An Art-Filled Hong Kong Itinerary

In Hong Kong, you could be heading home with a bag of dragon fruit from the wet market (as I was one day), pass by an auction preview, and end up standing inches from a gleaming Cézanne nature morte and an art advisor who, you learn from your involuntary eavesdropping, is actively pitching its sale to a serious client. (Or more likely, given the many zeroes on the price tag, one of their assistants.)

This city, which I have called home for a long while, has expanded its mark onto the international art circuit rather prominently since Art Basel launched here in 2013, bringing with it an annual influx of galleries and their entourages from around the world. That hardly means there wasn’t art or a variety of art “scenes” here before that; art exists wherever people are—even if it is invisible to global collectors and galleries, even if it’s quiet and under the radar; semblances of “scenes” develop in communities even if they aren’t covered by the press. But in terms of the modern commercial art map, the “art world” has arrived here in the last decade thanks to large-scale fairs and auctions, and Hong Kong is actively shape-shifting to participate and lead. While sales data across art auction hubs like New York, London, and Hong Kong certainly fluctuates, auction giants like Sotheby’s and Christie’s are clearly taking a large bet on Hong Kong with their prominent space takeovers: for instance, Sotheby’s in the Landmark complex bang in the middle of town, and Christie’s in the Zaha Hadid-designed glass-wrapped Henderson building a quick walk away.

As an artist myself, my hope is that this growing prominence elevates artists who make art in Asia, and introduces them to collectors and curators on this side of the planet. And importantly, also brings them to other places that have historically been centers of art that may not have them on the radar.

So much buzz around art can be overwhelming, so what does all of this mean for a visitor to Hong Kong who wants to see art and get a feel for this city from that lens? My suggestions below weave a 3-day, daytime itinerary that will allow you to experience art in different parts of Hong Kong in the context of where it lives, with some delicious food and views along the way. There is always so much more, especially if one wants to catch theater or other performances, but this should set you up well.

Day 1: Central District and Sheung Wan

Stop 1
Start your day with a visit to 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Central. Founder and director Katie de Tilly has been running it for more than 20 years, and the gallery hosts a range of interesting exhibits, which span mediums. It is also home to an annual exhibit that features art from recent art school graduates in Hong Kong.

 Stop 2
A few steps away is Tai Kwun, the former Central Police Station which is now a redeveloped space that houses galleries, boutiques and restaurants. As you walk through the large courtyard, you might suddenly find yourself in the middle of a live performance! See some art at JC Contemporary, the art gallery inside the complex. If the ongoing exhibits aren’t precisely your thing, at the very least, you might still enjoy the spiraling staircase that leads up to it, and the rest of the historical and architectural environs.

Stop 3
Your lunch options are plentiful in this neck of the woods. If you’ve found yourself here on a day that isn’t boiling hot, sit yourself in the verandah overlooking Tai Kwun’s Parade ground, and eat some delicate beetroot dumplings and chunky Sichuan prawns at Madame Fu, a contemporary Chinese restaurant with plenty of art on its walls and jewel-toned velvet sofas. Alternatively, make your way a few minutes from Tai Kwun to Wang Fu on Wellington Street, for a cheap and plentiful plate of hearty mutton and green-onion dumplings.

Stop 4
When you’re done with lunch, stroll west as you glance into the windows of antiques shops on Hollywood Road, towards the neighbourhood of Sheung Wan. Catch the latest exhibit at Young Soy Gallery on Upper Lascar Row; these are currently curated by Renee Lui, who has an eye for work that doesn’t shy away from saying something, and doesn’t sequester itself in “contemporary Chinese” or “Western” categories. The street is also home to Cat Street market, which contains some dusty shops and stalls that are well worth a look. You might find yourself going home with a tiny birdcage with a wind-up bird twirling around in it, antique hairpins, or the perfect lion-headed door knocker.

Stop 5
It’s tea time! Head east again toward Central, and treat yourself to a scone with rose-petal jam at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop (a ten-minute taxi ride). Fresh ones are available at 3 p.m – don’t tell everyone, or there will be a queue! Skip the overpriced tea, because there’s something nicer in store at the next stop.

Stop 6
Your next stop is Admiralty, a mere few minutes further east. Get yourself a table at Lock Cha Tea House, a beautiful Cantonese-style tea house inside a heritage building in Hong Kong Park. Follow the signs for the K.S. Lo Museum; the tea house is on the ground floor. They have an extensive loose-leaf tea menu (100+ teas!) and some delicious vegetarian snacks. A few sips of a great Lapsang Souchong, or a beautiful flower tea that opens out as it steeps, and a couple (or, in my case, two bamboo steamers full) of steamed black sesame dumplings eaten in this charming spot has revived many a day for me. Take a few extra minutes to go upstairs to the teaware museum; it’s a small, peaceful space which contains some lovely teaware and old hand-carved stamps and chops.

Stop 7
From this part of Hong Kong Park, you can walk to Asia Society in about 5 minutes. Once you arrive, head straight up to the roof and walk across the elevated bridge to the Chantal Miller Gallery, a glowy den of a gallery space. I find that they mostly focus on a solo artist’s body of work through retrospectives, which can be pleasing. They are currently showcasing a Hoo Mojong retrospective as part of their series on Chinese contemporary female artists, for example.

Day 2: Tseun Wan, West Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, Sham Shui Po

For those of us who live on Hong Kong island, we like to pretend that everything across the harbour is far away, but it really isn’t. So let’s head across the water on this second day.

Stop 1
Get off the island today, and consider making your way to the Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile (CHAT) today, which is on the 2nd floor of The Mills in Tseun Wan, a complex converted from—as you might have suspected—an old mill. It is a half hour or so in a taxi from Central, and also accessible by the subway system, or as we call it, the MTR. True to its name, this expansive space exhibits art that is primarily based on textiles. In recent months, I have enjoyed the eerie, elegant installations of Chun Shao, and the glorious work of Aluaiy Kaumakan, who showcases indigenous Taiwanese art forms through sculptural textiles. The gift shop is worth a look on your way out (or in, no judgment); don’t blame me if you walk out with something unnecessary but beautiful like the tiny bear-shaped ceramic plate I could not resist buying last time.

Stop 2
Your next stop is the M+ Museum in West Kowloon, about 20 minutes from CHAT. This is Hong Kong’s shiny new art museum, which opened in 2021. I would check what special exhibits are going on here, and plan a focused visit accordingly—but by all means, go and have a look anyway as it’s an impressive space focused on everything to do with the visual arts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Look for the occasional Hong Kong-focused exhibit, which will give you a nice slice of Hong Kong history, such as a recent one about the city’s neon signs.

Stop 3
You’re going to need a good lunch after all this, so I suggest exiting West Kowloon and getting yourself to Hutong, a northern Chinese cuisine restaurant, soaring above Tsim Sha Tsui. It’s a restaurant I return to for the views; you can gaze at the beautiful Hong Kong skyline across the water as you tuck into Peking duck, soft-shell crabs, and steamed garoupa filets.

Stop 4
If you’ve got more energy left after a long, languid lunch, head up to the neighborhood of Sham Shui Po to round out your day. One of Hong Kong’s oldest districts, it’s a very different vibe from everywhere you’ve been so far. Either saunter into fabric shops which have proliferated here for decades, or see what exhibits are on at some of the little art spaces there (Thy Lab and Parallel Space, for instance). There are a few open markets around here as well, if you’re into that (I skip them, but you might feel differently). Save some time to pop into some shops; when I was there recently, I found a very sweet ceramic egg-shaped knick-knack.

Day 3: North Point, Wong Chuk Hang, Repulse Bay, Stanley

Back on Hong Kong island, let’s head south a bit circuitously today.

Stop 1
First stop, Oil Street Art Space in North Point (I did say circuitously?), which has had several lives: first, as a yacht club; then, as a government staff quarters; and later, as an antiquities storage facility. The red brick complex goes by the name “Oi!” and contains two galleries and an outdoor space. It’s a nice little oasis and often has slightly off-the-beaten-track exhibits. The last one I saw there involved a surreal pomegranate with teeth-like seeds that chattered at me, and a reclining human-sized ginseng root on a couch. I’ll leave it at that.

Stop 2
Travel 15 minutes south to Wong Chuk Hang, which houses a growing concentration of art galleries away from the middle of town. The neighbourhood used to be industrial, and in fact, one still enters most of the buildings through rattling cargo loading lifts. Some galleries have moved into former factories in recent years. They are spread across a few buildings that are all a few minutes apart, so look them up to see what’s on at the moment. De Sarthe, Blindspot, Artaflo, Sin Sin, Lucie Chang and Ben Brown are a few worth checking on.

Stop 3
Head about 10-15 minutes further south to beautiful Repulse Bay along the coast, and have a bite at Caffé Parabolica, or Spices, which has a lovely outdoor space that looks out onto the sea. Pop into the corridors of the old Repulse Bay Hotel (which this building space used to be), and look at the glass cabinets full of vintage paraphernalia. I quite enjoy peeking at the old menus from the time the building used to be a fancy hotel—announcing things like Baked Alaska for dessert—and elaborate business cards from the tailors who used to have shops in the building. It’s a slice of a certain era.

Stop 4
Head 10 to 15 minutes further down the coast to the coastal village of Stanley. If you’re lucky, Design Trust might have an exhibit in place at the historic Murray House by the lovely waterfront, as they do at the time of writing. The experience of viewing art can be quite influenced by its context and surroundings, and seeing artwork in heritage buildings with enough space to appreciate it, is infinitely preferable to seeing it at an art fair with a thousand other works vying for attention, in my opinion. Murray House, a 160-year-old Neoclassical building that was moved to Stanley from Central (dismantled and re-installed), is an excellent space for art to be absorbed in a more leisurely manner. If there isn’t an exhibit when you’re visiting, never fear: you’ll still find yourself in a charming coastal community with a small market, multiple temples (go to Pak Tai temple inside Ma Hang park; it was supposedly built as far back as 1805 by fishermen, and boasts a particularly charming view from its location stuck into the hillside), and beaches. Ultimately, it’s just 30-45 minutes away from town, if you need to head back.