Off Duty: Hong Kong

Why?

Vibrant street markets, gleaming shopping arcades, steaming noodle stalls, gourmet restaurants: there’s a wonderful collision of east and west, old and new in Hong Kong. Ten years after this former British territory was transferred to Chinese sovereignty, it remains one of the world’s most dynamic centres, its skyline etched with cutting-edge architecture, its most stylish neighbourhoods in an almost constant flux of new openings – bars, boutiques, cool brasseries and more. Yet for all the chic modernity this is also a place of great retro charm.

The narrow 1950s-style 120 tram, plying a route close to the north shore of Hong Kong Island, is an endearing, nostalgic sight as it clanks past Norman Foster’s seminal HSBC building. Meanwhile, the iconic Star Ferry, providing a shuttle service across the harbour between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, looks as if it has strayed in from a 1930s film set.

The cultural mix is no less intriguing. Over the next month dealers and art lovers from around the world will be gathering for Art HK 08, the first Hong Kong International Art Fair to be held for a decade (hongkongartfair.com). Taking place from 14-18 May at the large Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Hong Kong Island, the show celebrates art from the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from works by Andy Warhol to paintings by Zhang Xiaogang. Just a few weeks later, one of the most spectacular Chinese festivals is staged. During the Dragon Boat Festival on 8 June, crowds gather to cheer on elaborately decorated galleys propelled by teams of 20 or so paddlers, who race to the beat of heavy drums. Activities take place in the waters all around the Hong Kong islands but the main competitions are at Shing Mun River at Sha Tin in the New Territories (discoverhongkong.com).

What?

The classic excursion is to Hong Kong Island’s Victoria Peak. Getting there is very much part of the fun: you catch a number 15 bus to the Peak Tram, which is actually an exciting funicular - with a gradient of one in two it is said to be the steepest in the world. It scoots you up through urban life and then dense vegetation to a viewing area that presents spectacular panoramas over the harbour.

For a cultural break visit the Hong Kong Museum of Art on the waterfront of Kowloon at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (daily 10am-6pm; adults HK$10, free admission Wednesdays; hk.art.museum).

Shopping, meantime, is Hong Kong’s most compelling activity - and entertainment. For colourful markets head to the Mong Kok neighbourhood in Kowloon. Goldfish Market on Tung Choi Street sells a fantastical variety of ornamental fish and is a great place to browse and chat to shopkeepers about the intricacies of fish and feng shui. Ladies Market, lower down the same street, usually offers some of the best clothes and souvenir bargains (and unconvincing designer fakes). Discounted sports goods are sold at stalls along Fa Yuen Street, which runs parallel.

Among the amazing choice of shopping plazas, Harbour City on the Kowloon water’s edge has a jaw-dropping array of some 600 shops (the likes of Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Anya Hindmarch and Paul Smith) as well as five cinemas and around 30 cafes and restaurants. For more funky stores cross over to Hong Kong Island and make for SoHo or NoHo, the areas south and north of Hollywood Road, both of which have fairly recently become Boho-chic. At 21 Staunton Street Hong Kong’s homegrown designer Henry Lau has a showroom, Spy Henry Lau (spyhenrylau.com). On Gough Street, the acclaimed artist Carrie Chau has recently opened a studio at number 29 while at number 16 designer Ranee K (raneek.com) blends Chinese and Western styles in chiffons and silks.

Where?

You are, of course, completely spoilt for choice as to where to lay your head in Hong Kong. For sublime views coupled with excellent dining options, check into the Intercontinental Hong Kong at 18 Salisbury Road (00 852 2721 1211; intercontinental.com), which has doubles from HK$3,190 (£206). The location, right on the Kowloon harbourfront, is stunning and there’s a Nobu restaurant here as well as an Alain Ducasse Spoon. Over the last few years a number of smaller, hip hotels have opened in Hong Kong, among them is Lan Kwai Fong in the buzzing Central district at 3 Kau U Fong (00 852 3650 0000; lankwaifonghotel.com.hk). Its 158 rooms offer a meticulous blend of Oriental and Western contemporary chic. Doubles cost from HK$1,300 (around £84).

For a drink with Hong Kong’s in-crowd head to the Armani/Bar HK (11 Chater Road, Central, 00 852 2532 7777; armani.com), a suitably sleek outfit that is part of a large Armani complex. Or make for the avant garde, Philippe Starck-designed Felix (00 852 2315 3188; hongkong.peninsula.com) on the 28th floor of the landmark Peninsula Hotel on Salisbury Road.

Recent additions to the extraordinarily creative restaurant scene include Pierre at the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, at 5 Connaught Road, Hong Kong Island (00 852 2825 4001; mandarinoriental.com). The cuisine, under the direction of the three-Michelin-star Parisian chef Pierre Gagnaire, is a gastronomic adventure of colour and taste combinations.

Nearby is another new opening, FINDS, at 33 Wyndham Street (00 852 2522 9328; finds.com.hk), a super-cool restaurant and nightclub with a Scandinavian flavour – the name stands for Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The décor is chic white with chandeliers, the menu features “scapas” (small dishes of Scandinavian specialities).

Meanwhile, you’ll get a great taste of traditional Hong Kong at one of the growing number of “speakeasies”. These are unlicensed, intimate, fine-dining restaurants serving multi-course set menus. And you have to seek them out. Club Qing, at Cosmos Building, 8-11 Lan Kwai Fong (00 852 2536 9773; ClubQing.com), for example, is on the 10th-floor of a fairly nondescript building in the Central district. It serves exquisite Cantonese dishes in a period setting of rosewood furniture, panelling and fretwork.

Wow

The world’s longest moving stairway cuts an 800m swathe through one of the most colourful parts of Hong Kong. Take a ride on the Central escalator and you feel as if you’re in a picture show, catching intriguing vignettes of local life as you move by tangles of street advertisements, shops and lantern stalls, poles of laundry and modern buildings clad in bamboo scaffolding.

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