For those of you who are new to Hong Kong, the Mid-Autumn Festival (or “Lantern Festival”) is one of the biggest and more spirited cultural holidays of the year, prompting a slew of celebratory carnivals, exhibitions and parades across town.

The holiday season is in plain sight, and while some of us are scurrying around booking last-minute flights abroad, others are planning reunions at home with friends and family. With the latter in mind, we’ve asked the experts - the concierges from the city’s top hotels - for some inside info on ‘hidden gems’ that are off the beaten track. Take your guests to these places and let them experience the ‘real’ Hong Kong!

November 22, 2012

Hong Kong BBQ Style

Hong Kong BBQ is a culinary tradition dating back to the Upper Paleolithic era. Remnants of honey basted chicken wings and mystery meat sausages may very well have been excavated from Wong Tei Tung, where it is believed HK's prehistoric BBQ culture had developed leaps and bounds ahead of antediluvian societies around the world.

It’s getting hot, our woolly UGGs and hoodies have been pushed out of sight to the back of our closets, air-cons everywhere are on full blast, and the number of citywide cockroach sightings is snowballing. This can only mean one thing: another Hong Kong summer has officially landed! As we all know, our city is a tad indecisive when it comes to the mid-year weather, so you best keep a few ideas up your sleeve for how to make the most of both wet and dry days.

Tennis, football and jogging - move over! Those days of serving across the court in a game of doubles, kicking a ball around the Happy Valley greens, and stretching your legs ‘round the track to the beat of your iPod are fading into the monochrome hues of yesterday. So how are peeps staying slim ‘n’ trim these days?

Dragon boating has been practised around China and South East Asia for over 20 centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s that Stanley’s dragon boat competition started to get attention from Hong Kong’s expat community.

June, goodbye; hello July! Is anybody else as gobsmacked as we are, at how fast we’re flipping through the months this year? We've just entered the second half of 2015, and though the city might be slowing down as people jet off for a break, the events forecast certainly shows no signs of losing momentum. From international comedy and concerts, to sporting championships and more, July's brings us a good mix of things. Allow us to break it down for you all...

Ask anyone living in the +852 what their weekend plans are over the summer season, and you'll most likely hear something along the lines of, "junk", "booze" and "party". In fact, you can't say you've truly experienced Hong Kong unless you've done an all-you-can-eat-and-drink junk extravaganza on the high seas of the SAR.

Judging by the soaring temperatures, humidity levels and outstanding balance on our electricity bills, it’s safe to say that another summer has arrived. And though in Hong Kong, this means clusters of grey and rainy days, those gorgeous days in between with rich, blue skies mean… JUNK PARTY TIME! It’s a local tradition, and we all deserve a little escape from the corporate maze of grey office buildings, right? So get planning and prepping for your first (of many, hopefully!) junk bash of the year. Need a hand? You’ve come to the right place.