February 2012

NEW GLITTER ON HONG KONG'S HOLLYWOOD

Heritage meets chic in Hong Kong's latest up-and-coming neighbourhood

NEW GLITTER ON HONG KONG'S HOLLYWOOD

WORDS NICHOLAS WALTON
PHOTOGRAPHY GARY MAK

It's a little after 11am on a glorious Saturday and the pavements of one little corner of central Hong Kong are bustling with pedestrians. The foot traffic is an eclectic mix — tourists searching for deals in the many antique stores and boutique galleries; local expats reading papers and enjoying eggs Benedict at chic sidewalk cafés; and in the district's little Hollywood Road Park, elderly Chinese women performing fan dances to scratchy music while their husbands crowd around stone chess tables.

This is Sheung Wan, a dynamic, colourful, eccentric neighbourhood a stone's throw from the glass-encased towers of Hong Kong's central business district. Despite its close proximity to the banks of Central and the affluent residences of the Mid-Levels, Sheung Wan has managed to retain a very local character — there are fresh flower and vegetable markets that open before sunrise; noodle stands with street-side seating; mahjong parlours which burn the midnight oil; coffin workshops and open-air butchers; and a fantastic antiques market, its stalls and stores stained with age.

But it's also a suburb undergoing change. As rents in bustling Central continue to rise on the world's most space-strapped island, the city's hip persona is venturing west, into Sheung Wan's shopfronts and alleyways, creating a diversity that's both kaleidoscopic and enthralling. New restaurants, cafés and clubs, art galleries and yoga studios jostle for space with Chinese teashops, meat warehouses and traditional medicine clinics. Heritage is in vogue in Hong Kong, and this tiny district is turning into the city's chic capital.

Despite its small stature, Sheung Wan is one of the city's most historic precincts. It was a key component of the British settlement known as Victoria City, which encompassed much of north-west Hong Kong Island. In fact, the site of the original 1842 occupation is now Sheung Wan's Possession Street, although heavy reclamation means it no longer has a waterfront vista.

Hollywood Road, one of Hong Kong's oldest throughways, runs through Sheung Wan like a vital artery and travels past Aberdeen Street, the official border, down to the ancient Man Mo Temple. Steps away, Gough Street is one of many lanes where new bars and restaurants cash in on the subtle address change.

Henning Voss has lived in Hong Kong for the past four years, and is founder of NecesCity, an online men's lifestyle guide located in the heart of the emerging neighbourhood. "As a typical gweilo(foreign) bachelor, I spent my first two years in Hong Kong living in Soho, until I bought a place in Sheung Wan," says Voss. "Sheung Wan has become a much hipper and trendier place. Now it even attracts crowds that normally would not make their way past the Man Mo Temple. Hip restaurants like Wagyu Kaiseki Den, and 208 Duecento Otto, art galleries, posh apartments and quirky shops have really transformed the area."

Although intrepid foreigners like Henning have lived in Sheung Wan for years, it was the city's arts community which brought the best of the city's art scene west, according to Kevin Kwong, arts editor at the South China Morning Post, one of the region's leading English-language newspapers. "Sheung Wan has always had a connection with the arts scene, not least because it has a performing arts venue, the Sheung Wan Civic Centre, but also because the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and Hong Kong Dance Company are also based there," says Kwong. "Another active theatre company, Theatre du Pif, has also set up shop there."

The Cat Street Gallery, one of the first contemporary art galleries to make the move to Sheung Wan, and its adjacent The Space venue, housed in a former meatpacking building, have both helped to bolster the neighbourhood's arty credentials.

"When I moved The Cat Street Gallery to the Sheung Wan end of Hollywood Road in 2008, a lot of my friends thought I was mad — it was a one-way street and our neighbours were generally just coffin shops," says owner Mandy d'Abo. "It's still a one-way street but over the last two and a half years, our neighbours have changed immeasurably."

Several chic new restaurants have also opened in Sheung Wan over the past year, taking advantage of cheaper rents and bigger spaces, including Magnolia, a Cajun-themed private kitchen that's always packed; the elegant Press Room bistro, located just up from the Man Mo Temple; Café Maison, a chic café/lifestyle store on Gough Street; and 208 Duecento Otto, a chic Italian restaurant that smacks of the Big Apple. A hop, skip and jump from 208 is Heirloom, a chic conservatory-looking eatery reminiscent of Sydney's Darlinghurst district and serving up Balinese-Mexican fusion cuisine.

It's easy to see the contrast that makes Sheung Wan such a popular destination for tourists and residents alike.

"I think it will be tough to keep the balance," says Henning Voss. "Rents are on the rise and new apartment developments will add to this craze. However, I hope we will keep the dry goods shopfronts, antique boutiques, and traditional Chinese medicine shops. It's part of Hong Kong's identity."

TAKE ME THERE

WAGYU KAISEKI DEN
263 Hollywood Rd, tel: +852 2851 2820, www.wagyukaisekiden.com.hk

208 DUECENTO OTTO
208 Hollywood Rd, tel: +852 2549 0208, www.208.com.hk

HONG KONG REPERTORY THEATRE
4/F Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen's Rd West, tel: +852 3103 5930, www.hkrep.com

THEATRE DU PIF
Room 902, Hua Fu Building, 111 Queens Rd West, tel: +852 2904 2030, www.thtdupif.com

HONG KONG CHINESE ORCHESTRA
7/F, Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen's Rd West, tel: +852 3185 1600, www.hkco.org

HONG KONG DANCE COMPANY
4/F Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen's Rd West, tel: +852 3103 1888, www.hkdance.com

THE CAT STREET GALLERY
222 Hollywood Rd, tel: +852 2291 0006, www.thecatstreetgallery.com

THE SPACE
210 Hollywood Rd, tel: +852 2361 1210, www.thespace.hk

MAGNOLIA
Shop 5, G/F, 17 Po Yan St, tel: +852 2530 9880, www.magnolia.hk

HEIRLOOM
226 Hollywood Rd, tel: +852 2547 8008, www.heirloomhk.com

CAFÉ MAISON
G/F, 12 Gough St., tel: +852 2581 3663






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