The best things to do in Hong Kong this week (August 11-17)

McDonald’s Hong Kong has just released a range of Happy Meal toys on Chiikawa and friends, to be changed up each week. From now until the end of August, purchase a McDonald’s Happy Meal to receive a Chiikawa toy. There are eight versions altogether, with a new type being released on Mondays and Fridays throughout the promotion period, so make sure you keep an eye on the dates to get your favourite.

Los Angeles-based artist Marty Schnapf is holding his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong at Perrotin. This new body of works are inspired by Schnapf’s dreams and personal recollections, featuring vibrant vignettes filled with symbolism, distorted reality, and the sensual unknown. His distorted dreamscapes are a joy to look through and dissect, and will be available until August 16.

Japanese contemporary artist Toyofuku Ryo’s Golden Tearoom is an elegant space filled with over 200 drawings of elements in Hong Kong life. Take your time identifying everything from local dishes to the clown motif for Ocean Park’s Hair Raiser rollercoaster. There is also the Golden Playroom, where visitors are invited to interact and engage with each other through board games and electronic elements. This area is full to the brim with distinctly local items such as Red A plastic lampshades, golden dragon sculptures often seen in banquet restaurants, metal containers for ‘airplane olive’ snacks, and more.

Sweettooths are in for a treat as Japanese dessert brand Mr. Cheesecake is hosting a time-limited pop-up at IFC Mall from now to August 21. Apart from its signature Mr. Cheesecake classic box, known for its melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich flavours, customers will also be able to try this season's newly launched Basque cheesecake, along with two Hong Kong-exclusive takes on the classic: Matcha, made with Yame Matcha from Yame City (Fukuoka prefecture, and milk tea, a combination of Uva tea and Yunnan tea. Be sure not to miss other hot-sellers like the Mr. Cheescake cream brew coffee, silky chocolate white tonka and black cacao, snowball vanilla tonka, and more. Online pre-orders are available for easy pick-up at the IFC pop-up on selected dates. 

Where: Kiosk LA15, Podium Level 1, IFC Mall

This summer, cool down at this flowery pool installation in the ifc mall. New York-based artist Cj Hendry is known for her hyper-photorealistic drawings and her large-scale installation Public Pool in Las Vegas, and she’s bringing her swimming pool to Asia for the first time. Slip down the pastel-coloured slide into a vibrant pool filled with flowers, check out the photo booth dressed up like a shower room, and grab a refreshing soda at the accompanying bar. This art piece is basically the height of summer, but away from the stifling heat outdoors.

The pet cat of K-pop star G-Dragon takes over our city with the Zo&Friends pop-up in Times Square. Inspired by his Scottish fold named Princess Zoa, GD has spent two years creating and designing this original IP, and the results can’t be any cuter.

A large Zoa sits in the middle of Times Square’s second-floor atrium, surrounded by flowers and the daisy A&ne. According to the brand, Zoa looks cynical and even somewhat gloomy (it has a literal cloud hanging over its eyes) but hides a soft, gentle nature. Walk through and snap pictures at photo spots, explore Zoa’s room, and see plenty of artworks, decals, BTS captures, and more.

The highly anticipated Chiikawa Days exhibition has finally taken over K11 Musea! Even after two separate rounds of ticket releases, entry was all sold out within half an hour, so the organisers have decided to extend the exhibition until August 31. Additional tickets for the extended dates of August 25 to 31 (excluding August 28) will go on sale at 5pm on August 1 via Klook, so get clicking!

Expect to see multiple giant inflatable sculptures in the mall’s outdoor areas, including some adorable food-themed ones that we love. There are also over 100 3-D figures and lifelike recreations of scenes from the beloved manga. Observe the cute Chiikawa Days critters at play, in battle, in jail, at mealtime, and more. 

Don’t forget to stop by the merch store afterwards to pick up themed cookies and snacks, as well as the special Hong Kong collection of yum cha-themed plushies designed exclusively for this event by Chiikawa’s creator Nagano!

This summer, the weeping cuties of Crybaby are taking over Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong with multiple giant installations. Themed after a playground, eight oversized blind box characters from the Crying For Love series are dotted around the main atrium of the mall for fans to admire and take photos with. The centrepiece is the giant Love You Cherry Much figures, sitting side by side in their cherry outfits above a red-and-white ball pit. Other cute installations include the angel and devil Kiss Kiss characters pouting towards each other in a smooch, a Stupid Cupid heart-shaped swing set, and a translucent red box housing a Heart Broken Crybaby.

Pop Mart also brings a pop-up store to this event, with plenty of goodies from the Crying For Love series – like the gift box containing the angel and heart plushies, an adorable straw cup, and vinyl plush hanging dolls – but also from Crybaby’s other lines. Keep your eyes peeled for items that are out of stock online!

Immerse yourself in the forgotten days of the Kowloon Walled City at this epic movie set exhibition, located on the original site of the infamous Kowloon Walled City. Featuring incredibly detailed recreations of shops and other setups from the award-winning Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the exhibition will let visitors travel back in time to the Walled City in the 1980s.

From the local cafe to the dental clinic, the attention to detail is truly impressive. There's even a small 'screen room' mimicking the rooftops of old buildings back in the day, where visitors can sit and watch the neighbourhood turn from day to night, and listen to the roaring sound of low-flying airplanes over the Walled City area.

Check out our guide for everything you need to know about the exhibition, from dates and opening hours to highlights not to be missed.

Hong Kong's first large-scale Crayon Shinchan interactive exhibition is now open. Spanning over 10,000 square feet, this playful experience welcomes all to join Shinchan and the 'Kasukabe Defence Force' on a thrilling time-travelling rescue mission. The exhibition features nine immersive zones, alongside a special museum section dedicated to 35 years of Crayon Shinchan history with original artwork and movie memorabilia. Of course, no Hong Kong exhibition is completely without a pop-up shop, so be sure to check it out before you leave to browse through more than 200 themed merch.

Local artist Chang (formerly referred to as Ernest Chang) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his gallery, The Stallery, with an exhibition exploring the conflicts between time, technology, and life. Chinese scholar’s rocks are typically prized for their natural resemblance to things – ‘Artifice’ overlays the heresy of modern-day symbols onto the purity of natural rock forms, and asks if this strips away its artistic value. To match these rocks, the gallery has been transformed into a Zen garden with pebbles on the floor, artificial grass, and even a traditional Chinese bridge. This exhibition is running until August 31.

Whether you’re a casual Instagram user or a photography fanatic, you’ve likely come across a post by Accidentally Wes Anderson (or AWA for short), a platform known for showcasing moments in daily life that replicate the American filmmaker’s signature symmetrical style. This internationally acclaimed art project has held exhibitions in cities such as London, Tokyo, Seoul, and Los Angeles, and this July, it’ll be arriving in Hong Kong for the first time at The Mills and Airside simultaneously. Find more information about these exhibitions here.

Stay cool during Hong Kong’s brutal summer by grabbing an icy treat from Snack Baby, one of Hong Kong’s top gelato shops. From now until September 13, the gelateria is holding a pop-up at BaseHall 02, where they’ll be offering a rotating selection of their crowd-pleasing gelatos. Expect flavours such as BB Cinnamon, olive oil dark chocolate, speculoos, pistachio crunch, as well as Strawberry Moon, a BaseHall exclusive strawberry sorbet swirled with strawberry coulis. Snack Baby’s gelato offerings will be updated every fortnight, and customers can enjoy up to three gelato flavours in each cup ($68), so be sure to swing by and try their new flavours.

From the Magnavox Odyssey – the first home-use video gaming console – to the latest Nintendo Switch 2 release, gamers have seen the rise and fall of many trends and technologies from the 70s to the present day, and you can now reminisce on them all at this exhibition on gaming, its art and designs, and collective memories.

Airside is hosting the ‘Restart! Beyond Gaming Exhibition!’, which explores how gaming extends beyond simple personal entertainment and has become an integral part of Hong Kong’s cultural tapestry. Check out the wall of gaming consoles to find vintage consoles such as the Atari 2600 from the 70s, the Nintendo Famicom from the 80s, over 300 Nintendo games from the 80s and 90s, and more; and try your hand at ‘The King of Fighters ‘98’ and ‘Bubble Bubble’ on arcade machines.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Little Fighter 2’, the exhibiton will feature the remastered game with an Airside-exclusive backdrop of the famous Kowloon Walled City for an added touch of Hong Kong heritage.

The second edition of the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) returns to Hong Kong this summer with over 280 performing arts programmes, film screenings, exhibitions, and other events. 

Running from April 16 through to September 28, keep an eye on the schedule of upcoming CCF performances and events here. Tickets will open for sale from April 15, and prices will differ depending on the specific events, but there will be a limited-time discount of up to 30-percent off until April 30.

Head to the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) to find our city’s first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Mughal art. The Mughal empire was one of the world’s most powerful kingdoms that encompassed much of modern-day Indian, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, ruling from the 16th to the 17th centuries. Though they ruled a mainly Hindu population, the Mughals were Muslim with Mongol origins, and were known for their rich culture and architecture – the Taj Mahal is one such legacy from this empire.

Over 100 artefacts from the golden age of the Mughal dynasty, from paintings and jewellery to weaponry, architectural segments, and even some rare surviving textiles from this period are now on show – Hong Kong is this exhibition’s only Asia venue after its London premiere in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Under the rule of three emperors, the Mughal court greatly fostered artistic development and embraced cross-cultural influences, shown here in jade pieces that have incorporated motifs from the Chinese court. Highlights include a casket with mother-of-pearl inlays, a thumb ring from Emperor Akbar’s reign with western enamelling that shows the Mughal court’s hybrid aesthetic, and a beautiful dagger sheath and hilt lavishly decorated with gold and red gemstones.

‘Treasures of the Mughal Court’ runs until February 23, 2026, and tickets are priced from $150 which also grants access to HKPM’s thematic exhibitions in galleries one to seven.