No place reinvents itself like Hong Kong, the dynamic city on the harbour. You quickly get used to contrasts – traditional bamboo scaffolding and gleaming buildings, the modern skyline and historic boats. We return for the romantic classics, beloved bars and stately hotels, as well as the exhilarating pleasure of catching up with what’s new. It’s a city that asks you to quicken your pace to keep up with what’s always evolving.
Everything comes together in Hong Kong – boats, humidity, alleys, capital. The harbour at the foot of the steep green hills is so dramatic, it makes the city feel like a theatre: intimate, intense, a thrilling balancing act. The first time I came here, more than 25 years ago, I dutifully visited tailors who made shirts in a couple of days and good suits in a week or two that, alas, no longer fit. These days the arcades have fewer old‑line tailors and more (far more) luxury brands, but that’s the way the world goes.
An employee on the Star Ferry that crosses Hong Kong’s harbour
Dim sum at Man Wah in the Mandarin Oriental hotel