Genevieve Pang

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – because we get to sip on delicious Christmas-themed drinks! Festive mulled wine and eggnog aside, Hong Kong bars continue to show off their creative flair when it comes to crafting cocktails worthy of the holiday season. Here are some of the best places in town to try festive sips for yourself and get into the holiday mood. RECOMMENDED: Check out our list of festive workshops for something to make with your hands this Christmas season!

New Year’s Eve is the last hurrah of the year, a symbolic sending-off that always has us feeling both bittersweet and excited about what’s to come. Before gathering with friends, family, and loved ones to count down to the new year at midnight, there’s plenty of time for one last unforgettable dinner to bid 2025 a fond farewell. Here are some of our top picks for the best New Year’s Eve menus in Hong Kong – plan ahead for December 31! RECOMMENDED: Fill up your calendar with the best things to do in Hong Kong this December!

All right, sure, it’s already halfway into the month of December, but if you’re just out to get your advent calendar for Christmas 2025 now, that just means you get to play catch-up and enjoy a whole bunch of treats, goodies, and mini-gifts in one go. Whether it’s a sugary morsel, a decadent candle to brighten up the home, skincare to pamper yourself with, or a fragrant tea to pair with delicious festive gingerbread cookies, we’ve got something for everyone.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, judging by the way people are stressing out over their gift shopping! But don’t panic – even though Christmas is only two weeks away, that’s still plenty of time to plan for a meaningful and useful gift for the men in your life. Here’s our Christmas gift guide for him to make the hunt for the perfect prezzie a little easier.

Nothing screams “Christmas” quite like the tinsel, the decorations, the music, and the festive lights, but something that truly transports you to the magical atmosphere of European Christmas markets and frosty wonderlands are the smells and flavours of hot festive drinks, carefully cradled in gloved hands to stave off the cold. As the temperatures in Hong Kong dip and Christmas displays sparkle in full force, find us happily sipping on mulled wine and other hot festive drinks at these bars and restaurants around town.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – well, other than Christmas, of course. The end of the year in Hong Kong usually means brightly lit, overindulgent, and supersized festive displays as far as the eye can see, but it also means the return of Clockenflap. Hong Kong’s largest international music and arts festival has been going strong since 2008, and as with every annual iteration, there is something for everyone. Read on to find out more about what to expect at Clockenflap 2025, and where to get tickets.RECOMMENDED: Need even more events to fill your calendar? Check out our roundup of the best happenings in Hong Kong this December

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again! As the holiday season rolls in, Hong Kong lights up with some of the most spectacular Christmas displays you can imagine. Every shopping mall, skyscraper, and outdoor venue goes all out, decking their halls with the brightest, cutest, and quirkiest decorations.  RECOMMENDED:  🍾 Festive Christmas hampers🎄 Places to buy Christmas trees⛸️ Hong Kong’s best ice skating rinks

When autumn comes to mind, most might think of the slight breeze that comes with the seasons changing, or leaves turning shades of yellow and orange. But there’s another thing that’s synonymous with Hong Kong’s autumns: hairy crabs. While some may choose to order and prepare them in the comfort of home, others prefer settling down at one of city’s finest restaurants and fully indulge. Here’s a list of the best places across Hong Kong for you to feast away on these hirsute crustaceans this autumn. RECOMMENDED: Get ready for Halloween by checking out the best Halloween parties and dinners taking place around Hong Kong!

Whether it’s street photography spots or world-class art galleries, Hong Kong is a city that’s bursting with creativity. To narrow things down and help you be well on your way to true culture vulture status (and level up your Insta-feed along the way), here are some of the best ongoing and upcoming art shows to visit around town. RECOMMENDED: Discover Hong Kong’s coolest hidden art spaces or pay a visit to the city’s top museums.

Art lovers are in for a treat this month as Christie’s Asia Pacific gears up for its Hong Kong 20th/21st Century Autumn Auctions, where an exceptional collection featuring the biggest names in modern and contemporary art has been lined up. Answering to the growing demand for artworks by masters and visionaries, the sales are headlined by Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme, Zao Wou-ki’s 17.3.63, Yoshitomo Nara’s Mumps, David Hockey’s Table with Conversation, Yayoi Kusama’s PUMPKIN [TWAQN], Claude Monet’s Printemps à Giverny, effet d’aprés-midi, J.M.W. Turner’s The Grand Bridge at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and many more, showcasing diverse artistic movements.

Christie’s Asia Pacific is commemorating the first anniversary of its new Henderson headquarters with a slew of autumn auctions, among them a sale highlighting Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art as part of the launch of this new department. Leading the event is a rare, newly reattributed figure of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion – an exquisite gilded copper alloy sculpture that is emblematic of a new art style that rose to prominence during the 13th-century Yuan court under the purview of Aniko, the renowned Nepalese artist. Other notable pieces include the figure of Manjushri and a rare thangka attributed to the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje, depicting parinirvana. Now’s your chance to see these masterpieces before they head into private collections.

Head to Sotheby’s Maison in Landmark Chater for a limited-time exhibition examining the complex and enduring interplay between desire and death – fundamental forces shaping the human experience. Inspired by the works of French philosopher Georges Bataille, Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, and Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, ‘Eros/Thanatos’ combines mythology, art history, and psychoanalysis to uncover how artists have navigated the tension between ecstasy and dissolution across centuries. Curated with a memento mori message in mind, ‘Eros/Thanatos’ encourages viewers to reflect on the feelings of desire and death, and the contradictions that define existence.

As part of the celebration surrounding its new gallery space in the Southside, De Sarthe is launching two exhibitions concurrently. ‘20th Century Narratives – In Conversation’, the gallery’s second show, presents a curated collection of post-war and modern paintings and sculptures, featuring the likes of Yayoi Kusuma, Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, Chu Teh-chun, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Jack Tworkov, Bernar Venet, and Zao Wou-ki as they are brought together to represent a transcontinental artistic exchange.

De Sarthe is inaugurating its new gallery space in the Southside with a new solo exhibition featuring contemporary Hong Kong artist Lazarus Chan. ‘Poetics Policy’ is an immersive journey that investigates the influence of policy-making on art, reality, and machine intelligence through multimedia and interactive artworks. Adding a dystopian touch, the exhibition features an AI-built living system as an imagined simulation of the future, which is governed by the artist, but used to emphasise that the essence of art is found in the policies guiding its creation, rather than in the generated texts or imagery.

A new exhibition at M+ showcases 12 immersive installations by pioneering women artists from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including three new works by Asian artists. Dream Rooms: Environments by Women Artists 1950s–Now emphasises the multisensory experience of art and highlights women’s contributions to installation art, a field often overshadowed by male artists. Visitors can actively engage with the environments, which include nine historic pieces that have been painstakingly reconstructed, such as Aleksandra Kasuba’s Spectral Passage (1975), which invites individuals to journey through interconnected nylon structures as a metaphor of the life cycle; Judy Chicago’s Feather Room (1966), an all-white space filled with 300 pounds of feathers; and more. M+ will also host talks with co-curators Andrea Lissoni and Marina Pugliese to discuss the concept behind the exhibition, and a panel discussion with the three Asian artists whose new, commissioned work is part of Dream Rooms. Additionally, M+ Cinema will screen three documentaries about some of the exhibited artists to supplement the show.

Tai Kwun Contemporary is presenting a two-part exhibition under the theme ‘Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008’. Centred around an expansive exploration of the transformations and social shifts within 21st-century China brought about by the prolific spread of the internet and digital technologies, the first chapter will take over all three floors of the JC Contemporary art spaces, running for a little over three months. ‘Stay Connected: Navigating the Cloud’ will present more than 50 pieces mapping the creative pursuits of over 35 artists and groups whose practices are influenced by social media, the internet, and digital technologies. Divided into themed segments such as artificial intelligence, information bubbles, online communities, and more, the showcase explores how to ‘stay connected’ in today’s world. Li Shuang, Li Yi-fan, Miao Ying, Wong Ping, Lu Yang, Shao Chun, Zhang Yibei, and the Xijing Men collective are among the many artists exhibiting. Collaborative duo Sun Yuan & Peng Yu – whose claim to fame is the Can’t Help Myself kinetic sculpture with a robotic arm – is also participating.

Urban sketch artist Rob Sketcherman is bringing his unique perspective of Hong Kong’s everyday scenes to the W Hong Kong! From nostalgic pictures of stilt houses in Tai O to depicting the energetic Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance and evening views of the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, Sketcherman’s lively art captures the dynamic spirit of the city through detail-oriented, colourful illustrations. What’s special about this exhibition is that there will be five screens in the hotel lobby showcasing Sketcherman’s artistic process through time-lapse recordings of his drawings, so visitors will not only see his finished pieces, but also all the thinking behind the sketches and the work that went into them.

White Cube Hong Kong is staging an exhibition showcasing the works of the seminal Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. ‘A Feeling’ revolves around the pieces Noguchi created after meeting and studying under Chinese master ink painter Qi Baishi, exploring how the teachings influenced his later sculptural approach.  A selection of Noguchi’s abstract ‘Peking Brush Drawings’ and complex bronze sculptures are displayed alongside Qi’s scrolls in this exhibition, creating a narrative between the two artists. Noguchi’s work pushes the boundaries of sculptural positive and negative space, testing the boundaries of three dimensions, but his use of bronze as a medium reflects his desire to blend ancient and modern.

Witness Hong Kong through a quirky lens at Cordis, Hong Kong’s new ‘Art in Residence’ exhibition, featuring a series of surreal digital art pieces created by Tommy Fung where our city’s iconic landmarks and cultural touchpoints are juxtaposed against humorously impossible scenarios. Fung is known for his whimsical, Photoshop-manipulated images – from transforming the Hong Kong Space Museum into a giant Chiikawa head and inserting a snacking panda into a wet market stall narrative, to creating a Tesla Cybertruck version of the iconic Hong Kong red taxi, nothing’s off limits for the Hong Kong artist. ‘SurrealHK: The City Reimagined’ is part of Cordis, Hong Kong’s 10th anniversary celebrations, so mark the occasion with the hotel while taking in some fun art.

Sadly, this is not a full-fledged exhibition featuring the legendary Zao Wou-ki, but it is a special occasion nonetheless. One of the artist’s ‘Hurricane Period’ masterpieces, created   during the early 1960s as he rose to global fame, is heading to auction at Christie’s, and visitors can see it during the public previews for a limited time only.  17.3.63 is notable for its vibrant, incandescent colour, and is one of only 19 bright red large-scale paintings to be completed by the artist in the 1960s. Expressive, powerful brushstrokes are the leading feature of this vertical composition, masterfully balancing light and shadow to exude passion and confidence. It’s the first time the piece has appeared at auction, so once it sells and goes into a private collection, it may not be seen again in public for a long time. Here’s your chance to lay eyes on it.

And the boys have done it again! Hong Kong, China’s men’s foil fencing team completed their 2025-2026 season campaign for the FIE World Cup in Paris this past weekend with a stunning finish atop the podium, bagging gold for their combined effort. This marks our team’s second gold for foil fencing at the FIE World Cup, following a historic first win in 2024 on home soil, triumphing over Italy at the AsiaWorld-Expo. Comprising two-time Olympic gold medallist Edgar Cheung Ka-long, reigning foil fencing world champion Ryan Choi Chun-yin, Mike Lam Ho-long, and Cheng Tit-nam, the Hong Kong, China team faced stiff competition from the US in the finals over the weekend, trailing 4-10 early on in the bout, but the determined fencers made a swift comeback and closed the gap to finish on a score of 40-38 going into the final round. Choi then faced US fencer Alexander Massialas for the last bout, where Choi ensured his team’s victory, achieving a 5-0 score to bring the final score to 45-38, securing gold for Hong Kong. Photograph: Facebook / FIE - International Fencing Federation Hong Kong beat out teams from the US and Japan, who came in second and third, respectively, to take home the fencing gold, adding another top honour to the growing collection for our city – the Hong Kong men’s foil team recently achieved a historic gold at the National Games this past November, not to mention numerous Olympic medals. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Hong Kong newsletter for the

Congestion in Kowloon has been a massive pain in the neck for time immemorial, but you can now breathe easy – a new bypass between Yau Ma Tei and Kowloon Bay opened on December 21, and it’s making motoring and commuting much faster than before. As part of a greater infrastructure revamp that’s designed to relieve traffic jams on the major trunk roads connecting East and West Kowloon from Tseung Kwan O to Yau Ma Tei, the Central Kowloon Bypass comprises two three-lane carriageways that will span 4.7 km once completed. Construction of the project began in December 2017 and cost an estimated $42 billion. With the new section connecting Yau Ma Tei to Kai Tak and Kowloon Bay now open, it cuts down on travel time that would normally take 30 minutes under previous circumstances to just five minutes – that’s an 80-percent reduction!  Using the newly opened Yau Ma Tei section of the Central Kowloon Bypass, vehicles can enter the expressway from the Western Harbour Crossing, Tai Kok Tsui, West Kowloon Highway, and Yau Ma Tei from the West Kowloon side of town, and travel to Kowloon Bay, Kai Tak Sports Park, Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, and Kwun Tong – and vice versa. Photograph: Courtesy Highways Department Once the greater route connecting Tseung Kwan O and Yau Ma Tei is fully operational, travel time will be significantly minimised from 65 minutes to just 12 minutes during peak traffic hours. Motorists will need to pay a $8 toll for using the Central Kowloon Bypass, but the fee will on

Just in time for the turning of the year, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong government has shared that the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) has been granted a three-year lease extension for its current location on Lower Albert Road in Central, a historical space it has occupied since the 1980s, the HKFP reports. Founded in Chongqing in 1943, the FCC moved with the actions of the Chinese Civil War first to Nanjing and then Shanghai before eventually settling in Hong Kong in 1949. It has long served as a ‘home away from home’ for international journalists and correspondents who used Hong Kong as their base to cover important events happening around the region, and as a press club for local media members to network and share news. Over the years, the FCC has lived in many buildings, some now demolished, but it found a home at the Old Dairy Farm Depot on Lower Albert Road in 1982, and has remained there since.  Photograph: Courtesy Carsten Schael / The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong Since 2022, the question of lease extension for the long-established FCC premises comes up every three years, rather than every seven years, which had previously been the norm for the leasing terms between the FCC and the Hong Kong government since 1982 when it first moved to the North Block of the Old Dairy Farm Depot, a Grade I historic building. It shares the building with the Hong Kong Fringe Club (South Block). As a members-only club and social meeting place, the FCC

“No rice, no life” goes the comical phrase, but for many people of Asian descent, the sentiment can be taken rather seriously at mealtimes. Rice is a staple in Chinese culture, not only as steamed or fried grains, but also in the form of rice noodles, rice rolls, dumplings, and even congee and cakes. One restaurant in Hong Kong is recognising the important role that rice plays in local culinary culture and giving it the laurels it is due. One-Michelin-starred Andō, the innovative East-West restaurant from Argentine chef-owner Agustin Balbi, is introducing a limited-time tasting menu that’s all about this prized grain, with a dedicated focus on local Hong Kong rice farm Yi O Rice. Available from January 19 to March, the ‘Rice’ launch will be the first edition of a new dining series at the restaurant that highlights a single ingredient, around which a special menu will be designed. Photograph: Courtesy Andō Exploring rice as the central ingredient of a dish, Andō will present the unique features of Yi O Rice’s acclaimed grains through meticulous technique and boundless creativity. Guests will taste steamed, puffed, fermented, creamed, and simmered forms of rice in creations such as Andō’s signature arroz caldoso, a brothy rice soup; crispy rice spheres with crab, rice paper rolls, prawn, and coriander; pigeon with puffed rice and red cabbage; somen with roasted rice, clams dashi, and yuzu; and inventive desserts like the sake kasu ice cream with coconut and dulce du leche and

Hong Kong is so much more than just towering skyscrapers, bustling shopping districts, and energetic street markets, and yet travellers exploring the city continue to be surprised by the abundance of nature and lush greenery within and fringing our megalopolis – about 40 percent of Hong Kong’s landmass is, in fact, protected countryside. In that sense, it’s always pleasing whenever Hong Kong receives brownie points for its ecological wonders. Mainland China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) recently released the fourth-batch results of its national ‘Beautiful Bays’ selection, and Mirs Bay in Hong Kong was honoured as an ‘outstanding example’ with an enviable overall score. It’s the first time that Hong Kong has received this special commendation from MEE, which manages ecological and environmental matters, so it’s a big deal to have our city’s ecological protection and marine conservation efforts recognised as part of a joint undertaking in positively developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Photograph: Courtesy gov.hk Mirs Bay is located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong around the Sai Kung Peninsula, with Kat O, Tung Ping Chau, and the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark in its vicinity. Praised for its “clean water and clean beaches, thriving marine life, and harmonious coexistence between humans and the sea,” it achieved a Class I rating in the National Seawater Quality Standard, with a Water Quality Objectives compliance rate of 100 percent.

Sad news for tea and biscuit lovers – Fortnum & Mason will be closing its Hong Kong flagship store at K11 Musea this month. Announced just this morning on the official Instagram account for its Hong Kong restaurant, Fortnum & Mason shared that its store and dining venue in Tsim Sha Tsui will serve its last customers on Sunday, January 25. Fortnum & Mason entered the Hong Kong market in 2019, marking a milestone achievement as the Hong Kong outpost was Fortnum’s first brand-owned and brand-operated location outside of the UK since the brand was founded in 1707. With the opening of a retail shop and a restaurant, Fortnum’s brought its renowned teas, biscuits, hampers, chocolates, and afternoon tea service to Hong Kong. 181 at Fortnum & Mason, named after its legendary Piccadilly address, serves traditional British high tea, alongside elevated modern British gastronomy for lunch and dinner. Its Hong Kong retail outlet also offered custom tea blending services, bottle personalisation, and even bespoke build-your-own-hamper services, so that’s a handy gifting option we’ll definitely miss. It’s not all bad news: you’ll still have a few weeks to stock up on your Fortnum’s faves at K11 Musea before the shop shutters. Plus, Fortnum’s is running a sale of up to 60 percent off in-store, so here’s a bittersweet opportunity to snag some good deals. If you’re a fan of Fortnum’s exclusive Hong Kong tea – the Fortnum’s Musea Blend with strong black Keemun, Golden Yunnan Buds, and safflower p

“AI is coming for our jobs!” Or is it that we are coming for AI, and AI is coming into our jobs? Google Hong Kong has released the results of its annual Year in Search report, and the city’s trending keyword searches of 2025 included no fewer than four instances of AI in the top 10 alone, indicating pronounced interest in exploring AI technologies. Photograph: Courtesy Google Hong Kong The robots are here: Hong Kong’s AI obsession Generative AI chatbot DeepSeek ranked first, followed by AI assistant Grok at sixth, ByteDance’s multimodal AI Doubao at seventh, and Google Gemini at eighth, giving us a glimpse at the kind of AI tools that Hongkongers could be looking at incorporating into their personal and professional lives – or are already using as part of their day-to-day. Google populates its data-driven Year in Search report with the highest search-volume increases of the year, meaning that these topics had significant search surges in 2025. Photograph: Courtesy Google Hong Kong The stories that moved and shook us Other than AI, local news and celebrity passings also featured prominently in the top trending searches for keywords. November’s heartbreaking tragedy, the five-alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court, ranked second, while Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and Hong Kong singer-songwriter Khalil Fong were close behind, prompted by their untimely deaths at 48 and 41, respectively. As expected, Wang Fuk Court also topped the list for top trending searches for local news, followe

Hong Kong’s public riding schools have racked up a waiting list of more than 20,000 people at current count, but the waiting time for a spot – which can take up to several years – could soon be shortened with a new facility in Tseung Kwan O. Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has applied to the Sai Kung District Council for the development of its fourth public riding school, which – should the project be approved – would help address the high demand for equestrian facilities in the city and afford up-and-coming equestrian talents more opportunities to hone their skills.  According to the proposed plans, the new riding school will be situated on a landfill site in Tseung Kwan O, and will include riding facilities, stables, an administration and visitor centre, school buildings, sand arenas, paddocks, viewing galleries, and a veterinary clinic, on an area spanning approximately 46,500 sq m. If all goes well development-wise, construction will commence by the end of 2027 and be completed by 2030.  Photograph: Courtesy Hong Kong Jockey Club HKJC currently operates three public riding schools in Tuen Mun, Pok Fu Lam, and Lei Yue Mun to facilitate equestrian activities, in addition to a private, members-only school in Sheung Shui – the Beas River Equestrian Centre, which boasts a large indoor paddock and an international-standard competition arena. Its Pok Fu Lam school recently reopened in October after a three-year reconstruction, and now includes more stables, a new indoor sand aren

Hong Kong’s Kowloon City is widely known as ‘Little Thailand’ for its concentration of Thai communities, shops, and restaurants. In this historic neighbourhood, authentic cuisine and culture thrive, creating a haven for longtime Thai eateries to preserve their craft and giving way for new ventures such as Thonglor to spread their wings and appeal to a new generation of diners. Well, it seems that in just a handful of months, Thonglor has charmed the taste buds of Hongkongers so thoroughly that it’s grown too big for its current space – cue the opening of its second venue right next door to the first! Led by chef Henry Pattanin Leung, Thonglor burst onto the local dining scene in autumn 2025, capturing our attention with its nostalgic decor, lively atmosphere, and signature Kurobuta pork boat noodles and wagyu beef boat noodles – now here’s some friendly competition to Samsen! Its wallet-friendly prices and comfort-casual spin on Thai cuisine by no means compromise the flavour or quality, making Thonglor an instant hit. Photograph: Courtesy Thonglor Now with the opening of Thonglor 2.0, the space leans into the bold vibes of neon lights and pared-back backstreet restaurants, creating the sort of eatery that you might accidentally stumble into when roaming the streets of Bangkok where, without preamble and fuss, you’ll be treated to one of the best meals of your life. New dishes have been added to Thonglor’s menu as part of the expansion, including a fragrant khao soi ($128)

It’s finally happening – dogs will be allowed on MTR trains for the first time ever! As part of SPCA Dogathon 2026 on March 1, Hong Kong’s principal public transport operator is temporarily reducing its restrictions regarding animal companions (other than guide dogs) and letting small- to medium-sized puppers travel on its railway network! It’s a historic milestone for the city, likely helped along by the successful implementation of the Light Rail ‘Cat/Dog Carrying Scheme’, and we’re all for the inclusive arrangement. However, before you get too excited and storm the MTR with Fido and friends on March 1, it’s important to note that there are rules to this one-day special travel arrangement. MTR’s dog-friendly service is open to participants of the SPCA Dogathon 2026 – it’s designed to make their travels to and from the event venue easier. Dog owners must apply for an SPCA Dogathon 1-Day MTR Woof Pass, which can only be used on March 1 but will grant unlimited rides on the day. (Also, humans still have to pay their own fare as usual.) Each Dogathon Woof Pass holder may only bring one dog per ride. Dogs must be placed in a carrier or backpack before they enter MTR premises; pet strollers are not permitted. Same as the existing ‘Cat/Dog Carrying Scheme’ on the Light Rail, Dogathon Woof Pass holders with dogs must board and alight trains from the last carriage only, and remain in the same carriage during the journey. Naturally, doggos are not allowed to roam around in the carria

Hong Kong is famous for its nightly ‘Symphony of Lights’ multimedia show on Victoria Harbour, but the city’s original symphony of lights began long ago on its narrow streets and busy thoroughfares, when a sea of neon signs lit up the skies and permeated the fabric of local culture in the post-war period. Now faded and replaced by the rise of LED, neon still holds a nostalgic charm that evokes good times past, though these bright signs have become much harder to spot in the wild due to mass removal over time. Photograph: Courtesy Hong Kong Design Centre Enter ‘Luminous Neon’, a new exhibition at the DX Design Hub in Sham Shui Po that aims to share the radiant world of neon signage and the beauty of the traditional art form with visitors for a dose of nostalgia and collective reminiscing. Presented by the Hong Kong Design Centre, Serious Staging, and Tetra Neon Exchange, ‘Luminous Neon’ brings together a collection of painstakingly restored neon signs and new creations, creating a visual dialogue between traditional craftsmanship and modern creativity.  Endlessly photographable but balanced with educational and informative elements, the exhibition contrasts the different generational approaches to neon art and its legacy as an enduring cultural symbol of Hong Kong. Check out the historic ‘Golden Phoenix Restaurant’ and legendary ‘Tai Ping Koon Restaurant’ signs that once illuminated two of the city’s most prominent soy sauce western establishments, the ‘Nam Cheong Pawn Shop’

If you thought Hong Kong films were doing particularly well last year – and they were, indeed – then you need to book yourself into a screening of our city’s latest box office banger. Back to the Past premiered on the New Year’s Eve just past, and immediately grossed a record-breaking $11.54 million on its opening day. The whole thing was a bit of a Christmas miracle anyway, with one of Hong Kong’s most beloved television drama series getting a long-awaited sequel film more than two decades after its original run.  A Step Into the Past first aired in 2001 on TVB, swiftly proving to be one of the best and most popular period drama series ever produced by the local television channel. Based on the Wong Yee novel, The Chronicles of Searching Qin, the series starred an ensemble cast of household names in the Hong Kong film industry, including Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Jessica Hsuan, and Sonija Kwok, adding to its immense acclaim.  Photograph: Courtesy TVB For those who haven’t seen the original show or need a refresher, the plot follows the trials and tribulations of Koo’s character, Hong Siu-lung, a protective security unit inspector from the 21st century who travels back in time to the Warring States period of ancient China, helps the Qin emperor ascend his throne, and is forced to navigate the intrigues of court politics to survive the ensuing power struggle. Now, after more than 20 years, the hit series is being followed up by a silver screen release thanks to Koo’s film prod