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Uniquely Hong Kong

Uniquely Hong Kong
Uniquely Hong Kong is a series focusing on the things that set the city apart from the rest of the world. From its oldest families to its fascinating trades, South China Morning Post gets to the heart of what makes Hong Kong tick.
The Temple Street Night Market in Jordan, Hong Kong, in 2017. The recent “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign aims to revitalise nightlife in the city. Photo: Shutterstock
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Forget new night markets, ‘Night Vibes Hong Kong’ should revitalise old ones

Hong Kong’s new ‘Night Vibes Hong Kong’ campaign should focus on revitalising places like the Temple Street Night Market and Ladies’ Market if it is to attract locals and tourists alike.

Food and Drinks

‘A love letter to Hong Kong’: bars’ new cocktails an ode to city’s culture

Tourism

From M+ to Water World, five Hong Kong attractions for returning visitors

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Hong Kong culture

My Hong Kong | The extraordinary power of Hong Kong’s US$5 ‘two-dish-rice’ meal boxes

The latest Hong Kong food trend is the humble US$5 ‘two-dish-rice’ meal box. It’s more than just a cheap, filling meal – it’s the Hong Kong people’s way of sharing with the needy during tough times.

Customers line up to order a “rice with two choices of sides” in Yau Ma Tei during the fifth-wave Covid-19 outbreak. Photo: Felix Wong
Cantonese

My Hong Kong | Hong Kong’s best brand? It’s no drink or oil – it’s our Cantonese language

Hong Kong home-grown brands like Vitasoy and our ubiquitous red-white-blue nylon laundry bags don’t really reflect the core values of the city – the real heritage brand is its local language: its colloquial Cantonese.

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Cantonese culture

My Hong Kong | There are lessons for Hongkongers to be learned from Disney’s Turning Red

Like Mei in Turning Red, Hong Kong faces a conflict of interests as it seeks to preserve old values and embrace change. Here’s what Hongkongers can take from the film and why change can be good.

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Cantonese

My Hong Kong | Why ‘gweilo’ is a word most Hong Kong’s expats aren’t insulted by

There are certain words people use in Hong Kong to hurt others, but ‘gweilo’ is not one of them, as a recent court judgment found. It’s a harmless term that expats like.

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“Gweilo” is a harmless and fun term that Hongkongers and expats regularly use. Sam Tsang
Lunar New Year

My Hong Kong | Why you should wear your lucky red underwear for Lunar New Year

In Chinese culture, red is a lucky colour, so maximise your Lunar New Year fortune by wearing red, giving out lucky red packets and wishing everyone kung hei fat choi.

Coronavirus Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | No jab, no dim sum: how food got Hong Kong’s elderly vaccinated

Little did the Hong Kong government realise that the most effective vaccine incentive for the elderly isn’t cash prizes, but something they value much more – dim sum.

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My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Learning Cantonese could save lives in places like San Francisco

In cities home to large overseas Chinese communities, Cantonese should be about more than just cultural preservation and should be integrated into their infrastructure.

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Xie Xiaozhen, a 76-year-old Chinese grandmother who fought off a violent attack in San Francisco with a wooden stick in March 2021, could not communicate with first responders as she only spoke Taishanese, which is related to Cantonese.
Hong Kong culture

My Hong Kong | Cantonese is far from dead. It’s cooler than Mandarin and has cult status

Mandarin may have 10 times as many speakers but Cantonese is a one-of-a-kind linguistic art form, a cult Chinese language, and in no danger of an imminent demise.

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A teacher teaches Cantonese to adult learners in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Cantonese

My Hong Kong | Leave our ‘fuk’ alone, it represents one of Chinese people’s greatest values

The brouhaha over Hong Kong-based Fok Hing Gin’s name in the UK highlights a lack of cultural awareness about a word that means ‘fortune’ or ‘good luck’ in Chinese.

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Hong Kong culture

My Hong Kong | You can’t fault Hongkongers’ ingenuity, but logic isn’t their strong suit

Hong Kong’s Covid-19 tracking app has many concerned about their personal data, and some are trying to get round the technology ... by using more technology.

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My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Storm riders: why Hong Kong loves a day off when typhoons hit

No city in the world looks forward more to being struck by a big storm than Hong Kong. They often mean an extra day off – to shop, eat, go to a movie or binge-watch K-dramas.

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Shek O during typhoon signal No 8 as tropical storm Kompasu nears Hong Kong in October. Photo: Dickson Lee
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Why Hong Kong people would win Squid Game contests hands down

The Netflix hit Korean series Squid Game revolves around simple but deadly children’s games, requiring survival skills that many Hong Kong people use in everyday life.

A still from Netflix’s hit series Squid Game. How well would Hongkongers do at the simple but deadly games? Photo: Netflix
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Please, mooncakes and the Mid-Autumn festival don’t need updating

Mooncakes are a traditional part of Mid-Autumn Festival, but people seem obsessed with inventing new shapes and fillings. Why do we need to update our traditions?

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My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | There’s an upside to Nicole Kidman’s quarantine exemption

Australian actress Nicole Kidman did not have to undergo hotel quarantine upon her arrival in Hong Kong, and many people are not happy about it – but let’s play devil’s advocate and consider the upside.

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My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | The glass half-full way to look at the exodus from Hong Kong

Tens of thousands are leaving Hong Kong to emigrate to the UK and elsewhere. We should see this as a golden opportunity to spread Hong Kong’s unique culture and share it with the rest of the world.

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As thousands of Hongkongers leave their homes to head to the UK, they will be sharing Hong Kong’s unique culture. Above: Gerrard Street in Chinatown, London. Photo: Vuk Valcic/Getty Images
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Get behind Olympic heroes, and support Hong Kong in hard times

The pride and emotion people in Hong Kong showed when Cheung Ka-long won Olympic fencing gold is a reminder of recent hardships and the need to stick together.

My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Canto-pop band Mirror offer the escapism our city is craving

Canto-pop boy band Mirror are so wildly popular that the husbands of their fans are turning to Facebook to commiserate. Can we use their fame and success to build a sense of Hong Kong pride?

My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Should Hong Kong really be offering prizes to get people to vaccinate?

From a US$1.4 million flat to Tesla cars, Hong Kong’s vaccination lottery prizes certainly appeal to people’s pockets, but can’t we find more meaningful ways to persuade them to get the jab?

People register for the chance to win a HK$10.8 million in the Grand Central residential building complex in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, one of many prizes being offered as a prize for being vaccinated. Photo: AP
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | Hong Kong’s red minibuses: rude, reckless and we love them

Hong Kong’s privately owned red minibuses will get you around the city quickly and cheaply – just don’t expect any customer service or gentle driving. The drivers are notoriously rude, but Hongkongers love them that way.

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A street in Monk Kok, Kowloon, that is the starting point for several red minibus routes. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong Origins Stories

Are old Hong Kong’s famous tailors disappearing?

From David Bowie and Stanley Ho, to US presidents and their servicemen, old Hong Kong’s tailors made clothes for everyone – but are TST’s famous suit makers going out of fashion?

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My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | When it comes to comfort food, nothing beats Chinese congee

Comfort food strikes a chord in all of us and we all have our favourites, but Chinese congee is hard to beat. The rice porridge lifts the heart, heals the sick, and cements the bonds of love.

My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | A smile is important for Chinese, so why the long faces, Hong Kong?

Chinese people believe a smile is important, and reveals much about a person. Hong Kong is known as one of the least smiley places on the planet. Shouldn’t we all try to grin more?

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For Chinese people, a smile is an important character trait, and in Hong Kong, we all need to be doing it more often. Photo: Getty Images
My Hong Kong

My Hong Kong | A Chinese old wives’ tale explains Bruce Lee’s death. Don’t dismiss them

Every culture has its folk wisdom, and who cares if it is scientific or factual? These are adages generations of Chinese have sworn by, from wearing your new spouse’s shoes to control them to drinking warm water for health.

Drinking warm water even on a hot day is an example of the Chinese folk wisdom handed down from generation to generation. Modern, educated Chinese people still believe in traditional sayings – whether they are factual or scientific Photo: Shutterstock
Old Hong Kong

If anyone can save Hong Kong’s mom and pop stores, it is you

The shoeshine boys of Theatre Lane or the Wo On Lane barber are long gone but you can still do your bit for the traders that remain

Hong Kong culture

My Hong Kong | Why build ‘Hong Kong 2.0’ in Britain? Hongkongers can create another miracle

Nothing is impossible for its people as they have so much to offer in terms of professional skills, assets and capital.

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