Hong Kong’s Hidden Treasures

Brian YS Wong July 24, 2024 21:53

What are the necessary – though by no means sufficient – ingredients for a successful tourism strategy? There are a couple of criteria that are worthy of consideration: firstly, novelty; secondly, uniqueness, and thirdly, narrative value – the ability to tell a cogent and compelling story drawing upon these components. There is no shortage of elements in Hong Kong that can check all boxes: but the key is, we must begin to uncover, embrace, and harness them properly.

Many have spoken and written of Hong Kong’s written treasures. Some would cite the luscious and gorgeous greenery and natural wildlife that occupy more than 50% of our land. Others would point to the hip, sub-cultural hotspots that one could grapple with and experience the grunge and gritty of Hong Kong – from the urban streets of Sham Shui Po through to the hustle and bustle of Wan Chai South (near the Blue House). Still, there are those who would point to the enduring draw of the 1980s and 1990s legacy – indeed, there is much talk of reviving the ‘night club’ scene that had once dominated the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan.

All these proposals provide us with the ‘what’ – with the substantive hardware, mechanics, and infrastructure that is certainly vital, and has most definitely been overlooked, to a large extent, when it comes to our international broadcasting and messaging. It is equally true that the fixation upon shopping, retail, and luxury goods has crowded out, throughout the past decade in particular, these other attractions that render Hong Kong so fundamentally special.

Yet I have a modest thesis to offer – that Hong Kong’s real hidden treasures rest with our people. The eclectic, heterogeneous, and incredibly dynamic diversity underpinning our city. Whether it be Indian or Jewish families who have spent generations in this place, building up their business empires, or Swedish and Norwegian tech entrepreneurs dabbling in the intersection of finance and digital platforms, or Italian and French chefs and mixologists cooking up a culinary storm – this city has long run on the ‘blood’ and fuel of our international demographics.

There are several upshots that follow from this. Firstly, it is high time that we empowered and encouraged citizens of all stripes and from all walks of life, to tell their own Hong Kong stories – to engage in the organic outreach to international friends and visitors, from near and afar. This behooves the platforming of ordinary folks, as opposed to exclusively the ‘who’s who’ – whilst luminaries have their draw in certain ways, it is the stories and voices of ‘normal people’ who travel much further distances in the most distant corners of the world: for they are more relatable, approachable, and fundamentally emblematic of a typical Hong Kong citizen.

Secondly, we should think beyond the hardware and facilities questions when it comes to tourism and recreation. This is not to say the quality and quantity of venues, attractions, and scenic spots do not matter. Yet it is to say that we must also be cognisant of the quality of the tour guides, the richness of the knowledge dissemination campaigns and public discourse accompanying these locations, as well as the needs and interests of prospective visitors. What do they care about? What gets them engaged?

On a visit to Abu Dhabi, I was struck by how its Louvre sought to position itself as a museum that truly represented and spoke across civilisational boundaries. It presented itself as a museum where cultures could engage in in-depth, egalitarian, and transparent dialogues – showcasing works drawn from Ancient China over 8,000 years ago through to the Central Asia in the 6th to 8th centuries AD, all the way through to contemporary European and Latin American arts. The ethos is both noble and deeply conspicuous. The elevation of the ordinary to the sublime requires more than extraordinary hardware, but also an extraordinary vision and conception of how seemingly disjointed dots can be connected and brought together.

Indeed, it is the unity and coherence of narratives that are all the more vital for the third – and final – upshot that I would hope to highlight. Hong Kong must break stereotypes, in order to break new grounds. The ‘urban, concrete jungle’ or the ‘Manhattan of the East’ are viable and understandable characterisations that we have taken on with glee and pride. Yet it is high time for us to tell the world of the incredible, gorgeous splendour that is our seas and outlying islands, or the long-vacated yet steeped-in-centuries-of-history villages and settlements in the New Territories. There is much that deserves discovering and rediscovery. Why can’t Hong Kong be positioned and marketed aggressively as a hub for cultural-historical and eco-tourism? And why can’t we have our own perennial, long-running shows, as with Broadway and West End, on offer in the West Kowloon Cultural District?

There is much to love and that can be loved in Hong Kong. The question remains – are we prepared to share all this with the world, and can we take on our regional competition with stride and confidence?

Brian YS Wong

Assistant Professor, HKU