Hong Kong’s Wild Creatures, Part I: Pangolins

Christopher DewolfJuly 30, 2020

Pangolins have managed to survive in Hong Kong's hills for thousands of years – but now they are critically endangered....

CultureNature0 Comments663 views 05 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part VI: Green Hub, the Old Tai Po Police Station

Christopher DewolfJuly 22, 2020

Britain's first colonial outpost in the New Territories has become a venue that promotes eco-friendly living....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments728 views 06 min read

No Friend of the Government: The Story of Hong Kong’s First Rabble-Rousing Newspaper

Christopher DewolfJuly 2, 2020

How William Tarrant turned The Friend of China into a weapon against government corruption and misdeeds....

CultureHeritageHistoryPeopleSmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments494 views 09 min read

Into the Wild, Part I: Robert Ferguson is Documenting Hong Kong’s Wild Creatures

Christopher DewolfJune 23, 2020

Learn more about Hong Kong's wildlife, one step at a time....

CultureNature0 Comments766 views 06 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part V: The HKU Main Building

Christopher DewolfJune 11, 2020

Inspired by the civic universities of England, the University of Hong Kong opened in 1911 with a distinctive central building that contains its architectural DNA....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments1482 views 08 min read

In the Midst of a Pandemic, Walk DVRC Wants to Give Hongkongers More Space

Christopher DewolfMay 20, 2020

Cities around the world are responding to Covid-19 by giving pedestrians and cyclists more space. Why not Hong Kong?...

DesignHistoryUrbanism0 Comments569 views 010 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part IV: The Western Market

Christopher DewolfMay 6, 2020

Hong Kong's oldest surviving market building has a history even older than its Edwardian façade....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUrbanismUsual Suspects & LandmarksWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1799 views 08 min read

Tao Ho: Hong Kong’s Underrated Design Legend

Christopher DewolfApril 29, 2020

Although he has faded from public view, the legacy of the man who designed the Hong Kong Arts Centre and the bauhinia flag lives on....

ArchitectureDesignPeoplePortraits0 Comments865 views 011 min read

The Coronavirus in Hong Kong: Together in Solitude

Christopher DewolfApril 15, 2020

Hong Kong is once again feeling the brunt of Covid-19. Where do we go from here?...

ArtHistoryPeoplePhotography0 Comments4497 views 08 min read

A Hong Kong Artist Explores What It Means To Be Chinese in the UK

Christopher DewolfApril 2, 2020

In a residency with the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art, artist Dorothy Cheung is exploring the layers of identity in Manchester's Chinese community...

ArtPeoplePortraits0 Comments353 views 09 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part III: 1881 Heritage, the Malling of History

Christopher DewolfMarch 26, 2020

Why a project that saved a historic marine police complex is roundly criticised...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments1237 views 010 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part II: An Explosive History at the Asia Society

Christopher DewolfFebruary 25, 2020

How a Victorian-era explosives magazine was transformed into a cultural centre....

ArchitectureArtDesignHeritageHistoryInspring ItinerariesSmall Stories & Secret StoriesWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1360 views 010 min read

Hong Kong in Vancouver – Part IV: A Canadian-Style Cha Chaan Teng Inside a Lumberyard

Christopher DewolfFebruary 4, 2020

The Northern Café has been open since 1949, but it took a family from Hong Kong to unearth its full potential...

CultureFoodInspring ItinerariesWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1139 views 06 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part I: The Ghost of Murray House

Christopher DewolfJanuary 30, 2020

The first in a new series on pre-World War II architecture looks at how one of Hong Kong's oldest colonial buildings became an example of how not to conserve heritage...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments6152 views 07 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part X: How Plastic Flowers Built a Global Metropolis

Christopher DewolfJanuary 16, 2020

Hong Kong once made plastic products that were shipped around the world. What's left of that history?...

DesignHeritageHistoryProduct Design0 Comments241 views 08 min read

Inside Dragon Garden, the Hidden Paradise That Captures Hong Kong’s Spirit

Christopher DewolfJanuary 9, 2020

How one man built up a unique cultural landscape that was narrowly saved from destruction....

A Little BreakHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret StoriesWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments9369 views 09 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part XII: Breeze Blocks

Christopher DewolfDecember 19, 2019

Air conditioning transformed Hong Kong – but there are still reminders of a breezier era....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUrbanism0 Comments1469 views 05 min read

Fighting Until the End: Hong Kong’s Vietnamese Refugees

Christopher DewolfDecember 12, 2019

Hong Kong still hasn't reckoned with the painful experience of the Vietnamese refugees who fled to its shores. ...

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments4729 views 013 min read

Forgotten Hong Kong Icon: The Better ‘Ole, a Classic Pub 72 Years in the Making

Christopher DewolfDecember 4, 2019

A beloved Hong Kong pub has been in the same family for three generations....

A Little BreakCultureFoodPeoplePortraitsWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments2335 views 010 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part XI: The Bank of China Tower

Christopher DewolfNovember 27, 2019

Three generations of work by the Pei family underpins Hong Kong's most famous skyscraper....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryPeopleUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments813 views 19 min read

Hong Kong by Foot: A New Generation of Tours is Immersed in Street Life

Christopher DewolfNovember 20, 2019

Walking tours are delving deep into Hong Kong's daily life and culture....

A Little BreakWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments838 views 08 min read

Hong Kong’s First Gin Tastes Like Ginseng and Cinnamon

Christopher DewolfNovember 15, 2019

A visit inside Hong Kong's first distillery to open in more than 40 years, where Steven Newton is making gin, vodka, whisky and rum....

CultureFood0 Comments1161 views 00 min read

What’s Happening With M+? An Update on Hong Kong’s Museum of Visual Culture

Christopher DewolfNovember 6, 2019

A museum with global ambitions is finally on track to open in Hong Kong. ...

ArtInspring ItinerariesWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1590 views 012 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part X: Corner Buildings

Christopher DewolfOctober 31, 2019

Well liked but disappearing quickly, Hong Kong's corner buildings embrace the street....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUrbanism0 Comments3340 views 17 min read

Ed van der Elsken at F11: Dive Into Hong Kong the Way it Was

Christopher DewolfOctober 23, 2019

A remarkable collection of Hong Kong photos from 1959 makes its way back home....

ArtHeritageHistoryPhotography0 Comments4884 views 06 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part IX: Locally-Brewed Beer

Christopher DewolfOctober 16, 2019

Hong Kong has been awash in beer since its very beginnings as a British colony. ...

CultureFood0 Comments1161 views 012 min read

Char Siu and Cocktails: Can a New Generation Save Montreal’s Chinatown?

Christopher DewolfOctober 10, 2019

One of Canada's oldest Chinatowns is feeling the pinch of gentrification and redevelopment – but a wave of young entrepreneurs hopes they can keep the neighbourhood's spirit alive....

CultureFoodHeritageHistoryTradition0 Comments316 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part IX: PolyU

Christopher DewolfOctober 3, 2019

The redbrick campus of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong is an underrated modern landmark. Here's what makes it remarkable. ...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments3786 views 06 min read

Chop Suey Canada: Karen Tam is Turning Chinese Restaurants Into Art

Christopher DewolfOctober 3, 2019

How a Montreal artist has turned a childhood spent in her family's Chinese restaurant into a lifelong investigation of Chinese-Canadian spaces...

ArtCultureFoodTraditionVisual Art0 Comments649 views 07 min read

Jyutping or Yale? How to Write Cantonese in the Roman Alphabet

Christopher DewolfSeptember 26, 2019

Jyutping lets you accurately read and write Cantonese in Roman script. So why isn't it more popular?...

CultureLanguage0 Comments1422 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VIII: The Ill Fate of Rennie’s Mill, AKA Little Taiwan

Christopher DewolfSeptember 4, 2019

The story of an unlucky Canadian who opened a flour mill – and how it eventually became a bastion of support for the Kuomintang...

Big StoriesHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments1204 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part VIII: The Hopewell Centre

Christopher DewolfAugust 25, 2019

A circular tower welcomed Hong Kong into the golden era of the 1980s....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments2457 views 06 min read

How Did Christianity Become So Influential in Hong Kong?

Christopher DewolfAugust 21, 2019

A foreign religion has come to play an outsized role in Hong Kong's civic life....

CultureHeritageHistoryTradition0 Comments2580 views 012 min read

Kowloon Forest: A New VR Film Plunges Into the Private Lives of Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfAugust 15, 2019

Alexey Marfin's virtual reality film explores the spaces we create for ourselves in a crowded city. ...

ArtCinemaCultureVideo artWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments810 views 17 min read

The Unexpected Link Between Hong Kong’s Urban Spaces and the Global Climate Crisis

Christopher DewolfJuly 25, 2019

A new project by the Canadian Centre of Architecture examines the link between Hong Kong's financial district and environmental damage around the world....

ArchitectureDesignUrbanism0 Comments904 views 09 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VII: The Rise and Fall of Local Milk

Christopher DewolfJuly 17, 2019

Hong Kong's dairy industry launched a multinational business empire – but don't try finding any local milk in the supermarket....

CultureFoodHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments3870 views 09 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part VII: The Monster Building

Christopher DewolfJuly 11, 2019

An enormous block of shops and housing was conceived as an affordable place to live – but now it has also become a tourist attraction....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUrbanism0 Comments15172 views 08 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VI: Indigo

Christopher DewolfJune 27, 2019

Indigo dyeing is making a comeback decades after the artisanal industry died out....

CultureDesignFashionHeritageHistoryTraditionWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments559 views 06 min read

Eaton HK: The Counterculture Haven That Wants to Be More Than Just a Hotel

Christopher DewolfJune 20, 2019

Katherine Lo, third-generation scion of the Great Eagle dynasty, has taken a staid hotel and transformed it into a lively haven for the arts, queer culture and alternative politics. Can it work?...

ArtCultureInspring ItinerariesMusicPhotographyVideo artVisual ArtWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1195 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part VI: City Hall

Christopher DewolfJune 13, 2019

City Hall was Hong Kong's first truly public cultural centre, but its central role in the city's urban space has been chipped away by redevelopment....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments1804 views 09 min read