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The city’s arts and culture scene is quite lively, with innovative music, dance, and theater among the regular offerings. Small independent productions as well as large-scale concerts take to the stage across the territory every weekend.
FILM
Hong Kong cinema still projects an image of classic martial arts and prolific Triad flicks, with a few auteurs capturing the nuanced poetry of life in the former British colony. Inside the territory, however, silly romantic comedies with pop stars, gory–sexy ghost films, cheesy slapstick throwaways, and a handful of thoughtful independent films also populate the screens. It goes without saying that you can learn a lot about Hong Kong by watching its local flicks in situ.
Broadway Cinematheque.
The train-station design of this art house has won awards. Inside the foyer, a departure board displays the showings: primarily foreign and independent films, with a few Hollywood productions to round out the roster. You can read the latest reel-world magazines from around the globe at Kubrick, the café-bookshop next door. | Prosperous Garden,3 Public Square St., Yau Ma Tei | 2388–3188 | www.cinema.com.hk | Station: Yau Ma Tei.
Grand Cinema.
This cinema in the upscale Elements Mall in West Kowloon boasts massive screens, a kicking sound system, and vibrating seats, making it the ideal place to watch a big-budget blockbuster. Facilities include a café, restaurant, and a gallery space hosting film-related exhibitions. | 2nd fl., Elements Mall,1 Austin Rd. W | Kowloon | 3983–0033 | www.thegrandcinema.com.hk.
Fodor’s Choice | Hong Kong Film Archive.
Don’t underestimate the popularity of old black-and-white films in a modern auditorium—buy your tickets in advance, as these cliassic regularly sell out. The theater screens rarities from the impressive archive of reels dating back decades. Conscientiously curated film programs are often accompanied by exhibitions in a separate gallery downstairs, as well as lively panel discussions featuring film critics and directors. | 50 Lei King Rd., Sai Wan Ho, Eastern |2734–9009 | www.filmarchive.gov.hk | Station: Sai Wan Ho.
Hong Kong International Film Festival.
The annual Hong Kong International Film Festival brings together some of the finest film-industry talent from all over the globe. The festival usually occurs in mid-May, offering two weeks worth of movie screenings, exhibitions, and seminars, some hosted by world-renowned actors and filmmakers. As a supplement to the main festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society also holds a Summer International Film Festival in the middle of August. | 2970–3300 | www.hkiff.org.hk.
Chinese Opera
There are 10 Cantonese opera troupes headquartered in Hong Kong, as well as many amateur singing groups. Some put on performances of “street opera” in, for example, the Temple Street Night Market almost every night, while others perform at temple fairs, in City Hall, or in playgrounds under the auspices of the Urban Council. Those unfamiliar with Chinese opera might find the sights and sounds of this highly complex and sophisticated art form a little strange. Every gesture has its own meaning; in fact, there are 50 gestures for the hand alone.
Props attached to the costumes are similarly intricate and are used in exceptional ways. For example, the principal female often has 5-foot-long pheasant-feather tails attached to her headdress; she shows anger by dropping the head and shaking it in a circular fashion so that the feathers move in a perfect circle. Surprise is shown by what’s called “nodding the feathers.” You can also “dance with the feathers” to show a mixture of anger and determination. Orchestral music punctuates the singing. It’s best to attend with someone who can translate the gestures for you; or you can learn more at the Cantonese Opera Halls in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
The highly stylized Peking opera employs higher-pitched voices than Cantonese opera. Peking opera is an older form, more respected for its classical traditions; the meticulous training of the several troupes visiting Hong Kong from the People’s Republic of China each year is well regarded. They perform in City Hall or at special temple ceremonies. You can get the latest programs from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
—Eva Chui Loiterton
PERFORMANCE CENTERS
Fringe Club.
The pioneer of Hong Kong’s alternative-arts scene has been staging excellent independent theater, music, and art productions since opening in 1983. The distinctive brown-and-white-stripe colonial structure was built as a cold-storage warehouse in 1892, and the painstaking renovation has earned awards. Light pours through huge windows into the street-level Anita Chan Lai-ling Gallery, with its small, well-curated exhibitions. It has its own bar, the Fringe Dairy, which claims to be the only jazz and cabaret space in Hong Kong. Productions are sometimes in Cantonese, so check the program carefully. | 2 Lower Albert Rd., Central | 2521–7251 general inquiries, 3128–8288 Hong Kong Ticketing box office | Station: Central.
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Many of Hong Kong’s most talented performers studied at this academy’s schools of drama, music, dance, television, and film. It has five theaters and a gallery, so there’s always something going on. Productions are staged in the Lyric Theatre, the smaller Drama Theatre, and the tiny Studio Theatre. The two concert halls host choice classical or traditional Chinese music performances. When the weather’s pleasant, take in a show at the garden amphitheater. | 1 Gloucester Rd., Wan Chai | 2584–8500 | www.hkapa.edu | Station: Wan Chai.
Hong Kong Arts Centre.
A hodgepodge of activities takes place in this deceptively bleak concrete tower, financed with horse-racing profits donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The split-level Pao galleries house year-round exhibitions of art and crafts. Thematic cycles of art-house flicks run in the basement agnès b. CINEMA. Community theater groups are behind much of the fare at the Shouson Theatre and smaller McAulay Studio, though international drama and dance troupes sometimes appear. The new Comix Home Base showcases local comedians. From Wan Chai MTR, cross the footbridge to Immigration Tower, then dogleg left through the open plaza until you hit Harbour Road. The center is on the left. | 2 Harbour Rd., Wan Chai | 2582–0200 | www.hkac.org.hk |Free | Station: Wan Chai.
Hong Kong City Hall.
The performances at City Hall, ranging from the New York Philharmonic to the Bee Gees, and from the Royal Danish Ballet to the People’s Liberation Army Comrade Dance Troupe, are varied but consistently excellent. Two buildings make up the chunky ’60s-era complex, divided by a World War II memorial garden and shrine. The 1,500-seat concert hall and a smaller theater are in the low-rise block, as is the massive Maxim’s City Palace, a clattering restaurant with good dim sum. The high-rise building has an exhibition space and a smaller recital hall. Performances are usually held Friday and Saturday evenings. | 5 Edinburgh Pl., Central | 2921–2840 | www.lcsd.gov.hk | Daily 9 am–11 pm | Station: Central.
Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s 2,000-seat concert hall, an oval-shaped space fitted with an adjustable acoustic canopy and curtains, houses an 8,000-pipe Austrian organ, one of the world’s largest. The Grand Theatre often hosts visiting Broadway musicals, opera, and ballet, while cozier plays take place in the Studio Theatre. Exhibitions are occasionally mounted in the atrium. | 10 Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui | 2734–2009 |www.hkculturalcentre.gov.hk | Daily 9–11 | Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Look out for performances by the world-class Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which plays everything from classical to avant-garde, as well as contemporary music by Chinese composers. Past soloists have included Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rudolf Firkusny, and Maureen Forrester. | 2721–2030 |www.hkpo.com.
Kwai Tsing Theatre.
It might be in the sticks, but the Kwai Tsing Theatre is a major player in the cultural scene. Sunlight pours into the atrium through a curving glass facade that looks onto a plaza where performances are often held. Inside, the 900-seat theater provides a much-needed middle ground between the massive spaces and tiny studio theaters at other venues. And if the likes of Philip Glass and the Royal Shakespeare Company can schlep out here, 25 minutes by MTR from Central, so can you. | 12 Hing Ning Rd., Kwai Chung, New Territories | 2408–0128 | www.lcsd.gov.hk/ktt | Daily 9 am–11 pm | Station:Kwai Fong.