Hong Kong is dead. Everyone’s left. It will never be the same again.
I’ve lost count of how many times someone has whispered these solemn proclamations to me over the past 24 months. Every time I run into someone with a mutual connection to Hong Kong, the same utterances are repeated. Whether they are ex-pats, former residents, or just those who enjoy visiting the vibrant metropolis of Hong Kong, the conversation is bleak and dispiriting. So when the invitation to revisit Hong Kong came through, I eyed it somewhat warily. Did I really want to see the city I love, my former home of 13 years, broken and bereft? What would I write? If what everyone says is true, how could I possibly suggest anyone spend their time or money returning to the city?
Some research was required. I started by talking to “Big” Sam Young – the Sydney-based chef behind S’more in Castlecrag, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, and had recently returned to spend Chinese New Year with his family. “Everyone was really looking forward to a great year to come. It was huge. The market was full of people, the temples were full of people. It was pumping,” he says happily. “I was actually very surprised. After the pandemic and the political protests, I thought it would be intense. But it felt really good, I had the best time.”
Like me, he had heard the same bleak reports of Hong Kong ahead of his arrival. “They’re at the very end of the journey. They’ve got a bit of catching up to do – there’s not a lot of tourists right now – but the energy in Hong Kong is fantastic. Everyone is still trading. A shop will shut but then something else will open straight away, that’s just how Hong Kong works. Personally I feel like that is normal. It’s not like half the street is empty.”
This reminds me of something my parents and their friends used to say when talking about Hong Kong. “Everything changes and everything stays the same!” they’d declare as news of a new restaurant, hotel or shopping centre was announced, in the exact place where a restaurant, hotel or shopping centre had previously stood. Young laughs when I tell him this. “Exactly!”
Dining room at Salisterra, The Upper House
Buoyed by Young’s enthusiasm, I decide it’s worth the journey to continue my fact-checking mission. It’s late afternoon as my Cathay Pacific flight descends through the spring haze that shrouds Chek Lap Kok airport. This is my first positive report back – the in-flight catering has improved significantly from my last long-haul journey with Cathay, thanks to a new partnership between the airline and Duddell’s – a Michelin-starred institution in Hong Kong – which has elevated the first and business class offering to one of the best mile-high menus in the world. Likewise, moving through the airport is a breeze. Within 20 minutes of landing, I’m in a chauffeur-driven Audi, being whisked over Tsing Ma Bridge to The Upper House in Admiralty. I ask my driver if Hong Kong has changed much over the past three years.
“Oh yes,” he says emphatically. “A lot, a lot.” Before I have time to fear the worst, he continues, “There are so many new things! You should go to Kowloon and walk around the new cultural precinct. It’s very peaceful there, very nice.” I am dumbfounded. Amid the ongoing talk of whether or not Hong Kong is dead, it hasn’t occurred to me there would be new discoveries to uncover. Clearly my fact-finding mission needs to be expanded to include an exploratory component. It doesn’t take long for me to encounter my first new experience as I check into The Upper House. Located at the base of The Peak, the hotel has been one of Hong Kong’s most exclusive addresses for more than 10 years, offering the dual luxuries of space (entry level rooms are 68 square metres) and sweeping views of the city and Victoria Harbour. As I head to the 49th floor to meet a friend for dinner, I discover Café Gray Deluxe is gone, replaced by a glamorous new Mediterranean restaurant, Salisterra, in a completely refurbished dining room.
The overhaul took place in 2021 and is one of several recent upgrades to the property. Again, I feel foolish for thinking the city had ground to a halt for the last three years, held in stasis awaiting the return of international visitors. Over the course of the next three days, I will discover all manner of new openings and overhauls – and meet a number of new arrivals, who moved to the city during the pandemic. One of those is ArChan Chan – executive chef of Ho Lee Fook in Central, who spent 10 years in Melbourne working for Andrew McConnell. Despite the upheaval of the pro-democracy protests followed by the pandemic, Chan moved to Hong Kong from Singapore in 2021.
“In Singapore, everything was banned but in Hong Kong it was amazing,” she recalls. “You could dine out, there were not many restrictions.” While the city was quieter than usual, it was far from shut down, she says. “If you look at Hong Kong as a kid, it’s hyperactive. When it’s shut, it will still be active. We just walk a little bit slower.”
Grand Majestic Sichaun
Originally from Hong Kong, Chan was working in Singapore when the protests began in 2019. “I just could not believe it. All of my family and friends are here. I grew up in the Prince Edward area, which was the heartland of a lot of the things happening,” she says, admitting it is a difficult subject to talk about. “When Covid hit, reality hit,” she explains. “It’s one thing to fight for your freedom but when you don’t have your basic needs – you can’t go out, you can’t dine out or see your friends – all of that brought us back to living.”
Today, she is optimistic about the future of Hong Kong. “The magical thing about Hong Kong is this city never dies. It will always come back.” This is a sentiment shared by everyone I speak to throughout my time here. As well as an acceptance that the future of Hong Kong is irrevocably tied to China. Australian chef Shane Osborn is the owner of Arcane, a Michelin-starred European diner that opened in Hong Kong in 2015. “The future for Hong Kong is more assimilation with China and the Greater Bay Area. Especially for the business community, everyone is talking about more connectivity to the Guangdong region. They are building a metropolis in the northern part of Hong Kong to connect with Shenzhen. There’s a high-speed train from here to Guangzhou… That’s 100 million people within an hour’s travel away. That’s Hong Kong’s future.”
And while there’s no question Hong Kong is entering a new chapter, on the ground, the city feels entirely familiar. As I join the throng of commuters boarding the Star Ferry for a quick trip across the harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, I look back at Central’s skyline. As always, there are new skyscrapers emerging, clad in bamboo scaffolding, growing between the iconic towers of the HSBC Building and Bank of China Tower. It’s the Hong Kong I have always known – a place where everything changes, and everything stays the same. And, as ever, it’s a place where the people know how to hustle and work every opportunity to their advantage.
“Coming from Hong Kong, I think that’s our speciality,” says Sam Young. “We make it work, we make it happen. We have an idea and we make it reality. I think the next chapter for Hong Kong is going to be very bright.”
Upper Suite at The Upper House hotel
How to get there:
Cathay Pacific flies daily from all main Australian centres directly to Hong Kong.
A stay at the Upper House starts from $1180 per night for a Studio 70 Island View room, with complimentary maxi bar.
For more luxury hotels to book in Hong Kong, check out Luxury Escapes.
