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Hong Kong’s dark side revealed by subversive tours

Edgy tourism shows the dark side of a shining city, from homeless sites to underpaid foreign domestic servants.

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HONG KONG — Among the crowds on Kweilin Street in the rundown Hong Kong neighborhood of Sham Shui Po, Alla Lau darted between street signs, peering at the backs of them until she found what she was looking for. She beckoned a group of tourists, mostly white, in flip-flops and with American accents.

“There,” Lau said, pointing to a handwritten white sticker in Chinese characters that referred to the grimy building across the street. It was an advertisement for one of Hong Kong’s notorious cage apartments, where, for as little as 1,200 Hong Kong dollars a month (about $154), people could rent a cage to sleep in. The cages are stacked three deep and offer barely enough space to sit up in.

The group Lau led had signed up for a tour of the less glamorous underbelly of this fabulously wealthy city. Over the course of three hours, tourists learned about Hong Kong’s underpaid foreign domestic workers, its freewheeling street vendors and the suicides afflicting young students pressured by their parents to succeed in school.

Despite the horrid conditions in the cage apartments, Lau said, they still were not cheap. Per square foot, the monthly rent was more than that of the costlier apartments in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most expensive housing markets, and many people living in the cages make far less than the city’s monthly median income, roughly HK$12,000 a month.

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During the eight or nine tours she leads a week, Lau, 26, gathers people at the subway station in Mong Kok, a teeming area where there were clashes last summer when the police tried to crack down on street hawkers. Greeting tourists in a neon jacket and with a wide smile, she gives them brightly colored maps. A recent tour first seemed like any other as she directed her group past the street vendors selling goldfish in plastic bags.

But there was already an edge to the trip.

Shepherding the tourists past Filipino and Indonesian domestic servants, Lau quietly told her group that these women were not covered by Hong Kong’s minimum wage; different, lower pay scales applied to them. Tourists calculated the amount into their local currencies and expressed surprise and dismay.

Lau was inspired to become a tour guide in Hong Kong while backpacking around Europe; she took a tour of Sofia, Bulgaria, that highlighted the city’s darker side.

Determined to bring a similar experience to Hong Kong, she joined a tour company as a guide in her native city, but she was disappointed that the script she was given did not delve beneath the surface. She was not interested in telling tourists where to shop.

Lau jumped ship to Hong Kong Free Tours when she was offered the chance to share with visitors the problems she and her friends faced, including the struggle to make ends meet.

“People come to Hong Kong for three or four days and see Tesla, Mercedes, skyscrapers in Central, all the things the government tries so hard to promote,” she said.

“If I was a tourist, I’d see those things, how expensive everything is here, and think, ‘Hong Kong people must have a really good life,’” she continued. “That’s one side of Hong Kong. It isn’t telling a lot of people’s stories.”

As the tour wound deeper into Kowloon, the broad peninsula that points toward the sparkling towers of Hong Kong Island, Lau discussed the city’s housing crisis. She stopped outside real-estate agencies to explain the prices, instead of taking the group down the “sneaker street” favored by bargain-seeking tourists.

Ducking into the foyer of a landmark-listed building that houses a training school, Lau talked about the intense pressure on students, which, she said, was partly to blame for the city’s youth suicide rate.

She led the group through ramshackle, makeshift shelters on Tung Chau Street, a homeless community on the edge of Sham Shui Po, first warning people not to take photos.

“This is their home,” she said.

Alessandro Dutto, 23, and Andrea Pertoldi, 24, two Italian backpackers, showed up after seeing a flyer for the tour in their hostel, even though a fellow tourist told them not to bother because there was “nothing to see” in this part of the city.

“It was one of the most interesting things we could have done here,” Pertoldi said.

When the three-hour walking tour ended, Lau, still smiling, collected tips; the tours are free, but customers can choose to pay. Some disappeared back into Hong Kong’s subway system, where they could emerge 10 minutes later back in the heart of the island’s wealthy Central shopping district, with its air-conditioned Louis Vuitton and Armani stores.

One topic she addresses in her tour is the volatile political climate. Lau, who slept in the streets of central Hong Kong for a few weeks in 2014 as part of the Occupy movement, said the removal of four pro-democracy lawmakers from office in July had so angered and demoralized people she knew that some were thinking of leaving the city.

During the next day’s tour, she added a dose of the latest political developments, hoping, she said, that when Hong Kong reaches another breaking point, the tourists will see it on the news and feel a connection to the place.

“This city is not going to go quietly, the way that the government wanted it to,” she said. “There is anger here, and something has to happen, something big. I don’t know if it will be protests, demonstrations, revolution or something else.”

Cheryl Dilks, originally from Boulder, Colorado, and now living in Guam, took the tour while visiting Hong Kong for the first time. She said it was refreshing to hear Lau’s perspective.

“This side of the city would be hard to see as an outsider,” she said. “It looks pretty clean everywhere, and you don’t see a lot of homeless people. So for her to explain the inequities to us is something I was really thankful for.”

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Homelessness, Poverty and Injustice: Touring Hong Kong’s Darker Side

dark tourism hong kong

By Charlotte Graham-McLay

  • July 31, 2017

HONG KONG — Among the crowds on Kweilin Street in the run-down Hong Kong neighborhood of Sham Shui Po, Alla Lau darted between street signs, peering at the backs of them until she found what she was looking for. She beckoned a group of tourists, mostly white, in flip-flops and with American accents.

“There,” Ms. Lau said, pointing to a handwritten white sticker in Chinese characters that referred to the grimy building across the street. It was an advertisement for one of Hong Kong’s notorious cage apartments, where, for as little as 1,200 Hong Kong dollars a month (about $154), people could rent a cage to sleep in, stacked three deep, with barely space to sit up.

The group Ms. Lau led had signed up for a tour of the less glamorous underbelly of this fabulously wealthy city. Over the course of three hours, tourists learned about Hong Kong’s underpaid foreign domestic workers, its freewheeling street vendors and the suicides afflicting young students pressured by their parents to succeed in school.

Despite the horrid conditions in the cage apartments, Ms. Lau said, they still were not cheap. Per square foot, the monthly rent was more than that of the costlier apartments in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most expensive housing markets, and many people living in the cages make far less than the city’s monthly median income, roughly 12,000 Hong Kong dollars a month, or about $1,540.

During the eight or nine tours she leads a week, Ms. Lau, 26, gathers people at the subway station in Mong Kok, a teeming area where there were clashes last summer when the police tried to crack down on street hawkers . Greeting tourists in a neon jacket and with a wide smile, she gives them brightly colored maps. A recent tour first seemed like any other as she directed her group past the street vendors selling goldfish in plastic bags.

But there was already an edge to the trip.

Shepherding the tourists past Filipino and Indonesian domestic servants, Ms. Lau quietly told her group that these women were not covered by Hong Kong’s minimum wage; different, lower pay scales applied to them. Tourists calculated the amount into their local currencies and expressed surprise and dismay.

Ms. Lau was inspired to become a tour guide in Hong Kong while backpacking around Europe; she took a tour of Sofia, Bulgaria, that highlighted the city’s darker side.

Determined to bring a similar experience to Hong Kong, she joined a tour company as a guide in her native city, but she was disappointed that the script she was given did not delve beneath the surface. She was not interested in telling tourists where to shop.

Ms. Lau jumped ship to Hong Kong Free Tours when she was offered the chance to share with visitors the problems she and her friends faced, including the struggle to make ends meet.

“People come to Hong Kong for three or four days and see Tesla, Mercedes, skyscrapers in Central, all the things the government tries so hard to promote,” she said.

“If I was a tourist, I’d see those things, how expensive everything is here, and think, ‘Hong Kong people must have a really good life,’” she continued. “That’s one side of Hong Kong. It isn’t telling a lot of people’s stories.”

As the tour wound deeper into Kowloon, the broad peninsula that points toward the sparkling towers of Hong Kong Island, Ms. Lau discussed the city’s housing crisis. She stopped outside real estate agencies to explain the prices, instead of taking the group down the “sneaker street” favored by bargain-seeking tourists.

Ducking into the foyer of a landmark-listed building that houses a training school, Ms. Lau talked about the intense pressure on students, which, she said, was partly to blame for the city’s youth suicide rate.

She led the group through ramshackle, makeshift shelters on Tung Chau Street, a homeless community on the edge of Sham Shui Po, first warning people not to take photos.

“This is their home,” she said.

Alessandro Dutto, 23, and Andrea Pertoldi, 24, two Italian backpackers, showed up after seeing a flier for the tour in their hostel, even though a fellow tourist told them not to bother because there was “nothing to see” in this part of the city.

“It was one of the most interesting things we could have done here,” Mr. Pertoldi said.

When the three-hour walking tour ended, Ms. Lau, still smiling, collected tips; the tours are free, but customers can choose to pay. Some disappeared back into Hong Kong’s subway system, where they could emerge 10 minutes later back in the heart of the island’s wealthy Central shopping district, with its air-conditioned Louis Vuitton and Armani stores.

Ms. Lau grew up not far from the tours she leads, in a public housing estate in Wong Tai Sin. There, her parents live in the same two-bedroom apartment where she once shared a bedroom with her sister and brother.

Her life is now much easier than those of her parents at her age, but Hong Kong’s high cost of living means the glittering central mecca that tourists frequent is out of her reach.

“No one I know goes for lunch in Central or Admiralty,” she said of the main business area on Hong Kong Island.

One topic she addresses in her tour is the volatile political climate in Hong Kong. Ms. Lau, who slept in the streets of central Hong Kong for a few weeks in 2014 as part of the Occupy movement, said the removal of four pro-democracy lawmakers from office in July had so angered and demoralized people she knew that some were thinking of leaving the city.

During the next day’s tour, she added a dose of the latest political developments, hoping, she said, that when Hong Kong reaches another breaking point, the tourists on her tour will see it on the news and feel a connection to the place.

“This city is not going to go quietly, the way that the government wanted it to,” she said. “There is anger here, and something has to happen, something big. I don’t know if it will be protests, demonstrations, revolution, or something else.”

Cheryl Dilks, originally from Boulder, Colo., and now living in Guam, took the tour while visiting Hong Kong for the first time. She said it was refreshing to hear Ms. Lau’s perspective.

“This side of the city would be hard to see as an outsider,” she said. “It looks pretty clean everywhere, and you don’t see a lot of homeless people. So for her to explain the inequities to us is something I was really thankful for.”

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Tour Availability: EVERY DAY, including public holidays! Duration: 15:00PM – 17:00PM (approximately 2 – 2.5 hours) Price: HKD $250

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Starting Time: 3:00 PM Meeting Point:  Prince Edward MTR Station Exit D (**INSIDE the station**) Find Us:   Find your tour guide holding a yellow fan with “The Hong Kong Free Tours” Ending Time & Point: Around 5:00 PM at Sham Shui Po Station Booking: Please book through our reservation system . Fee: HKD $250

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

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Hong Kong’s Wealth Disparities – Take a brief introduction of Hong Kong’s Capitalistic system, see how citizens compete with high living cost

Housing Crisis – Uncover the naked truth behind the glittering facade of Hong Kong by visiting a subdivided unit, how does a Hong Kong family of 3 live in an apartment with only 100 sq. ft

WHY CHOOSE US

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Essential:  NO tours in Hong Kong would delve into the poorer side of the city and tell tourist the truth of capitalism in Hong Kong, they would not have access to a subdivided unit or cage home even if you ask.

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Cancellation Policy: Please note this tour may be cancelled due to the following conditions: Weather: Tour may be cancelled in the case of a typhoon signal three or a yellow rain signal. Cancellations due to weather will be announced on the website one hour prior to the tour’s start time. Participants:  Tours may be cancelled if fewer than three participants join the tour. In this case, cancellation will be communicated to all registered participants.

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  • Travel Ideas

Dark tourism: Where to go to experience the eerie travel trend

If you thought Chernobyl was bad, one country has seen a surge in tourism thanks to its very own infamous nuclear meltdown zone.

What is Dark Tourism?

Irwin’s surprising fave Aussie holiday spot

‘Begun to stink’: Mt Everest’s gross problem

‘Begun to stink’: Mt Everest’s gross problem

Wild feature inside ‘epic’ new theme park

Wild feature inside ‘epic’ new theme park

Forget happy snaps, lazing on tropical beaches and rowdy cocktail sessions, the newest travel trend is eerie and Aussies need not travel to Chernobyl to take part in dark tourism.

From exploring execution sites in China, to earthquake ruins in Nepal, death camps in Korea, the lawless walled city inside Hong Kong, and the Khmer Rouge killing fields, dark travel has become big business.

The Ukraine has seen a surge in tourism to its infamous nuclear meltdown zone due to the hit HBO drama Chernobyl . Meanwhile, many curious travellers in Asia are bypassing temples, markets and museums to visit locations with sinister histories and learn about the war, natural disasters and civil unrest behind them. Paying respect to their sombre backstories is crucial when visiting these following dark tourism sites.

THE LAWLESS WALLED CITY OF KOWLOON (HONG KONG)

It was one of the most densely populated places the world has ever seen.

It was wild, dangerous, practically lawless and largely ignored by the Hong Kong Government — the City of Darkness.

That was the alarming moniker Hong Kong locals gave to a huge housing complex in Kowloon that was rife with drug dens, brothels and illegal gambling houses, all controlled by the vicious Chinese organised crime group known as the Triads.

Hong Kong Dark tourism. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

At its peak in the early 1990s, more than 30,000 people resided in the City of Darkness, living in squalor among hundreds of decrepit, interconnected apartment blocks. It was such a treacherous place that even most police and Government officials refused to enter.

Finally, in 1994, the complex was demolished and replaced the following year with a beautiful park, which many tourists now visit to read plaques that detail the location’s sordid history.

CHOEUNG EK GENOCIDAL CENTER (PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA)

I’ve had to stop reading. The board in front of me contains information about actions so heinous, so abhorrent that my stomach is suddenly churning. One particular detail I just read I hope to forget as soon as possible because never in my life have I imagined something imbued with such evil.

A visit to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center will change you. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

In the late 1970s, Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Communist party committed genocide. They executed up to 2.5 million people in less than four years — close to one-third of the country’s population. They completed this reign of terror at the same time many of you reading this were enjoying a peaceful existence in a lucky country.

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center attracts hundreds of thousands of Western tourists a year — people who have largely had privileged lives. That’s a very good thing because this centre is the ultimate reality check. It will change you.

KOREAN DEATH CAMP (SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA)

Locked up in a tiny cell, the two women are frozen in time before me, holding hands as they try to help each other from having their spirits broken by their Japanese tormentors. It was in this same jail, where these two statues are placed, that hundreds of South Korean prisoners were killed, many of them tortured to death.

The location of the Korean death camp is now a museum. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a former jail which was converted into a museum detailing this haunting period in South Korea’s history during the first half of the 20th century when the country was under Japanese rule.

The prison was built by the Japanese as a place to detain and torture Korean freedom fighters. Visitors to this site can enter original cells and execution rooms and read plaques which detail the misery of this complex.

JUNGLE CONCENTRATION CAMP (CHONGQING, CHINA)

At the same time Japanese fighters were committing atrocities in Seodaemun Prison, Chinese soldiers were doling our similarly harsh treatment 2,000km away. When I arrive at Zhazidong Prison, on the outskirts of Chongqing city in southwest China, I find hundreds of mostly Chinese tourists flowing in and out of this former concentration camp.

Tourists flow in and out of the former concentration camp. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

Set up secretly in 1943 by the Chinese Nationalist Party, called the KMT, this hidden prison was built into a hillside amid dense forest. The KMT was seeking to crush China’s Communist Revolution movement and so imprisoned, tortured and killed hundreds of revolutionaries at Zhazidong in the 1940s. The camp now acts as a museum, with visitors able to see its cells and even an evil torture chamber.

EARTHQUAKE RUINS (NEPAL)

It is more than four years since Nepal was devastated by a massive earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people, caused more than 20,000 injuries and damaged thousands of buildings, including historic temples and palaces. Yet the country is still trying to rebuild from this natural disaster due not just to the extent of the carnage, but also because of its limited infrastructure and its status as one of Asia’s poorest nations.

Earthquakes ruin in Nepal. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

Tourism is crucial to Nepal’s economy and travellers are helping the country recover by pumping money into its hospitality sector, donating to earthquake recovery funds, and joining guided tours of badly affected areas like Bhaktapur. About 20 per cent of Bhaktapur’s buildings were razed by the earthquake but, amid this destruction, survived a host of stunning ancient structures like the amazing 300-year-old Nyatapola Temple.

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Robert Irwin is a Queenslander through and through, so his favourite Aussie holiday spot may surprise you.

There is 3000kg of human poo estimated to be on Mount Everest and it’s causing a foul stench, with climbers now forced to collect faeces.

A huge new theme park with 1.5km long roller-coasters, “astronomical elements” and a 500-room hotel is set to open next year.

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Silent night: Hong Kong tourist traps are empty, locals stay home as gov’t drive to revive evening economy begins

Mercedes Hutton

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“Hong Kong is back in business” has become a familiar phrase to fall from the mouths of government officials – uttered in at least 11 high-profile addresses since the beginning of the year, including five times in September alone. 

Temple Street Night Market empty tourist tourism Hong Kong

But for an elderly hawker in Yau Ma Tei, who cut a lonely figure along the northern end of Temple Street, business was far from back. His stall was the only one open at around 7 pm on a late-September Tuesday. Speaking to HKFP on condition that his name was not used, he said he was about to close for the day, hours earlier than he used to.

He had been selling wooden handicrafts and calligraphy brushes at Temple Street Night Market – described by travel guide Lonely Planet as a “tourist trap” and “Hong Kong’s liveliest market” – for about 40 years, reopening in 2022 after shuttering for much of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which visitors were essentially barred from the city. 

Things these days were different. Faded orange national and Hong Kong flags hung limply in the humid night air, and the once animated street was all but empty. He did not get many customers, the stallholder said, squatting on his plastic stool in front of an industrial floor fan. People seemed less keen to spend money, he added, and that included tourists. 

It was a similar story at a footwear store on Mong Kok’s Fa Yuen Street, better known as “sneaker street” and popular with a younger, historically cashed-up clientele. While a website dedicated to the area entreats anyone with “an itch to buy some athletic shoes at 11pm” to head over, the owner of three shops on the street said he had started closing at 9 pm.

Fa Yuen Street Mong Kok evening Hong Kong shopping

Also speaking on condition of anonymity, he told HKFP he had cut staff from six to four during Covid so that he could stay open. But business was down by about 50 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, and quieter than it was while anti-epidemic restrictions remained in place. Once, customers would buy several pairs of shoes – now he was lucky if they bought one.    

In an effort to redress weak consumption and reinvigorate the city’s evening economy after Covid-related restrictions kept Hongkongers at home for the better part of three years, the government has launched a “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign . Much of it is centred around malls, pop-up night markets, and events already firmly entrenched in the city’s calendar – National Day Celebrations, the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, and Halloween events at the city’s theme parks. 

It also runs from Mid-Autumn Festival, which this year fell in late September, until Lunar New Year in early February, traditionally the city’s busiest period for spending and for tourism. 

A woman looks at Lunar New Year decorations at a stall in Central, Hong Kong, in January 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Speaking to reporters on September 19, Chief Executive John Lee said the campaign aimed to get people “out of their former habits of staying home early.”

“The whole intention and purpose of this Night Vibes Hong Kong programme is to develop a new culture for people to enjoy their night activities more,” Lee said, adding that “activities will mean more people; more people will mean more business and more consumption, which will be good for the overall economic development.”

The campaign kicked off with a weekend market hosted by the Avenue of Stars and shopping centre K11 Musea – both overseen by property and development conglomerate New World Development – along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on September 22. In a statement, K11 hailed the first event as a success, with “thriving crowds craving for local specialties” resulting in a 30 per cent surge in footfall. There was no mention of an impact on sales. 

Avenue of Stars Tsim Sha Tsui Night Market by the Sea

Among the local specialities on offer were quintessential Cantonese dishes such as siu mai, which went viral for costing HK$20 for four pieces – a lot by Hong Kong standards. The Fa Yuen Street sneaker store owner told HKFP he did not think the campaign would have a genuine impact, saying that you could buy such snacks on most Mong Kok streets but they did not bring people out.    

To make a real difference to the night economy, he suggested the government subsidise stores to stay open. He had started closing earlier during Covid because of a lack of customers and to save staffing costs, and now people were used to shops closing at a certain time and did not look to spend late into the evening. He called it a vicious cycle. 

‘Things have changed’ 

For much of three years, since Covid-19 was first detected in the city in January 2020 until Hong Kong’s border with mainland China was fully reopened in February, the city was subject to some of the most stringent pandemic restrictions in the world. 

While spared the strict lockdowns of cities like Shanghai or London, Hongkongers were limited in other ways, including in the number of people allowed to gather in public and around a table at a restaurant – both capped at two when outbreaks were at their worst. 

Coronavirus virus covid-19 social distancing restaurant

Many of the businesses associated with the night economy – bars, restaurants, karaoke lounges, massage parlours, nightclubs and live music venues – were forced to close completely or operate according to rigorous regulations and curtailed opening hours. Dinner service at eateries was banned for months on end. Several did not survive .

Dining out in large groups has long been part of Hong Kong’s food culture. “People used to go out 15 at a time, families, friends… but now, a lot of them go home at nine o’clock because they’re used to it,” Allan Zeman, the nightlife impresario behind Lan Kwai Fong, one of Hong Kong’s best known after-dark areas, told HKFP by phone in early September. 

“Covid changed a lot of habits for a lot of people… people are used to eating at home,” Zeman said. “Things have changed.” 

Syed Asim Hussain, founder of hospitality group Black Sheep Restaurants, echoed Zeman’s assertion that things were different. “The landscape has changed, it’s dramatically changed,” he told HKFP by video call in late September. “The message internally is we’re not holding our collective breath for things to go back to how they were in 2018.”

Without tourism, a pillar industry that in 2019 contributed around 3.6 per cent to Hong Kong’s gross domestic product and employed some 232,700 people, according to government figures , consumption in the city fell off a cliff in early 2020. Spending still lags behind 2019 levels, which were depressed during the protests and unrest that shook Hong Kong that year. 

Restaurant receipts have shown a more consistent rise, but likewise languish below the amount spent on eating out in 2019, with provisional data for the second quarter showing a decline from the first.  

Economic sociologist at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Anson Au told HKFP that the impact of Covid on Hongkongers was “longitudinal.” 

Speaking via video call in September, Au spoke of the “disruption” many suffered. “If they had any spells of unemployment, which [many] did during that time, the financial effects are… long term, because you had to dip into your savings to basically recuperate, and that takes some time to bounce back,” Au said. 

Hot weather heatwave waterfront street cleaner blue collar

The timing of Hong Kong’s reopening also played a role in people’s willingness to spend, he added. 

“We’re at this time when consumer confidence is a little bit lower than is normal because there is some concern about a recession on both sides of the aisle,” Au said. “We have concerns about slowdown in China , we have concerns about a slowdown in America, and whenever consumers are afraid about that, that usually shows up in discretionary spending – so that’s basically stuff that is a luxury but not a need.” 

Hongkongers have seemed keener to part with their money while overseas – another blow for domestic consumption. Even before the border reopened, a 2022 report from Mastercard Economic Institute highlighted a “sharp recovery in outbound travel” across the Asia-Pacific region, adding it was “notable” in Hong Kong, “where the demand has been growing since the implementation of the ‘0+3’ quarantine policy .”

Introduced last September, the 0+3 requirement replaced quarantine for arrivals with a complex series of nucleic and rapid tests, allowing Hongkongers for the first time in years to travel without having to undergo isolation upon their return.

Hong Kong designated quarantine hotel

The trend for overseas travel has continued since all border controls were dropped, with Hussain saying “revenge travel” – people’s desire to expand their horizons after not being able to do so – was evident. “Our guests that we would see a few times a week, they’re on the road all the time,” he said.

“The other thing that we’re seeing is guests even within our portfolio are trading down,” Hussain said, referring to the phenomenon of spending less than before.

Hongkongers are not the only ones taking advantage of the post-Covid opportunity to travel. However, the 1.3 million Chinese arrivals recorded in the city from January to July was still 41 per cent below 2019 figures for the same period, according to Hong Kong Tourism Bureau data, and international tourists were yet to make a noticeable return . 

Kennedy Town Praya coffee shop Arabica tourists visitor

Lan Kwai Fong’s Zeman said mainland Chinese tourists made up about 35 per cent of the area’s customers now, compensating for a drop in expatriates. “Our business has really been very good,” he said. 

He said that the type of mainland Chinese tourist had changed . “In the old days, all they wanted to do is go shopping in the shopping centres because the prices were a lot cheaper than in mainland China, especially for all the labels,” Zeman said. 

Deflated consumption trends in Hong Kong indicate that travellers, like locals, are less willing to spend. Retail receipts in almost every sector were down compared to before Covid, with clothing and department store expenditure particularly depressed. 

“Now that the tax [of luxury goods in mainland China] is almost equal to Hong Kong, they don’t come here. It’s a different kind of client who’s coming now. They’re much better dressed, they’re more sophisticated, they travel,” he said, adding that these tourists were looking for experiences unique to Hong Kong. 

Enjoying Hong Kong nightlife ‘prohibited’ 

The issue with that, said many involved in the city’s nightlife economy who spoke to HKFP for this article, was that Hong Kong’s unique culture had been eroded, and in some cases, commodified. 

Dai pai dongs – street food stalls that have served classic Hong Kong dishes for decades – are under threat because of government bureaucracy and no new licences have been issued since the 1970s, citing concerns over food safety and hygiene. Acknowledging their cultural importance, though, a dai pai dong will pop up at Wan Chai Harbourfront as part of the Hong Kong Night Vibes campaign offering “nostalgia” and “an enticing array of traditional Hong Kong-style street food,” according to a press release. 

neon sign removal wan chai pawn shop

Similarly, neon signs – visually synonymous with the city for many foreigners – have fallen foul of regulations and been removed , with some of what remains relegated to museums. Street performers, who drew crowds but were largely disliked by local residents and business owners, were popularly sent packing from Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok in 2018. Today the once pedestrianised area is quiet, both audibly and in terms of footfall.       

In Tsim Sha Tsui, street photographers who took tourists’ pictures against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour have mostly been moved on . Jumbo, one of Hong Kong’s floating restaurants fell victim to Covid restrictions then sank in the South China Sea in June 2022 as it was being towed away, sparking memes that it was a metaphor for Hong Kong’s future . 

Without even a hint of irony, the Government Records Service launched an exhibition on September 15 titled, “Yesterday’s Vacation in HK,” assembling images of bygone tourist attractions that “remain a crucial part of locals’ and visitors’ memory towards Hong Kong despite having become part of history.”

Shady Acres bar Peel Street Central Hong Kong nightlife

Becky Lam and Mike Watt, the duo behind popular Peel Street bar Shady Acres in Central, questioned why Hong Kong did not appear on any lists of the world’s best cities for nightlife. 

“Hongkongers are as creative, educated, cosmopolitan, youthful, and entrepreneurial as any other people in Asia, if not more so,” they said in emailed responses to HKFP, adding that the city had “the economic and human resources to sustain a world-class nightlife scene and then some. And yet why doesn’t it?”

The answer, Lam and Watt said, was simple. “Bit by bit, we’ve basically made key elements of nightlife all but illegal. We’ve hunted them to the point where they’re endangered or even extinct,” they said.  

“There are a wide variety of individual laws and regulations which, when you add them up, essentially prohibit the city from enjoying a world-class nightlife scene,” Lam and Watt added.

“Think of the ingredients that make up a thrilling nightlife destination: live entertainment, outdoor dining, street food, night markets, public performances, bars and clubs that seemingly never close, and so on. Offering these activities legally in Hong Kong is very challenging, frequently impossible, and therefore the opportunity to have those experiences is very limited relative to other major global cities.”

Lam and Watt said they were not advocating a “free for all” and regulations were essential. “It’s a balancing act.”  

Lan Kwai Fong Bar Covid-19

Whether that act can be achieved by the government’s night economy push remains to be seen. 

Black Sheep Restaurants’ Hussain seemed unconvinced. “I feel like we’re playing someone else’s game, we’re not playing to our strengths,” he said, among which were “world class hospitality, excellent experiential dining.”

Zeman, whose Lan Kwai Fong was participating in the reinvigoration efforts by offering a series of performances and discounts mid-week , said: “We just have to keep on being innovative.” Night markets offering what he called “cheap, cheap, cheap stuff” were “not the answer to our problems,” he added. 

Hussain agreed that “cheap and cheerful” was not the way ahead. ” We’ve got to return back to things that made Hong Kong so glossy… We are a really dynamic city when we’re making space for arts and culture… those are the sort of events that I think we should be creating more space for.”

night market mid-autumn festival

As for what was on the Night Vibes Hong Kong agenda, Zeman said: “I’ve talked to a lot of operators that are doing it because the government’s asked them to… I’m not sure it will bring a lot of business. It’ll bring more people out, for sure.” 

He continued: “I don’t know if that’s really going to bring out spenders, you know. A lot of these people, they might go to the shopping mall, they’ll look, but they’re not really going to be shopping.” 

Emigration, integration

After losing tens of thousands of residents to an emigration wave after the 2019 pro-democracy protests and the arrival of Covid-19 and the national security law the following year, recent mid-year population figures rose to 7.5 million. However, almost 250,000 of them were “mobile residents,” or those who do not live in the city full-time. 

airport departures immigration emigration

The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute last March found that 24 per cent of respondents planned to leave the city. An immigration route introduced for Hongkongers by the UK in January 2021 had resulted in 144,500 visas issued by February , and British magazine The Spectator reported in late September that 125,000 Hongkongers had entered the UK under the scheme thus far. 

While Chinese University of Hong Kong cultural anthropologist Sidney Cheung pointed out that the decline in domestic spending was “much bigger than the percentage of people who are moving out,” a survey commissioned by Hong Kong-based digital life insurer Blue in 2021 highlighted other ways in which relocation plans may affect consumption habits. 

It found that Hongkongers on average saved a quarter of their monthly income, with two in five savers saying they intended to emigrate, many within five years. 

Zeman pointed to another factor at play in how and where residents splash their cash: Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area, a megalopolis and port hub that is critical to mainland China’s export industry spanning nine cities in Guangdong province, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. 

“On the weekend… a lot of locals are going to Shenzhen,” Zeman said, referring to the city just across the border to the north of Hong Kong. Connectivity and cost – both hotels and Michelin-starred meals were “half the price,” he said – were enticing Hongkongers to spend not only in Shenzhen, but Macau and Guangzhou, too. 

“It’s become what a future in the Greater Bay Area will be about,” Zeman said. “I think that’s really something we are living with at the moment.”  

Hussain, though, said he was “frustrated that we’re trying to sort of compete.”

“There is this narrative about how everyone’s going up to China for the weekend, and even if that’s true – and the numbers actually show that it’s true, if you look at the data I think some 300,000 people are going up north – even if that is true, I feel we’ve got to continue to play to our strengths instead of adjusting or pivoting to something that’s not really what makes Hong Kong special,” Hussain said.

“What’s really frustrating is… this sort of V-shape recovery post-Covid that places like London, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, other tier-one restaurant markets, other tier-one cities [had]… didn’t happen for us,” Hussain added, referring to a quick, decisive economic recovery witnessed elsewhere after Covid restrictions were dropped. “We’re still kind of languishing.” 

Mother's Day CE Election Chinese restaurant yum cha drink tea Cantonese restaurant teahouse

As for whether the Hong Kong Night Vibes campaign will be successful, or if seasonal spending between the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year will peak as per previous years, only time will tell. The Travel Industry Council has estimated that 1 million mainland Chinese tourists will visit the city during the Golden Week holiday in the first week of October.

“I think we need to know whether we are going to move back to the old model – like doing Mid-Autumn Festival or Chinese New Year at restaurants – or have we got used to the new model of ordering things and eating at home,” Cheung said. 

Au acknowledged he was “more optimistic” about tourism, saying that globally, “the big picture story for tourism is improving,” and adding that he did not see “any fundamental reason why Hong Kong would be left out from that.” 

However, he was less bullish on domestic spending, and whether changes catalysed by Covid could end up being permanent. 

“The short answer is, we’ll see,” Au said. “Because the pandemic did something to the economy altogether. That itself, the effects of that, remain to be seen. You know, we walked out of one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world, where we basically isolated ourselves from global flows of trade and capital, and that itself took a toll,” he said. 

“We will bounce back, but we’re also bouncing back at a time when there are recessionary fears in the world economy at large… whatever happens for night markets in Hong Kong, and tourism, and consumer confidence, will be driven by this bigger story.” 

Additional reporting: Kyle Lam

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What you should know about the rise of dark tourism

(Hint: It’s not all bad)

Abandoned amusement park in Pripyat near Chernobyl

From the Roman Colosseum, where death was a spectator sport, to Halloween’s ancient origins in a Celtic festival of the dead, people have been drawn to death and tragedy for centuries.

But it wasn’t until the 1990s that a group of academics who were studying sites associated with the assassination of JFK gave this fascination with the macabre a name: dark tourism.

In more recent years, so-called dark tourism sites such as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City and Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi death camp in southern Poland, have noticed an increase in visitors. And since HBO aired its popular miniseries about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, tour operators have reported an uptick in the number of visitors to the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Suosheng Wang

So what exactly is dark tourism?

According to IUPUI associate professor of tourism Suosheng Wang, the term dark tourism describes the phenomenon of people traveling to sites of death and disaster, whether man-made or natural. It is also known as “milking the macabre,” the “dark side of tourism,” “thanatourism” and “tragedy tourism.”

Though dark tourism can seem like a particularly irksome form of voyeurism, it’s not that straightforward, Wang said.

“We cannot simply say dark tourism is a good or bad thing, which wholly depends on how dark tourism is organized and how the local communities think of developing dark tourism at dark sites,” Wang said. “On one hand, the original purpose of dark tourism sites is for visitors to memorialize the victims and receive education to ensure the ‘never again’ hope. This is why most of these sites are presented as sites of remembrance for heritage, education or history.”

On the other hand, after a disaster, dark tourism can put local people in a painful or uncomfortable situation, he said. When one’s hometown is turned into a site of tragic disaster, it serves as a constant reminder of the tragedy and can prevent one from moving beyond the disaster.

“In the transition from a place of past disaster to a place as a dark tourism destination, death is presented as entertainment,” Wang said. “Such dissonance is an integral and unavoidable characteristic of dark tourism, and the stigma of death and tragedy may be distasteful to the local residents.”

One reason Wang said we’ve seen a rise in dark tourism is because the number of disasters in the world is increasing too.

This means that developing a better understanding of dark tourism has become increasingly important as well, because it can play a crucial role in disaster recovery efforts – particularly in developing countries, where dark tourism can stimulate and empower a community in mourning, he said.

9/11 Memorial

It’s complicated, however, because although dark tourism can be a much-needed driver of economic recovery for sites of past disasters, there’s a fine line to walk between memorializing the dead and exploiting human suffering for financial gain.

Wang said there are typically two kinds of dark tourism sites – commercialized and noncommercialized – and two kinds of dark tourists: schadenfreude tourists, who glean a secret pleasure from seeing others’ misfortune, and thanatopsis tourists, who are interested in contemplating the meaning of the loss of life. The schadenfreude tourists tend to be criticized for snapping selfies, staying in luxurious hotels and eating fine food near the places of past suffering, while the thanatopsis tourists tend to care more about preserving the dark tourism site as sacred and reject attempts to develop commercial activities on the site.

It is this convergence of the opposing motivations of dark tourists, mixed with the needs and cultures of the communities where the dark sites reside, that creates such an interesting backdrop for the moral quandaries raised by dark tourism.

“Critics argue that dark tourism is commodifying the sufferings of the past for the financial gains of the present,” Wang said. “The onsite interpretation of a dark site can be overshadowed by commercialized representations, and the past tragedy becomes a site of commodity consumption.”

For example, the dark attraction Auschwitz has swelled with tourist numbers and catalyzed economic activity in the region. But the souvenirs sold around the 9/11 Memorial in New York risk the kitschification of dark tourism, he said.

“Dark tourism provides a significant tourism experience while at the same time raising new anxieties and ethical dilemmas,” Wang said. “Doubtlessly, it is a challenging issue for tourism management organizations or local communities to develop dark tourism at dark sites.”

Andrea Zeek

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暗黑旅遊 : 香港作家梁秉鈞的東歐之行 (1990~1991)

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T1 - 暗黑旅遊 : 香港作家梁秉鈞的東歐之行 (1990~1991)

A2 - 黃淑嫻, null

PY - 2023/7/15

Y1 - 2023/7/15

N2 - After the 1967 riots, Hong Kong’s 1970s economy was booming, the city was excavating its first subway, and air transportation had become more accessible to ordinary citizens, who traveled for leisure more frequently. As a result, a greater number of Hong Kong writers devoted themselves to travel writing, describing their new experiences overseas. Up to the present, however, systematic research on such travel writing by Hong Kong writers has been in short supply. As research in this area has developed, the Hong Kong author whose travel-related writing has received the most attention is probably Leung Ping Kwan 梁秉鈞 (pen name Yesi/Yasi也斯, 1949–2013). Leung started his world travels in the 1970s as a young man, with visits to mainland China (1974), Taiwan (1976), and Japan (1978). He shortly thereafter published a spate of essays and poems inspired by these travels. Between 1978 to 1984, he studied in the US. Upon his return to Hong Kong, Leung taught at the University of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997, and then at Lingnan University from 1997 until his death. Throughout these years as both writer and professor of comparative literature, Leung participated in innumerable cultural exchanges that allowed him to visit many places around the world. During his final trip in 2012, Leung visited Zurich University, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Out of a lifetime of travel, however, it was his trips to Berlin and other former Eastern Bloc European cities immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall that were of particular importance for him. These trips in 1990 and 1991 served as a turning point for his writing career in terms of style, marking his shift from the lyrical to a postmodern voice. The city of Hong Kong, an important theme in his writing, was at that time facing an uncertain situation. This paper will discuss Leung’s travel writing related to his two European trips in 1990 and 1991 within the particular context of Hong Kong history from the perspective of dark tourism. Leung also wrote longer essays about these travels, but for this article, I will focus primarily on his poems and the associated photopoetry collaborations he undertook with Hong Kong photographer Lee Ka-sing 李家昇 (1954– ).

AB - After the 1967 riots, Hong Kong’s 1970s economy was booming, the city was excavating its first subway, and air transportation had become more accessible to ordinary citizens, who traveled for leisure more frequently. As a result, a greater number of Hong Kong writers devoted themselves to travel writing, describing their new experiences overseas. Up to the present, however, systematic research on such travel writing by Hong Kong writers has been in short supply. As research in this area has developed, the Hong Kong author whose travel-related writing has received the most attention is probably Leung Ping Kwan 梁秉鈞 (pen name Yesi/Yasi也斯, 1949–2013). Leung started his world travels in the 1970s as a young man, with visits to mainland China (1974), Taiwan (1976), and Japan (1978). He shortly thereafter published a spate of essays and poems inspired by these travels. Between 1978 to 1984, he studied in the US. Upon his return to Hong Kong, Leung taught at the University of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997, and then at Lingnan University from 1997 until his death. Throughout these years as both writer and professor of comparative literature, Leung participated in innumerable cultural exchanges that allowed him to visit many places around the world. During his final trip in 2012, Leung visited Zurich University, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Out of a lifetime of travel, however, it was his trips to Berlin and other former Eastern Bloc European cities immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall that were of particular importance for him. These trips in 1990 and 1991 served as a turning point for his writing career in terms of style, marking his shift from the lyrical to a postmodern voice. The city of Hong Kong, an important theme in his writing, was at that time facing an uncertain situation. This paper will discuss Leung’s travel writing related to his two European trips in 1990 and 1991 within the particular context of Hong Kong history from the perspective of dark tourism. Leung also wrote longer essays about these travels, but for this article, I will focus primarily on his poems and the associated photopoetry collaborations he undertook with Hong Kong photographer Lee Ka-sing 李家昇 (1954– ).

KW - Hong Kong

KW - Leung Ping Kwan

KW - Dark Tourism

KW - Berlin Wall

UR - https://www.atl.org.tw/%E5%AD%B8%E8%A8%8A%E4%BB%A3%E7%99%BC%EF%BD%9C%E3%80%90%E7%AC%AC%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%89%E5%B1%86%E5%9C%8B%E9%9A%9B%E9%9D%92%E5%B9%B4%E5%AD%B8%E8%80%85%E4%BA%BA%E6%96%87%E8%88%87%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%AD%B8/

M3 - Presentation

T2 - 第十三屆國際青年學者人文與文化國際學術會議 : 文化身份:亞洲敘事與文化創本的機會與挑戰 = The 13th International Junior Scholars Conference on Humanities and Culture: Cultural Identity: Opportunities and Challenges of Asian Narratives and Cultural Creativity

Y2 - 14 July 2023 through 15 July 2023

China Daily

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Dark tourism

dark tourism hong kong

Fascination with history takes Chinese travelers to site of Chernobyl disaster

dark tourism hong kong

After Li Yimeng took a one-day trip to Chernobyl in Ukraine, she washed her shoes five times, cleaning away any radiation that may have been on the soles.

She also washed her clothes, backpack and even the magnets she bought in the area, scene of the Chernobyl disaster — the world’s biggest nuclear power plant accident — which occurred on April 26, 1986. 

Since the abandoned area was opened to tourists in 2011, there has been an increasing number of visitors, but risks from radiation remain.

“The sudden fear I experienced after the trip was purely psychological, but I didn’t feel ill,” said Li, a photographer from Beijing, who traveled to Ukraine in October. 

When the disaster happened, parts of the then Soviet Union, including Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation, with the aftereffects in the following years including increased cases of thyroid cancer. The Soviet Union broke up in 1991, five years after the accident.

Tourists can book a guided one-day tour of the area through travel agencies in Kiev, capital of Ukraine. 

Local travel agencies claim that as radioactivity levels fall over time, and with clean-up operations being staged at Chernobyl, short visits with designated routes are safe, but tourists must follow radiation safety regulations. 

Some travel agencies state on their websites that the total amount of radiation a person is exposed to during a 10-hour trip to the area is several times lower than the level experienced during a transatlantic flight.

However, the potential risk is still there, as the dangerous nuclear waste is sealed in a “tomb”. 

Immediately after the meltdown in 1986, a massive steel and concrete structure, known as “the sarcophagus”, was hastily constructed to cover the damaged nuclear reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The installation was completed at the end of November that year.

By the end of 2016, Ukraine and other countries worked together to establish a giant shield to replace the sarcophagus to prevent further leaks of radioactivity. The shield is designed to secure the site for the next 100 years, and tourists can take photos of the area from a distance.

Chernobyl is one of the most popular areas for “dark tourism”, which refers to traveling to places associated with death and tragedy.

After the hit TV miniseries Chernobyl aired on HBO in May, increasing numbers of tourists have been keen to visit the disaster area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Ukrainian government reported that nearly 72,000 visitors traveled to Chernobyl last year, up from 50,000 in 2017.

In July, the Ukrainian government said it would make Chernobyl an official tourist site, with plans to improve infrastructure, checkpoints, routes, waterways and radiation monitoring.

Although many visitors to Chernobyl are from Western countries, some Chinese tourists interested in history or photography have traveled to the area.

dark tourism hong kong

Li booked her one-day trip, which cost US$84, in advance online through a local travel agency. She also paid US$10 for a Geiger counter in order to detect radioactive emissions.

Her destination was the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, an area within a 30-kilometer radius of nuclear reactor number 4.

Once the journey started, she became so immersed in the experience that she had no time to worry about the potential risks.

“I had a bird’s-eye view from the top of a Soviet-style building. The autumn landscape was beautiful, tranquil and desolate, with derelict buildings surrounded by yellow-leafed trees. But this sudden exposure to the reality of Chernobyl made me want to know more about the area’s history,” Li said.

“As the world undergoes great changes, this place remains unchanged, as if time is at a standstill. The scene is imprinted in my memory.”

Tourists to Chernobyl must wear long-sleeved clothing, full-length pants, and shoes that cover the whole foot. They are warned not to touch any objects or sit on the ground.

On the minibus that took the tour group Li joined to the site, two of the 10-strong party were Chinese, and others came from European countries.

To enter the zone, visitors must show their passports and pass through a security check. They can have lunch in a canteen, with food transported from Kiev. When they are about to leave, they have to pass a body-scan test to check for high levels of radiation.

Pripyat was built as a model Soviet city to house workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and their families.

The most-photographed area of the city is the amusement park, which was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986, but all 50,000 citizens were evacuated just days before.

When the tour guide placed his Geiger counter close to a yellow Ferris wheel, the device indicated high levels of radiation.

Li said the radiation levels in the soil, fallen leaves and other items in the area were much higher than those found in the air.

The guide handed out old photos of different sites in the area so that the visitors could compare them with how they look now.

Li also visited abandoned classrooms with scattered books and fallen desks, a room with numerous gas masks and a coffeehouse frequented by workers.

As she concentrated on taking photos, she suddenly found she had been left on her own. As fear set in, she ran as fast as possible and was able to catch up with the rest of the group.

“It was an unforgettable moment during the visit. I was afraid of being lost and having to spend the night there on my own. After that, I followed the tour guide closely,” she said. 

dark tourism hong kong

Li believes that as trips to Chernobyl become more popular, a limit may be placed on visitor numbers.

“It’s not a place to seek novelty. Tourists should realize the potential risks before they make their plans,” she said.

Yang Xiao, chief experience officer for the Chinese tourism website Qyer, has traveled to popular dark tourism and urban exploration sites worldwide to take photos, including the abandoned Zeljava Air Base on the border between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone can be categorized as both dark tourism and urban exploration. In 2016, Yang booked a two-day tour to Chernobyl and stayed overnight near the zone in a basic hotel. As she took a stroll at night, she had to remain in a restricted area.

“In the world’s most contaminated area, I had the most gorgeous view of the Milky Way. It was amazing,” she said. 

Yang visited the hospital in Pripyat, where firefighters responding to the disaster were treated. “I felt very sad at the site,” she said.

“Tourism in Chernobyl has developed over the years, and the guides are professional. Visitors should obey all the rules, such as not touching objects in the zone.” 

Zhang Ye, 30, who works at the Bro Adventures travel agency in Beijing, was impressed by the book Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by the 2015 Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich. 

The Belarusian author interviewed hundreds of people affected by the nuclear accident, ranging from members of the public to doctors.

“I was greatly moved by the survivors’ personal stories, including how their lives have been changed. When they were ordered to leave in a hurry, they thought that one day they would return home. But that day never came,” Zhang said.

“These stories made me want to visit the place and see everything for myself.”

Zhang, driven by his interest in the culture of the former Soviet Union, has visited 14 of the 15 countries that were once part of it. 

In Pripyat, he found traces of the hasty evacuation of residents, such as scattered personal items.

He was saddened by the sight of dirty children’s beds and abandoned plastic dolls at a kindergarten.

“I was not afraid of the radiation risk, but I was heavy-hearted during the trip. The nuclear meltdown caused by human error led to a great number of casualties, and it could have been prevented,” he said.

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Visitors to Hong Kong’s harbourfront in Wan Chai are in for an adventure as the A-Maze-ing Harbourfront event offers five major themed mazes for them to discover and enjoy.

A-Maze-ing adventure

Visitors to Hong Kong’s harbourfront in Wan Chai are in for an adventure as the A-Maze-ing Harbourfront event offers five major themed mazes for them to discover and enjoy.

Floral exuberance

Hong Kong Flower Show 2024, which runs through March 24, kicked off at Victoria Park.

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Night Vibes Hong Kong: Can bolder ideas liven up the city after dark?

24th December 2023 – (Hong Kong) The Hong Kong government recently launched its “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign in an effort to revive the city’s nightlife economy. However, critics argue the events organised so far lack the creative flair and vibrancy needed to truly energise Hong Kong’s after-dark scene.

To rejuvenate nightlife and boost tourism, observers say Hong Kong must think bigger and bolder with innovative events that showcase the city’s cosmopolitan character. Suggestions include themed extravaganzas at iconic museums and weekend parties aboard MTR trains.

Night Vibes: The Campaign So Far

Unveiled in September 2022, Night Vibes Hong Kong aims to stimulate nighttime leisure and recreation through diverse events and activities. The campaign covers major festivals and holidays until early 2024, spanning venues across the city. Initial events have included harbourfront markets, dining promotions, fireworks displays, the Wine and Dine Festival, Halloween at theme parks, and lantern carnivals. While these provide entertainment options, some argue the offerings are quite conventional.

Critics say the campaign lacks the kind of imaginative and one-of-a-kind happenings that generate real buzz. More international, experiential and interactive events are needed to capture attention, they argue.

Thinking Bigger: Creative Event Ideas

To ignite global interest, Hong Kong must leverage its modern infrastructure and resources to host truly unique extravaganzas. Some creative concepts proposed include:

Night at the Museum

Inspired by Taiwan’s popular National Palace Museum night parties, Hong Kong’s world-class museums could open after dark for themed events. Attendees in period costumes could tour the exhibits, enjoy music and shows, and join interactive activities. On Saturday (23rd December), the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taiwan hosted an event called the “2023 Night of Revelry at the NPM,” drawing a crowd of approximately 3,000 attendees.

Venues like the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the new Palace Museum, and M+ have dramatic backdrops to bring history alive. Collaborations with local artists and performers could produce an event unmatched in Asia.

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Party Trains

Hong Kong’s MTR network could host one-night-only party trains like Berlin’s infamous Techno Train raves. With music, lights and dancing as the subway travels between stations, it would provide a surreal mobile club experience through Hong Kong’s neon cityscape.

Different train cars could feature varied music genres and decor. Party trains would showcase Hong Kong’s efficient transport and night energy.

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Dining in the Dark

Already popular overseas, blindfolded dining events in pitch-black rooms heighten senses and provide a novel social evening. TeamLab, a renowned immersive art collective, has introduced blind dining at its Tokyo venue.

Set in places like Hong Kong’s arts centres or innovative new restaurants, sensory meals could start with staff guiding blindfolded attendees to tables. Dinner would feature surprise dishes with guests identifying ingredients by taste, smell and touch. This would offer a new gastronomic adventure.

Reviving Hong Kong’s Nightlife Mojo

While sceptics may dismiss these ideas as gimmicky, Hong Kong must take bolder steps to regain its nightlife mojo. The city dominated Asia’s after-dark scene in the past by necessity – but with regional rivals now offering many late-night options, Hong Kong must play to unique strengths. A cosmopolitan crossroads, its diversity, technology infrastructure, arts scene and local flair can provide amazing ingredients for bespoke events that captivate tourists and locals. But successfully doing so will take imagination and a whole-of-society effort.

With determination, Hong Kong can rejuvenate its nighttime economy and reclaim its title as Asia’s most vibrant 24-hour city but timid, generic campaigns like Night Vibes will not single-handedly revitalise after-dark buzz.

The government must engage the arts and business communities in dedicated brainstorming on novel event possibilities. However, authorities will also need to ensure regulations are nightlife-friendly. Above all, Hong Kong must focus on its people, who are the heart and soul of its nightlife. Rebuilding community cohesion and pride will be vital in rediscovering the city’s spirit. With open minds and bold creativity, a bright new era of Hong Kong nights can dawn.

Night Vibes Events So Far

The “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign was launched in September 2022 to boost nighttime recreation and leisure. Events and promotions have included:

  • Harbourfront markets, performances and tours
  • Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival
  • Citywide dining promotion at restaurants/bars
  • National Day fireworks after 5-year absence
  • Return of Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance
  • Drone show over Hong Kong & Shenzhen
  • Lantern carnivals in Victoria Park
  • Halloween events at Ocean Park, Disneyland
  • Outdoor Christmas tree at West Kowloon
  • New Year’s Eve countdown event
  • Resumption of Lunar New Year night parade

While providing entertainment options, critics say these largely conventional events lack the innovative flair needed to excite locals and tourists. More creative happenings are seen as necessary to re-energise Hong Kong’s nightlife.

Nightlife Issues Facing Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s vibrant, internationally renowned nightlife has declined in recent years due to multiple factors:

  • Regional competition  – Expanded transport links have diminished Hong Kong’s advantages as other Asian cities now offer comparable nightlife. Shenzhen is just half-hour from West Kowloon.
  • Tourist slump  – Overnight visitors decreased, with many opting for daytrips rather than costly Hong Kong hotels. Inbound tourism remains below pre-pandemic levels.
  • Brain drain  – Professionals and high-income earners critical to nightlife have emigrated in droves since 2019, drained by political turmoil.
  • Lacklustre promotion  – Critics say gimmicky campaigns like Night Vibes fail to address underlying issues hurting nightlife. Bold, honest solutions are needed.
  • Community disconnect  – Political polarisation and growing local disenchantment have eroded civic spirit and pride, robbing nightlife of its energy.

Rejuvenating Hong Kong’s nighttime economy requires reviving its confidence and connections. The city must leverage its diversity and strengths with innovative thinking and determination.

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China's Alibaba Commits $640 Million to Hong Kong Film, TV Development

Alibaba, China's e-commerce and entertainment conglomerate, said Monday that it is committing HK$5 billion ($640 million) over five years to the development of Hong Kong's film and TV industries.

The move was announced on the first day of FilMart, the annual rights market for the Asian industries, at an event attended by Fan Luyuan, chairman and CEO of Alibaba's digital media and entertainment unit, and Kevin Yeung, the Hong Kong government's secretary for culture, sports and tourism.

Alibaba's Hong Kong Cultural and Art Industry Revitalization Program "will focus on film production and distribution, rights acquisitions, TV series production, investments in concerts, collaboration with performance venues and talent development, etc. It will also work with leading local film and TV companies to co-produce films for cinemas, TV dramas and dramas for streaming platforms," Yeung said.

He also expects Alibaba's digital media unit to make Hong Kong its second headquarters. Alibaba Pictures, a subsidiary that includes some of Alibaba's media assets, but excludes the Youku streaming platform, is already listed on the Hong Kong stock market.

It is expected that Alibaba will announce a mix of deals with a handful of Hong Kong companies during the course of FilMart. The plan is said to be the brainchild of Alibaba's digital media and entertainment unit and Hong Kong firms including Edko Films, BenXiaoHai Media, Mandarin Motion Pictures, Huanxi Media Group, Media Asia Group, Universe Entertainment and Culture Group, Meiya Entertainment, One Cool Group, TVB, Shaw Brothers Pictures and Emperor Motion Pictures.

Alibaba will also fund scholarships for 20 filmmakers studying at the Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film.

Some of Alibaba's HK$5 billion has already been earmarked for projects. Youku said it is backing TV dramas, including "Forensic Heroes VI: Redemption," "The Heir to the Throne," "Dark Side of the Moon," "Prism Breaker," "Fearless," "Dark Chase," "Behind the Queen of Yarn" and "Golden Era."

Hong Kong feature film projects that will include Alibaba Pictures finance are "The Trier of Fact," "The Last Dance," both from One Cool Film , "Customs Frontline," "In the Light of Dark," "Behind the Scene," "Invincible Swordsman," "Without Remorse," "Endless Battle 2," "The Grey Men 2" and "My Date With a Vampire."

Alibaba was previously an investor in Jack Ng's 2023's courtroom drama film "A Guilty Conscience," which became Hong Kong's highest-grossing Chinese-language movie of all time.

"Filmmakers who are rooted in the city's culture, possess a blend of Eastern aesthetics and international perspective will be the key to maintaining our distinctive competitiveness in the global motion picture market," said Alibaba Pictures' president Jie Li.

"We will support a new generation of Hong Kong actors, allowing more creative talents from Hong Kong to thrive in Mainland China and provide greater opportunities for young talent, while at the same time, preserving and continuing Hong Kong's unique pop culture," Ying Xie, Youku's VP, said at the trade show.

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China's Alibaba Commits $640 Million to Hong Kong Film, TV Development

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