches surrounded by aquamarine waters and volcanic rocks.

Outdoor activities

• Hong Kong Park is a family-friendly, 20-acre green space with ponds full of koi, turtles and water lilies.
• Garden Hill offers a view over Hong Kong’s candy-colored residential buildings that is magic at sunset.

Shopping and galleries

• Cheung Hing Tea Hong is a historic shop with an extensive inventory of loose-leaf teas and coffee beans.
• Yuan Heng Spice Company, established in 1912, sells Chinese spices and is well known in the neighborhood for the regal cats that live in the store.
• Book Punch, an independent bookstore, has an eclectic selection and gives vegetables and snacks to its customers.
• Cheung Shing Fans Factory sells incense sticks and powders used in religious rituals.
• Kwok Kee Wood Ware Sculpture, a sixth-generation family business, hand-carves and paints wooden figures used in worship rituals.
• Parallel Space is a small, independent gallery that shows emerging Hong Kong artists and is an excellent spot to buy postcards and art books.

Restaurants and bars

• 001, a speakeasy-style bar hidden in the Tai Kwun complex, serves cocktails like Earl Grey martinis.
• Penicillin, a bar that aims to minimize food waste, creates innovative cocktails from unlikely ingredients like cacao husks and soy sauce.
• Lockdown, whose name refers to the pandemic restrictions that shut down nightlife, serves drinks inspired by the American Prohibition era.
• Nove at the Fringe is an upscale restaurant in a landmark building serving classic Cantonese food with high-quality ingredients.
• LockCha is a serene teahouse where you can linger over vegetarian dim sum and many cups of tea.
• Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop is a cafe that serves Cantonese diner classics with a twist, with paintings and cutout figures that pay homage to scenes in beloved Hong Kong films.
• Hing Kee Restaurant serves aromatic rice dishes cooked in clay pots over a charcoal fire.
• Bound Kowloon is a neon-lit coffee shop and bar with a countercultural spirit.

Where to stay

• Regent Hong Kong, formerly the Intercontinental Hong Kong, reopened in November as an understated oasis that contrasts with the opulence of the ultra-luxury malls and hotels nearby. Its restaurants include Nobu and Lai Ching Heen, which has two Michelin stars. It also has three rooftop infinity pools overlooking Victoria Harbor. Rooms start at 4,500 Hong Kong dollars, or about $576.
• The Hari is a stylish hotel with a lounge filled with art books. A London gallery curates the paintings, which are available to buy, displayed in guests’ rooms. There are in-house Japanese and Italian restaurants, as well as a spacious gym with a terrace for outdoor workouts. Rooms, which have ample natural light, start at around 1,900 dollars.
• Eaton HK is a lively hotel that hosts artistic and community events like the Consciousness Festival and Pride Month. The hotel has a cinema, an art gallery, a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, a large food court and a rooftop bar. Rooms start at around 900 dollars.
• For short-term rentals through platforms like Airbnb, be aware that bookings under 28 days are not authorized unless the property has a government license. For short stays, it may be simplest to book a hotel.

Getting around

• Hong Kong has one of the most easily navigable airports in the world, with an airport express train that whisks you to the heart of the city in under half an hour. Get an Octopus card, a contactless smart card used for access to the subway and buses, as well as to purchase items at convenience stores and small shops that don’t take credit cards. The MTR subway system is air-conditioned and has good cell service. Taxis are affordable, but be prepared to pay in cash. Uber is widely available, though it is slightly more expensive than taxis are.

Itinerary

Friday

5 p.m. Search for a speakeasy in a former prison complex

The handling of colonial-era buildings — which can be painful reminders of oppression — is fraught in Hong Kong. One reimagined site is Tai Kwun, a 19th-century prison and police station in the city center, which was converted into a public arts compound in 2018. Make a game of seeking out 001, a speakeasy behind an unmarked black door, hidden in a maze of walkways (Tai Kwun employees will help you find it, if you ask). Once you’re inside, reward yourself for the search with an Earl Grey martini (158 dollars). At Tai Kwun Contemporary, the art gallery in the complex, the exhibition “Green Snake: Women-Centred Ecologies” (free, runs through April 1) explores mythology amid the climate crisis through the lens of 30 female artists. Use Tai Kwun’s app for self-guided tours of the compound — some focus on architecture; others highlight the best spots for photos.

7:30 p.m. Dine in a former dairy warehouse, then try experimental cocktails

For a refined Chinese dinner near Tai Kwun, head to the Fringe Club, a performing arts space in an oval brick building that served as a dairy warehouse in the 19th century. Ascend neon-lit stairs to reach its restaurant, Nove at the Fringe, where you can order watermelon in a numbing mala chile sauce (65 dollars) and honey-glazed char siu pork (165 dollars, half portion). Afterward, go to Penicillin, a sustainable cocktail bar that ferments food scraps in its “stinky room” and invents new drinks in its laboratory using unlikely ingredients like cacao husks, soy sauce and charred chive sprigs (cocktails from 125 dollars). The name of Lockdown, a new bar from the same owners, refers to Hong Kong’s pandemic restrictions, and the offerings include experimental versions of American Prohibition-era cocktails (from 120 dollars) served in an elegant space (in spite of the toilet displayed in its front window).

Saturday

10 a.m. Eat vegetarian dim sum in a wooden teahouse

Begin your morning with a stroll past ponds full of koi, turtles and water lilies at Hong Kong Park, a family-friendly, 20-acre green space converted from British army barracks. On the ground floor of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, a Greek Revival mansion in the park where the commander of British forces in Hong Kong once lived, is LockCha, a tranquil teahouse with dark wood accents and elegant grooved panels. Choose from more than 100 kinds of white, yellow and green tea (starting at 58 dollars; each customer orders their own pot). Vegetarian dim sum options are limited in Hong Kong, so LockCha’s fully vegetarian menu is a rare treat. Try the black truffle vegan siu mai (48 dollars, two pieces), steamed custard buns (35 dollars, two pieces) and the black fungus salad with sesame sauce (48 dollars).

12:30 p.m. Immerse yourself in contemporary Chinese art

See one of the world’s largest collections of contemporary Chinese art at M+, a museum that opened in 2021 amid pandemic restrictions (entry, 120 dollars). Shaped like a giant inverted T, the 700,000-square-foot museum has more than 8,000 works in its permanent collection. Even with the ongoing crackdown on free expression, the museum offers bold and nuanced critiques: The satirical installation “Old People’s Home,” by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, shows life-size wax figures resembling world leaders riding in motorized wheelchairs and colliding into one another. Some artists capture political disillusionment in China, such as in Fang Lijun’s large painting of a man sinking into azure water. The museum also has a library lounge devoted to video works. Visit the rooftop garden for an expansive view of the harborfront.

3 p.m. Follow the aroma of incense to a historic fishing port

Stroll or take a taxi to Yau Ma Tei, a former fishing port where shops still sell incense and wood sculptures originally used by fishermen in rituals to protect them. Start at Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop, a classic Cantonese diner with cheery yellow walls and décor that pays homage to famous diner scenes in Hong Kong films, like with a cardboard cutout of the actor Maggie Cheung’s character from Wong Kar-wai’s film “In the Mood for Love.” Try the egg tart set (58 dollars); they come in several unorthodox flavors. The owner has commissioned illustrated maps of the historic shops nearby, available at no charge. Nearby, Cheung Shing Fans Factory sells incense sticks and essential oils (300 dollars per vial) and pricey sandalwood fans. See the artisans at Kwok Kee Wood Ware Sculpture who often sit outside the shop, carving and painting figures traditionally used by fishing families for ancestor worship.

4:30 p.m. Explore one of Hong Kong’s coolest neighborhoods

Sham Shui Po is a wholesale garment district that has been transformed into a creative hub where you might stumble on vintage toy shops, a vinyl trove or an umbrella repair stall. Visit Parallel Space, a small independent gallery that shows emerging Hong Kong artists who don’t shy away from social commentary. On the third floor of an old building, Book Punch is an independent store whose selection includes literary fiction, poetry and children’s books on emotional intelligence; staff members thank their customers by giving them vegetables or snacks. Bound Kowloon is a lively, neon-lit coffee shop and bar known for its rebellious spirit and bonhomie. It also hosts concerts ranging from punk rock to jazz. Take some time out there with a warm shochu-and-ginger cocktail called a Sunday Morning (108 dollars).

6 p.m. Take a short night hike

Go on an easy urban hike and be rewarded by a view of the sunset from Garden Hill. Starting near the YHA Mei Ho Youth Hostel in Shek Kip Mei, a neighborhood near Sham Shui Po, ascend the stairs (it takes about 10 minutes) until you reach a flat concrete area with a grove of trees at the edge of the hill. From there, you’ll spot candy-colored residences, including Shek Kip Mei Estate, Hong Kong’s first public housing complex, among taller towers. In contrast to the skyline of glitzy skyscrapers seen from Victoria Peak, a hill popular with tourists, this view conjures an image of Hong Kong’s working-class resilience. Garden Hill is well known, but not overly crowded; it’s popular among photographers and young couples who like to visit on dates.

8:30 p.m. Warm up with clay pot rice

Hong Kong is hot and humid for the greater part of the year, but in the winter long lines form outside Hing Kee at Temple Street (there are several restaurants with this name in Hong Kong), a no-frills restaurant that specializes in clay pot rice, a comforting dish cooked over a charcoal fire with aromatic toppings like Chinese sausage and seafood (starting at around 60 dollars, cash only). Pour a generous amount of sweet soy sauce and enjoy the satisfying crunch of the rice at the edge of the pot. Although the semi-outdoor restaurant sprawls across five storefronts, you can still expect a wait during peak meal times; the turnover is relatively fast.

 

Sunday

9 a.m. Take a ferry to a lush island

Spend half a day exploring Sharp Island, a tranquil sanctuary northeast of Hong Kong’s center that offers verdant hiking trails, volcanic rocks and pristine beaches. Other destinations like Lamma Island and Cheung Chau Island are more accessible, but Sharp Island’s beauty and relative privacy make the 60- to 90-minute journey worth it. At the public pier in Sai Kung (15 miles from the city center, accessible by public transport), find a private boat operator going to Sharp Island (tickets around 40 dollars) then pick up pineapple buns at Sai Kung Cafe and Bakery (13 dollars, cash only) as you wait to board. Get off at the Hap Mun Bay stop and follow the signs for the hiking trail to Kiu Tsui Beach. Along the trail, look for small ceramic sculptures inspired by the island from the Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival. When the tide is low, cross the Sharp Island Sand Levee, a path filled with monzonite boulders nicknamed “pineapple bun” rocks for their resemblance to the crust of the local pastry. It’s the perfect spot to break out those treats you brought along.