Hong Kong goes retro

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Hong Kong is truly the city of the future. The city’s ubiquitous skyline of shiny beveled-angle skyscrapers towers above you like a giant wall of steel and glass. Meanwhile, residents tap their Octopus cards at cash registers, magically paying for purchases without bills or coins. Yet lying beneath Hong Kong’s fancy neon wizardry is a puzzling trend. It seems these days, Hong Kong is not looking to the future. Instead, the city’s residents have decided to look to the past.

Perhaps it’s inevitable in a city as amazingly dense as this bursting Asian megalopolis. The city sits on a series of tiny islands leaning precariously onto the South China Sea, meaning there’s simply never enough space. The city’s modern skyscrapers and futuristic bridges exist side-by-side with ancient colonial tenement homes and incense-shrouded Buddhist temples. But whether you’re in search of a souvenir, checking out a museum or simply looking for food and drink, you’re likely to encounter a slice of Hong Kong’s growing love for all things vintage.

But “old and musty” vintage this is not. Hong Kong retro is all about reinventing and reusing the pieces of its textured past, providing visitors with a unique slice of checkered history in a decidedly modern way. If you’re in search of a unique taste of days gone-by or a one-of-a-kind souvenir, Hong Kong’s retro style is ready to be discovered. Keep reading to see where to find it…Retro Dining
For many food is the ultimate source of nostalgia, a reminder of our youth and days gone by. It’s a fact that’s been well-absorbed in retro Hong Kong, where a cuisine of fresh ingredients and age-old family recipes prevails. Nowhere is this better evident than at Kowloon’s Tai Ping Koon restaurant, an eatery defiantly still around after more than 150 years of business. But this is no tourist trap. Each evening Tai Ping Koon’s elegant Mid-Century modern dining room is packed with locals enjoying the restaurant’s signature chicken wings in Swiss Sauce and its light, puffy souffles. It’s the original example of East vs. West eating – a distinctly Hong Kong take on Western food.

Retro Shopping
Those looking to experience Hong Kong’s retro past need not only find it on a plate. These days, Hong Kong’s high-energy shopping experience is going retro too. It all starts at Goods of Desire (G.O.D.), a popular home goods store dedicated to “increasing interest in Asian lifestyle and culture.” The products for sale at G.O.D. aren’t your average spatula or cooking utensil. Instead, many items like the store’s retro textiles, kitschy selection of Mao Zedong postcards and old-school furniture pay homage to an earlier era of Hong Kong, a time when it was “the world’s factory,” producing cheap goods for sale in Europe and the U.S. It’s a great place to learn more about the city’s history and pick up a unique souvenir.

Just down the street from G.O.D. is Shanghai Tang, a clothing store that references Hong Kong’s famous reputation for custom-made clothing. The chain takes much of its inspiration from traditional Han Chinese apparel, updated with modern touches. Inside the stores’ Art Deco interior you’ll find both men’s and women’s clothing as well as an array of leather goods, stationery and household goods referencing traditional Chinese symbols and design.

Retro Drinking
The Pawn in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai neighborhood offers another example of the city’s reverence for its historic roots. Pawnshops are a particularly iconic fixture of Hong Kong life. Long before the city’s mammoth banks like HSBC were established, pawn shops played an important role as money lenders for a growing city of merchants and traders. The spartan interiors, high counters and darkened lighting have became a common sight for the city’s residents.

These days, many of Hong Kong’s pawn shops have been replaced, or as is the case with The Pawn, remade into fun hangout spots. The Pawn’s comfy interior pays tribute to Hong Kong’s days of old, offering visitors a wood-paneled interior, leather armchairs and old-school rickety foosball table inside what used to be a working pawn shop. A selection of international beers and cocktails rounds out the menu.

Hong Kong might be the city of the future, but it’s a place that hasn’t forgotten its unique past. From retro eating to shopping to drinking, visitors will find opportunities to enjoy a one-of-a-kind trip through time in this world-famous city.

A snapshot of Hong Kong’s bipolar food culture

by Grant Martin on

More than any other city in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong is a city of contrasts. Traditional Cantonese culture pushes hard against the raging, modern scene, strong scents of the recent British rule are encroached upon by the dominant, Chinese presence, people eat dim sum, seafood, sushi, Mexican, Burger King.

In no place is this contrast more obvious than in the gastronomic scene. Cracking open the Superfuture guide to the city is like opening a Pandora’s box of food delight, with rooftop bars, five star restaurants and haute cuisine leaping forth from every page of the document. Restaurants like The Pawn Shop dish up a dizzying array of delicious western and local food in a setting that’s worth the visit alone, while bars like Wooloomooloo offer a solid steak to accompany a heart-stopping view over Hong Kong Island.

Flip to the other side of the coin and one can find the same spectrum of food in a gritty, salacious setting. Steps from the night markets near Nathan Road, a tented, corner hovel houses two dozen tables circled by a smattering of dirty, uneven chairs. The bathroom, a hole behind a curtain in the back room, is separated from the kitchen by a grease covered piece of corrugated sheet metal and as you pull at the legs on your fresh pepper crab the cockroaches scurry under the corroded circuit breakers next to your table.In the open streets, late night food is a part of the everyday culture, folding tables set up on the streets where efficient, curt waitresses drop off a bucket of dumplings and Stella girls take your order for 22’s of light beer.

Without a doubt, the food and drink is good in either setting. Produce is clean, seafood is beyond fresh and the Chinese have perfected the art of professional eating. In Hong Kong we simply find that the spectrum of options is wider than that in other cities in the far east; in one setting, the true, high end gastronomic can eat foie gras and caviar until the sun comes up, while in another the budget traveler can eat street food and dollar dim sum until his belly fill with happiness.

One should expect nothing less in the spectacular kaleidoscope that we call Hong Kong. Pick up the Lonely Planet World Food Guide (and maybe a roll of Tums) to get your adventure started.

A slice of culture via the Hong Kong Tram

by Grant Martin on

It’s no secret that Hong Kong has some of the best public transportation in the planet. Land, sea, or air, you can bet that it’s going to be clean, new, inexpensive and well maintained, from the recent airport on Lantau island to the fast and furious MTR slithering like tentacles through the islands. Better, most of it is tied together by the solid Octopus RFID system, letting travelers on ferries, buses, trams alike use the same versatile card to pay for any fare, or even a snack at the local 7-11.

Routes and times are listed in both Chinese and English, passage is frequent and one leaves the train station with a sense of efficiency and accomplishment rather than shaken with the din of a recent assault on the senses.

Another facet of the Hong Kong public transportation system, the tram, offers a unique immersion into Hong Kong culture. Run on a similar rail-and-wire system to San Francisco’s, Hong Kong’s trams are a skinnier, taller version of their western counterparts with dark, varnished wood interiors, large glass windows and awe inspiring views around the perimeter.

Running through a broad swath of Hong Kong island, the tram only run on a few routes, but riding the double decker cars is a sensory experience. Along Hennessey Road, the cars crawl from stop to stop, pausing at lights and stations to let millions of passengers circulate around and through the stationary beast like termites through a log. At one stop, shoppers mob a crosswalk and disappear around a corner into the local megamall or Goods of Desire, a sea or black hair, dark suits and silent movement as the signals blare on. At another stop, an outdoor market teems with passing tourists and locals, while across the street a brightly lit vendor sells sheets of dried fish, eel and duck skin.

Smells waft through the open glass windows, and if one is quick, an arm, head or camera can hang out the window and peer up the perspective of the car, a jungle of Chinese culture from the second floor perch of a Causeway Bay-bound tram.

Make no mistake, these aren’t tourist devices engineered to make a buck off of a saucer eyed visitor. These trams play a critical, real role in Hong Kong Island culture, ferrying commuters, athletes, workers, parents, children, locals and tourists alike. Were one so inclined, its even possible to rent a special party tram to cruise the streets at night with whatever food and beverage you provide.

Tram stops are scattered across the backbone of commercial northern Hong Kong Island, and with or without an Octopus Card, fare is only 2HKD ($0.26) to ride. The voyage is worth a thousand times the price.

Why we love Hong Kong

by Grant Martin on



Hong Kong is one of those few places in the world that just never gets old. A city rapidly expanding upward and outward, it’s one of the largest cities in southeast Asia, with a thriving cultural scene, solid infrastructure, robust public transportation system and top notch eats. One can spend days in the halls of the Chungking Mansions, stalls in night markets or back alleys of Nathan Road and still not absorb a sliver of culture.

And that’s why we love it. Each time we come back to Hong Kong there’s another facet of history or culture to explore, from the raucous horse racing mob in Happy Valley to the ultimate frisbee community in Tai Hang Tung to the Dragon’s Back day hike a stone’s throw away from the city. It’s like visiting a new, amazing destination every single time.

So as part of this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations, we went back. No, this wasn’t part of a press trip, a marketing bonanza or a sponsored event — Hong Kong has that sort of personality that automatically draws visitors back, like a good home cooked meal or a soft, down-filled comforter. Its memories stay with you in a way like no other place, growing stronger and finer with time, pulling you back, deeper into its bosom.

Over the course of this week we’ll be telling a few stories from our time in the Pearl of the Orient, from an ode to their public transportation to a look inside of the tradition of Chinese New Year. We hope that you stick around and enjoy the journey.

Feel free to follow along here or check back every day for updates.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Photo of the Day (11.28.2009)

by Brenda Yun on


Yesterday, I passed by several businesses that were setting up their holiday lights and decorations. I chose this shot as a lovely reminder of the beauty of city lights no matter what time of year it is. There’s something about the haze of a big city in particular that makes for a great photograph. The light lingers in the air and makes the city vibrantly alive.

Today’s photo comes to us from toffiloff, who has some amazing high-def shots worth browsing of Holland, his home country, or other places like China or Switzerland. If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!