Art and culture

BEST THINGS TO DO IN HONG KONG IN MAY

Hong Kong's best eats, events and arty extravagances during May 2017

Overheard in the Discovery office: ‘I’ve been to America more times than I’ve been to Kowloon.’ We’re here to change that. There’s some super cool stuff happening across the harbour, and although this writer has only crossed the water a handful of times since moving to Sai Ying Pun from Tsim Sha Tsui a year ago, the rest of the office agrees it’s about time we talked about it.

There’s always something going on at West Kowloon. Running until 21 May is Ambiguously Yours: Gender in Hong Kong Popular Culture, a gender-fluid exhibition of film clips, costumes and photographs among other exhibits at the M+ Pavilion. (You’ll have to wait a bit longer for the rest of the West Kowloon Cultural District to happen – latest news is it’s still on, at least.)

Further north is Prince Edward, which continues to get hipper, trendier and more gentrified every time we visit. We like Under Vacuum – a sous vide restaurant that does perfect steaks – followed by drinks at Bound by Hillywood, a cool coffee shop by day that morphs into a neighbourhood bar at night. If you want class, check out the Forgotten Recipes menu at Mong Kok’s Ming Court at the Cordis hotel. Chef Mango Tsang Chiu-lit has trawled through the culinary history of 1960s and ’70s Hong Kong to recover lost gems like goose roasted with daylily, black fungus and angelica.

Or head east to grimy-gritty Kwun Tong, where live music cave Hidden Agenda reopened a few months ago – and where you can catch British rock band TTNG on 8 May.

East Tsim Sha Tsui is also going through quite the regeneration. Known for its mini Koreatown (aka Kimberley Road), it’s now home to 8 Observatory Road (with restaurants The Drunken Pot and Maison Eight), and the area is set to become the home of Rosewood Hong Kong, due to open early next year. (Rumour has it there’s a hot tub on the roof with panoramic views – we’re particularly excited about that.) Hang out here before everybody else does.

Further afield

May-Jul: Pang Sida Butterfly Watching Festival

Not far from Bangkok, Pang Sida National Park is a lush, protected jungle, and its most celebrated residents are its many butterfly species, best viewed in early summer.

thainationalparks.com

20 May: Shinee World V

hkticketing.com

31 May-4 Jun: World Street Food Congress

Restaurateurs and tourism experts come here to get ideas, but the Jamboree event is a chance for the public to sample authentic street food from 12 countries.

wsfcongress.com

8-10, 15-18, 23-26 Jun: ArtisTree relaunch

ArtisTree, an exhibition space in Taikoo Place, is relaunching at a new location with major events – spanning modern dance, music and theatre – held over three weekends.

taikooplace.com

13 Jun: Radwimps

cityline.com.hk

24-30 Jun: World Taekwondo Championships

It’s South Korea’s national sport, but overseas teams are increasingly proving their mettle, with Iran taking top honours in this event’s previous edition.

worldtaekwondofederation.net

1 Jul: 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong SAR

hksar20.gov.hk

17-21 Aug: Food Expo

hktdc.com

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