Art and culture

Best things to do in Hong Kong in November 2021

Enjoy the outdoors, seasonal feasts and cultural festivals this month.

The perfect autumnal weather has arrived, with cooler temperatures and clear skies offering the best opportunity to get out and explore Hong Kong’s outlying islandsbeautiful beaches, and numerous hiking trails. Meanwhile in the city, the long-awaited M+ museum has finally opened, kicking off a cultural season in the city. 

M+ museum at night Hong Kong west kowloon

Explore Hong Kong’s Long-awaited M+ Museum 

It took more than a decade, but the M+ Museum of visual culture is finally here. Hong Kong’s newest arts spot opens its doors on 12 November, and features six exhibitions containing around 1,500 works – including Hong Kong: Here and Beyond, which captures the city’s transformation since the 1960s, and Things, Spaces and Interactions, which highlights key elements of architecture and design that have influenced Asia over the past 70 years.    

secret-theatre-group-shot-at-felix peninsula hotel

Join Jay Gatsby For A Lavish Dinner Party At The Peninsula 

Travel back in time to the roaring twenties at Hong Kong’s most extravagant dinner party of the year: the Great Gatsby immersive dining experience at The Peninsula Hong Kong’s Felix. The restaurant – now turned into a 1920s Manhattan speakeasy – has partnered with Secret Theatre to bring guests a one-of-a-kind culinary experience. Marvel at the theatrical performance as you enjoy a four-course meal inspired by 1920s New York, featuring signature dishes such as Gatsby fried chicken and devilled eggs. Dress code: your most fabulous roaring 20s attire. The experience runs through 27 November – although it’s been so popular that there are more nights being added, so check the website for details. 

Thanksgiving feast at the mandarin oriental hong kong

Get Ready For Turkey and Pumpkin Pie Season 

Celebrate Thanksgiving this year with one of the many festive menus on offer around the city. After all, when it comes to Hong Kong’s dining scene, there’s always much to be thankful for. 

Kinship has created several Thanksgiving menus for customers this year: the Thanksgiving Dinner, being served on 26-27 November, features smoked turkey and apple pie crumble, while the Thanksgiving brunch menu (28-29 November) includes comforting American classics such as corned beef hash. They’ll also be offering a takeaway Thanksgiving dinner for the whole month (26 November-26 December), to enjoy with friends at home. 

The Mandarin Oriental’s Cake Shop is also offering a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast menu to enjoy at home. Choose from British free-range turkey, slow roasted honey-glazed ham, or roast prime rib beef for mains, along with your favourite trimmings such as giblet gravy, cornbread and stuffing – then choose between pumpkin pie and salted butter pecan pie for dessert.  

New York-style deli Morty’s is offering a takeaway Thanksgiving feast to feed up to 14 people. The set includes a whole roast turkey, US prime rib or honey-glazed ham, along with all the trimmings: potato mash, cranberry sauce, pastrami stuffing, gravy and your choice of pie for dessert.  

Want to satisfy your sweet tooth? Head to Butter where they’re serving up seasonal favourites such as pumpkin pie, Tennessee whiskey caramel pecan pie, and their newest cake: Boston cream pie. Grab a fork and dig in! 

Duddells_Hairy Crab
Credit: 123RF

Feast On Hairy Crabs  

A Hong Kong autumn might not be marked by falling leaves, but what you will find in abundance is the city’s favourite crustacean: hairy crab, starring on numerous menus this month. Jia Group restaurant Duddell’s is serving up seasonal specialties including hairy crabs from Hokkaido, alongside specials such as pan-fried stuffed tiger prawn with minced shrimp and hairy crab coral, with a six-course set menu available.  

Island Shangri La’s Cantonese restaurant Summer Palace is offering a seasonal crab menu until the end of November. Feast on freshly steamed hairy crabs with Huadiao rice wine, alongside speciality dishes such as Sabah garoupa topped with hairy crab roe and pine nuts. 

The Greater China Club’s Golden Autumn Hairy Crab Set Menu includes a whopping nine courses, from steamed hairy crab paired with 25-year vintage Xian Heng Huadiao wine to steamed xiaolongbao full of hairy crab roe.  

Alternatively, go for a hairy crab hotpot overload at the Drunken Pot – with a hairy crab roe soup base, hairy crab roe-infused ingredients, and fresh hairy crab to crack into.  

wine and dine Hong Kong festival tastingOnAir tailsker whisky oyster

Have Tipples and Treats At Hong Kong’s Wine & Dine Festival 

The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival is back after last year’s semi-hiatus. For the first time the event will take part across several neighbourhoods as part of a ‘City Wine walk’, which allows guests to taste their way around the city. Buy a tasting pass online and you’ll get access to any of the 50 participating restaurants and bars across Central, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and Kennedy Town, to check out one-of-a-kind tasting and drinking menus. The festival will also feature live-streamed programmes and wine-tasting masterclasses, with tasting kits available to order to your home. More than 400 restaurants across Hong Kong are offering special menus and promotions from 1-30 November as part of the festival. 

Hong Kong international photo festival wing shya Peru

Feast Your Eyes On The City’s Art and Culture 

The Hong Kong International Photo Festival returns this year with the theme ‘Photography Cinema’. Curated by partners across Southeast Asia, the 49 works represent emerging talents across the region and tell a range of stories – from the colonial legacy that helped shape modern-day Jakarta, to controversial treatments for mentally ill patients at Long Fa Tang temple in Kaohsiung. The festival’s satellite exhibition also returns, with 21 exhibitions exploring topics from the impacts of the pandemic to the culture of technology. Catch the festival at venues across town until 28 November.  

Hong Kong literary-festival-kit-fan

Catch writers including Xiaolu GuoKit Fan and Naoise Dolan at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, which returns on 5-15 November with a bumper programme of 70 events, ranging from wine tasting and walking tours to poetry, panel discussions and writing workshops. The overarching theme of this year’s festival is The Rebound Edition, focusing on themes of resilience, recovery, wellness and mental health.

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Elsewhere, the city’s galleries continue to refresh their spaces with thought-provoking works. Head over to Gagosian to catch the gallery’s first solo exhibition dedicated to the late Donald Judd (through 13 November), featuring some of his most influential single-unit wall and floor pieces and a set of woodcut prints.  

Woaw Greg Ito Let Me Grow Nicolette Mishkan Luna 2021
Credit: Greg Ito

The Waow Gallery in Central presents a dystopian futuristic vision with Teknolust: Objectophilic Futures through the use of various digital media – including holograms and NFTs (through 24 November).  

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