What’s New in Hong Kong? Gastropubs, Towering Views, and Lots of Smog

 
If you’ve ever thumbed through a copy of our “FILM + TRAVEL: Asia, Oceania, Africa” (and if you haven’t, you really should), you’d know that Hong Kong is one of our favorite towns for ear-splitting, bone-crunching cinematic action. But the backdrop for such explosive, high-kicking flicks as “Infernal Affairs”, “Chungking Express”, and thousands upon thousands of others is not just a stage set for drama. According to a round of recent articles, it’s also a city that is quick to embrace Western trends in dining, arts and leisure pursuits.

 
Gastropubs, those trendy hubs of drink, tasting-sized examples of forward-leaning gourmet cuisine and aspiring hipsters have hopped from European streets, to New York’s Bowery, and now to the bustling heart of Hong Kong. The New York Times article on the rise of the gastropub in this eastern city only offers a few names, but its clear that this growing community of restaurants is as much for expats and tourists as it is for born-and-bred locals. Indeed, places like Bo Innovation and fashion and curio stores like agnés b and Kapok would seem as at home in Manhattan or Paris’ Left Bank as they do here. Offering another alternate view of the city, Gadling took to the air to see Hong Kong from on high. Again, it’s a portrait of the city completely apart from the grit of Hong Kong’s signature brand of action flicks—a soaring view accessible from either The Peak or, if you have the HKDs to spare, a helicopter. If you are considering a jaunt to Hong Kong, be warned though. High pollution and a recent spate of sandstorms on China’s mainland sometimes make it hard to know if you’re looking down at the city’s famous harbor or San Francisco.
 
For a full tour of Hong Kong via its many legendary movie locations pick up a copy of “FILM + TRAVEL: Asia, Oceania, Africa”.
 
Images:
Top (clockwise from upper left): Gastropub, The Pawn, courtesy of the New York Times, Hong Kong from above, courtesy Dennis Wong’s Flickr feed, Bo Innovation, courtesy of Bo Innovation, Kapok, courtesy Kapok.
Bottom: Hong Kong, Kin Cheung/AP.