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City Guide - Hong Kong - Culture | ||
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Culture It may seem a laughable idea, but culture does exist in Hong Kong. The city's reputation as a brashly philistine capitalist paradise has not exactly enlarged its footprint on the international cultural scene, but it should be remembered that this is Greater China's film and media powerhouse, and one area where Chinese arts and culture have flourished without political and ideological intereference. For instance, the traditional Chinese opera at the China Club never had to struggle with all the Maoist impositions that afflicted it in the mainland. (It is very hard to get an entrée here, but it is worth trying, just to admire the display of modern Chinese art.) Cityline (tel: 23 17 66 66; web site: www.cityline.com.hk) can provide tickets. Music: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (tel: 27 21 20 30) are the town ensemble, and their frequent showings at corporate galas at least bankroll a full all-year programme. They are backed up by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (tel: 28 53 26 22). Visiting orchestras of all standards tour through Hong Kong frequently. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is resident at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Road (tel: 27 34 20 09), from September to July. Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, 1 Gloucester Road (tel: 25 84 85 00), also hosts frequent concerts. Theatre: Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, 1 Gloucester Road (tel: 25 84 85 00), the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Road (tel: 27 34 20 09), and the Hong Kong Arts Centre (tel: 25 82 02 00), are shrines of high culture. The Fringe Club, Star Alliance Theatre (tel: 25 21 72 51) gets many of the more wacky acts. Dance: Hong Kong's classical ballet troupe is the Hong Kong Ballet (tel: 25 73 73 98), and preferred venues include the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Ko Shan Theatre. The Hong Kong Dance Company (tel: 29 67 82 53) has a traditional Chinese repertoire, while the City Contemporary Dance Company (tel: 23 26 85 97) is the more modern dance ensemble. Film: Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee are still the much imitated icons of the local film industry, but production has diversified recently into more reflective fare. Meanwhile, John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat propelled the Cantonese ganster genre into A Better Tomorrow (1986). The UA and Golden Harvest cinema chains are Hong Kong's major commercial screening venues. Their principal multiplexes include UA Pacific Place, 1 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty (tel: 28 69 03 22), UA Times Square, Times Square, Causeway Bay (tel: 25 06 28 22), Golden Gatewayb Multiplex, The Gateway, 25 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui (tel: 29 56 34 28). Arts films are mostly screened at the Lim Por Yen Film Theatre in the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Upper Basement, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai (tel: 25 82 02 00). Cultural events: The Hong Kong Arts Festival (tel: 28 24 35 55; web site: www.hk.artsfestival.org), usually based out of Hong Kong City Hall, is the official annual catch-all jamboree of events, with international acts and events of all varieties, held February to March. Nipping in to the cultural calendar a little earlier is the City Festival, focusing on local acts, sponsored by the Fringe Club but now rivalling its respectable brother in variety and content and arguably excelling it in entertainment value. The Festival of Asian Arts in October/November gathers the traditional arts of the region, sometimes dovetailing with the Hong Kong Folk Festival in November. The Hong Kong Youth Arts Festival runs October to December. Literary Notes Hong Kong has not left a deep impression on global literature: perhaps for too long in its history it lacked the allure of neighbouring Shanghai, and the recent economic dynamism has yet to find a literary expression. There is a rich tradition of Cantonese literature, but this also has not made much of an impact in translation. Some of the best works on Hong Kong are histories or travel writing rather than pure fiction. Probably the best of the histories is Frank Welsh's A Borrowed Place: A History of Hong Kong (1997). Jan Morris' Hong Kong - Epilogue to an Empire (1997) is a typically lyrical summary of the territory's character in the twilight of colonialism, recently updated to cover the latest developments. Mark Roberti's The Fall of Hong Kong: China's Triumph and Britain's Betrayal (1996) is an understandably angry survey of events before, during and after the 1997 handover. As for novels, Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong (1997) focuses on cultural interaction and colonial legacies in the plight of a Hong Kong English trading family on the eve of the handover. Timothy Mo's An Insular Possession (1986) is concerned with Macau more than Hong Kong, but nonetheless manages to be a subtle and polished work, describing the European enclave of a bygone era. Otherwise, Hong Kong is a staple of genre fiction. John Le Carre's The Honourable Schoolboy (1977) is one of the better spy fictions to deal with the territory. Anyone looking for the blockbuster view of Hong Kong should read James Clavell's Noble House and Tai-Pan (1966). And lest we forget, The World of Suzie Wong (1957), by Richard Mason, conjures up more romance than you'll find in any of the filipina pole-dancing bars in Wan Chai. The success of the film it inspired is probably testament enough to the fact that Hong Kong has been best captured on celluloid: Jackie Chan makes as good a swashbuckling cultural hero for the place as anyone. |