Cathay Pacific donates travel package to Los Angeles music charity

by Melanie Nayer on

In celebration of Cathay Pacific Airways’ 20 years of nonstop flights between Hong Kong and the United States, the airline is awarding an Anniversary Giveaway package to Education Through Music – Los Angeles. The prize: 200,000 Asia Miles, a Business Class dinner for 20 volunteers, and $2,000 in cash.

Charities from throughout the greater Los Angeles area were invited to participate in the “Giveaway” by submitting something creative that shared how they could benefit from receiving a Volunteer of the Year Hong Kong air and hotel package. Education Through Music took home the prize after submitting a DVD presentation for the judges that included how the giveaway would benefit the organization, and creating an airline poster that inspired children to ‘soar to new heights’.

Education Through Music – Los Angeles provides quality in-school music education to support both creative and academic achievement. Through its programs, children become more proficient in music and work to boost their academic skills, as well as focus on self-esteem and self-motivation.

Cathay Pacific Airways launched nonstop flights from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on July 1, 1990.

Shanghai Nights: 24 hours in the Expo City

by Melanie Nayer on


Shanghai is a city of complications and successes. It’s one of the most modern cities in China, yet still holds sacred its roots in China’s history. It’s lived in the shadows of Beijing and Hong Kong for centuries but today offers travelers a new experience, thanks in part to its hosting the World Expo Shanghai. Shanghai is a juxtaposition of old and new on every street. A five minute walk from the world’s largest Louis Vuitton store is one of Shanghai’s oldest parks, where locals converge to practice the art of Tai Chi and take part in morning dance rituals as a form of expression and exercise.

Imagine you have exactly 24 hours to explore one of the world’s most historical and modernized cities. What do you do first? Whether you’re heading to Shanghai as a stopover to somewhere else in China, or your spending your vacation in the Expo City, make sure to save a day for the following:

Early morning in Renmin Park 7 – 8 a.m.
Only a short walk from The Portman Ritz-Carlton at Shanghai Center (where I stayed during my trip to Shanghai), Renmin Park at People’s Square of Puxi offers a unique glance at the life of old Shanghainese. Early Sunday mornings are filled with generations of Shanghainese taking part in familiar rituals including Tai Chi and ‘disco’ – their version of what Americans would consider “line dancing.” Join the dance or just stop and take it all in. Everyone is wonderfully friendly in the park and welcome tourists to join the dance or take part in Tai Chi.

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Morning visit to the World Expo 9 a.m. – noon
No trip to Shanghai would be complete without a visit to the World Expo. The “Better Life, Better City” motto is felt through all the pavilions, but beware: you’ll stand in line for a while. Choose one or two pavilions you want to see before you go and head straight there. A few things to note before you arrive:

  • No outside food or drink will be permitted into the Expo
  • You can buy your tickets at any of the booths outside the Expo when you arrive, but you’ll save time if you buy ahead and pick up your tickets at one of the “will-call” windows
  • The Expo is mapped out by zones – A, B, C, D, and E. It’s wise to choose the pavilions you want to see in the same zone, but if you must travel to different zones there is a shuttle bus that will take you around.
  • Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll do a lot of walking at the World Expo, and a lot of standing around in line, so make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes.
  • If you’re in Shanghai for longer than one day, buy a 7-day pass to the Expo and map out a few other pavilions you want to see during the remainder of your visit.
  • The China pavilion is the most popular pavilion, and unless you’ve got a VIP pass you’d better get in line early. Only 1000 passes are handed out on a first-come-first-service basis daily to the China pavilion.
  • Forget the gift shops and take photos instead. Cameras are allowed in each of the pavilions and you can take photos of any and all exhibits.

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Afternoon visit to Zhu Jia Jiao, renowned water village in Puxi 2 – 4 p.m.
Located about a 45-minute drive from Shanghai is Zhu Jia Jiao, the renowned water village in Puxi. The traditional water canal town dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties and has some of the best market shopping and authentic Shanghai food in the city. Take a walk through the markets and purchase a few souvenirs before boarding a water taxi to visit the Taoist Temple, the great Qing Post Office and the old Chinese Pharmacy. The markets sell local produce and traditional Chinese gifts including jewelry, fans and silk.

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Candle lighting ceremony at The Portman Ritz-Carlton
The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai, was the first luxury hotel in Shanghai, but still retains the values of old Shanghai. After a day out exploring, spend a few moments in the lobby watching the traditional Chinese candle lighting ceremony. The ceremony takes place in the lobby and lasts only a few minutes, allowing plenty of time for you to relax in the lobby bar for a before heading out to the famous Bund for the evening.

Evening on the Bund 8 p.m.
Shanghai’s Bund is one of the most areas of the city. With spectacular views of the city and surrounded by restaurants and bars, the Bund is always lively on any night of the week. Start with a walk along the bridge by the river to capture photos of the city skyline on one side, and the old buildings on the other. Dine at Lost Heaven, a traditional Yunnan Chinese restaurant that serves family-style entrees for every taste and palette. After dinner, head to New Heights, located at Three on the Bund. The restaurant has an outdoor terrace that offers spectacular views of the Bund and the Shanghai skyline.

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It’s a packed day in Shanghai, but with a little planning and a lot of energy, you’ll see the beauty of old and new in 24 hours.


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*The Portman Ritz-Carlton sponsored my trip to Shanghai, but the opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own.

Galley Gossip: Enter to win two business class tickets to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific!

by Heather Poole on

Until May 31, 2010 Cathay Pacific is giving away two free tickets in business class from any city to Hong Kong, as well as three nights’ accommodation at The Upper House, a portrait session with campaign photographer Andrew J. Loiterton, and eight times the Asia Miles you earn flying on Cathay Pacific from now until the end of May. Now that I have your attention, keep reading. Contest details can be found at the bottom of this post.

Whenever I’m just hanging out in the galley between services chatting with frequent fliers, I’ll ask them to name their favorite airline. On most occasions their eyes glaze over and this look of contentment washes across their face. I’ve seen the look dozens of times. I know what they’re going to say before they even say it. Cathay. The word is always followed by a long deep sigh. Sometimes I’ll even sigh along with them. What follows next is usually an awkward silence. That’s when I’ll ask about their favorite airport restaurant, just to get the conversation flowing again.

Last year when my husband’s original Cathay Pacific flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong canceled, I was thrilled. Because the airline generously bumped him from business class to first class free of charge on a flight departing the following morning. He was upset about losing 24 hours in Hong Kong, but I knew it would be more than worth the inconvenience. The husband had his doubts. As soon as his flight touched ground, he sent the following email.

This flight was better than anyone could put in words. I have my own little cabin with a desk internet and movies. I was given a Shanghai Tzen pajama set and amenity kit and a huge down pillow and comforter. My seat reclines to a full bed and I have a privacy shield. I even used all the cool lotions in the two bathrooms shared by fourteen people. The toilet was spotless the entire trip. The food and presentation was better than a restaurant. I have to list all that I ate before I forget…

Smoked salmon shashimi with Caviar. Cream of mushroom soup. Salad greens with scallops and shrimp. AND THAT WAS ONLY THE APPETIZER! Lunch consisted of lobster stir fry with soup bok choy and a cold tofu salad. After two more movies I had a hot panini with prosciutto grilled veggie and cheese. Another movie and noodle soup with duck breast. NO FAT. Pure breast. Dinner wasn’t as good. Large fruit plate followed by grilled rack of lamb and potatoes. That’s okay because the coffee is great.

The guy sitting beside me said I would never be able to fly in business class again now that this has happened. He might be right. If I can’t swindle an upgrade home I think I may pay the difference. If I had to turn around now and fly right back to LA I would be very happy. We’re about to land so I think I’m going to go to the bathroom and shave or something. Maybe a facial? Don’t be jealous. I love you!

Don’t be jealous? How!

What’s not to love about an airline that provides that kind of service? And is it just a coincidence that the airline also takes pride in the very people providing the amazing service? Have you seen the latest marketing campaign, Meet The Team, featuring the men and women of Cathay Pacific? Read their stories and get to know the flight attendants, pilots, and other staff as both members of the Cathay family and as individuals. Find out what makes them who they are and how they see their role at Cathay. Then you’ll be ready to play to win!

Each week until May 31, 2010 Cathay will post a question on the Meet the Team mini-site. Answers can be found in the staff stories. People who answer correctly will automatically be entered into the contest. Thirteen questions will be presented. This means there are thirteen chances to win! Also, don’t forget to connect with Cathay on Facebook and Twitter where staff will be sharing their favorite places to visit during their travels. Good luck!

Photos courtesy of Bernard SD and Steven W. Belcher

Celebrate Chinese New Year, Hong Kong style

by Jeremy Kressmann on

For anyone not of Chinese descent, Chinese New Year is a confusing concept. Travelers who visit Hong Kong during this important festival are likely to have questions. What’s the significance? How do you celebrate? But fortunately, Hong Kong is the perfect introduction to this most significant of Chinese celebrations. Hong Kong’s unique blend of familiar Western amenities and authentic Chinese culture make it the perfect place to begin your Chinese New Year experience.

Understanding and enjoying Chinese New Year in Hong Kong depends on three distinct activities: the main rituals, the typical foods and the public celebrations. Each of these activities is tied to longstanding Chinese traditions, dating back centuries, and are designed to ensure good health and prosperity in the year ahead. Experiencing the festival in the dense urban environment of Hong Kong adds an additional layer of fun, allowing you to enjoy the festivities on a huge scale.

Ever wanted to learn more about Chinese New Year? Don’t know the Year of the Tiger from the Year of the Ox? Let’s take a closer look at how to celebrate in Hong Kong and how to get started. Keep reading below for more.The Rituals
To truly understand Chinese New Year, you need to get familiar with the festival’s unique rituals. The best place to get started is at Hong Kong’s Chinese temples, where citizens head to pray for good luck, burn incense sticks and have their fortunes told. Hong Kong’s most famous temple is Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon, which sees nearly 300,000 visitors during the New Year festivities.

Upon arriving at Wong Tai Sin, take a moment to soak in the temple’s solemn atmosphere with worshipers bent on their knees, the air thick with sweet incense smoke. Grab a tube of fortune sticks from the table near the entrance to inquire on your prospects for the year ahead. Ask a question, give the cylinder a shake, and wait for a stick with a number to fall out. Then bring your number to one of Wong Tai Sin’s numerous fortune tellers to have it interpreted. Good or bad, the answers you receive are meant to help guide your decisions in the year ahead.

The Foods
Chinese New Year is a time heavy with symbolism. This is particularly true of the holiday’s typical foods, all of which are laden with spiritual significance. Everything that’s eaten during these important days is intended to bring prosperity, happiness, longevity and good fortune in the months ahead.

A good place to begin your culinary exploration is at Hong Kong’s daily markets. In neighborhoods like Wan Chai, you’ll find a flurry of activity in the days leading up to the festivities, as market goers pick up supplies for the traditional reunion dinner. Butchers wield cleavers like madmen, chopping, hacking and yelling. Giant carp thrash about in bubbling fish tanks. Typical Chinese New Year foods are everywhere. At the dried goods stalls you’ll find a variety of New Year specialties like chocolate coins, dried oysters and Chinese Sausage. At the produce stalls, take your pick from New Year favorites like juicy mandarin oranges or crunchy melon seeds.

Each New Year food has been specially chosen to bring good luck in the New Year. For instance, the Cantonese word for dried oysters (ho see) sounds similar to the words for “wealth and good business.” It’s eating that’s as much about symbolism as it is about the taste.

The Events
The celebration of Chinese New Year in Hong Kong happens on a scale and size like nowhere else. The city’s seven million residents come out in force to enjoy a variety of festive activities surrounding this annual event.

On the first day of the New Year is the annual Hong Kong Chinese New Year Parade, packed with colorful floats, wild drumming, manic dragon dancers and throngs of spectators. The parade is a microcosm of Hong Kong’s frenzied street life, awash in a flurry of sensory delights. Make sure to secure yourself a spot a few hours early and watch out for pickpockets, as the crowds can be intense.

On the second day of the New Year, the city celebrates with a massive fireworks display over Victoria Harbor. Few places in the world can boast of such an impressive light show set against the city’s towering skyline. Whether you choose to watch from the harbor or from on high at The Peak, you’re sure to have some of the best seats in the house.

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Hong Kong is much like the city itself – an overwhelming array of sensory pleasures and confusing rituals. But with a little background info from Gadling and a spirit of fun, you’re guaranteed to enjoy all it has to offer. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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.