Christopher Dewolf, Author at Zolima City Magazine

How Did Hong Kong Become Addicted to Air Conditioning?

Christopher DewolfSeptember 15, 2021

Air conditioning made its debut in Hong Kong in 1931. How did it become one of the most icily air-conditioned places on earth?...

HistoryUrbanism0 Comments907 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part XII: Fat Tat Tong, a Window Into Rural History

Christopher DewolfSeptember 8, 2021

Hidden in a seemingly unremarkable village, Fat Tat Tong is one of Hong Kong's few declared monuments...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments1996 views 07 min read

Why Does Hong Kong Have Its Own Team at the Olympics?

Christopher DewolfAugust 10, 2021

After Hong Kong's success at the Tokyo Olympics, it's worth looking into the particular history of how this city ended up with its own national team. ...

CultureHistorySmall Stories & Secret StoriesSport0 Comments5277 views 17 min read

Hong Kong’s Country Parks: Why Do They Exist and What Will Happen to Them?

Christopher DewolfJuly 29, 2021

The Covid pandemic has highlighted the importance of Hong Kong’s country parks, but their future remains uncertain....

A Little BreakWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments529 views 011 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part XI: Cassels Block and Hong Kong Park

Christopher DewolfJuly 19, 2021

What is now vA!, the Visual Arts Centre, was once part of a 19th century British military barracks. How did it end up as Hong Kong Park?...

ArchitectureArtDesignHeritageHistoryVisual Art0 Comments867 views 08 min read

Michael Rogge’s Hong Kong: A 1950s Time Capsule

Christopher DewolfJune 29, 2021

After moving to Hong Kong in 1949, Dutch expat Michael Rogge spent his free time filming everything he could. Now those clips form a remarkable YouTube collection...

CinemaCultureHeritageHistoryPeoplePortraits0 Comments3279 views 111 min read

Amazing Images of Old Hong Kong – in Full Colour

Christopher DewolfJune 24, 2021

A group of academics is using its Instagram account, Old HK in Colour, to share an incredible collection of painstakingly enhanced and colourised photos from Hong Kong's past....

CultureHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret StoriesUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments2286 views 06 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part X: Maryknoll Convent School

Christopher DewolfJune 17, 2021

How the beguiling architecture of this prestigious girls' school makes it one of Hong Kong's most exceptional educational institutions...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments8843 views 09 min read

A Colourful Cure for What Ails Hong Kong’s Grey Public Spaces

Christopher DewolfJune 3, 2021

A new Design Trust project is bringing Hong Kong’s forgotten squares, plazas and playgrounds back to life. ...

ArchitectureDesignHistoryPlayProduct DesignUrbanismWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments418 views 09 min read

65 Kilometres of Wonder: Hong Kong Island’s Coastal Trail

Christopher DewolfMay 26, 2021

A new initiative maps out how you can walk around Hong Kong Island – with aims to make it a dedicated attraction...

A Little BreakInspring ItinerariesWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments2641 views 05 min read

Sampson Wong Wants You To Take a Walk

Christopher DewolfMay 19, 2021

The artist and academic's new project aims to reconnect Hongkongers with their own city...

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Hong Kong’s Wild Animals, Part VI: Big City Bovines

Christopher DewolfApril 29, 2021

Herds of feral cows and buffalo roam the outskirts of Hong Kong. How did they get there?...

CultureNature0 Comments757 views 06 min read

How Epidemics Shaped Hong Kong, Part II: The Scars of SARS – and Covid

Christopher DewolfApril 22, 2021

SARS left deep scars on Hong Kong – but it also led to positive reforms in public hygiene, healthcare and urban planning. What will Covid bring?...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryUrbanism0 Comments696 views 010 min read

How Epidemics Shaped Hong Kong, Part I: The “Fatal City”

Christopher DewolfApril 12, 2021

Today's Hong Kong is a reflection of the epidemics it has faced. In the first of a two-part article, we look at the legacy of the plague, malaria and the flu....

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Hong Kong’s Wild Animals, Part V: The Asian Koel, A Sign of Spring

Christopher DewolfMarch 17, 2021

The annual mating season of the Asian koel, with its unmistakable, lonely song, signals the arrival of spring in Hong Kong....

CultureNature0 Comments2607 views 04 min read

Hong Kong’s Wild Animals, Part IV: Burmese Pythons

Christopher DewolfMarch 4, 2021

Why you shouldn't be scared of Hong Kong's largest snakes....

CultureNature0 Comments931 views 06 min read

Forgotten Hong Kong Icon: Olympia Graeco-Egyptian Coffee – Fresh Roasted Since 1927

Christopher DewolfFebruary 26, 2021

How a small family-run roaster has fuelled Hong Kong with fresh coffee for nearly a century....

A Little BreakCultureFoodPeoplePortraitsWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1116 views 19 min read

Inside the Art Collection William and Lavina Lim Are Donating to M+

Christopher DewolfJanuary 29, 2021

An important collection of art will soon find new life at M+....

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Why Nobody Knew About the Spectacular Bishop Hill Reservoir

Christopher DewolfJanuary 22, 2021

How a quirky hill became the latest flashpoint in Hong Kong's fight to save its heritage....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments3931 views 111 min read

Hong Kong’s Wild Animals, Part III: Barking Deer

Christopher DewolfDecember 16, 2020

Shy and anxious, one of Hong Kong’s most distinctive creatures is known for its strange cry....

CultureNature0 Comments2392 views 05 min read

What the M+ Archigram Archive Means for Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfNovember 26, 2020

Hong Kong’s museum of visual culture is beginning to explore the archive of an influential British architecture collective....

ArchitectureDesignInterviewsPeople0 Comments720 views 08 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part IX: Kom Tong Hall, the Sun Yat-sen Museum

Christopher DewolfNovember 19, 2020

Sun Yat-sen never visited the building that houses a museum dedicated to him – but there are plenty of other reasons why this grand structure is worth a visit....

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments859 views 08 min read

Asia Art Archive at 20: How Claire Hsu Built a Home For Asia’s Own Stories

Christopher DewolfOctober 29, 2020

Claire Hsu was just 24 when she founded the Asia Art Archive. Two decades later, she reflects on what it has achieved – and what's to come....

ArtPeoplePortraitsVideo artVisual Art0 Comments2330 views 014 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part VIII: Shanghai Street Shophouses

Christopher DewolfOctober 15, 2020

Hong Kong's largest intact cluster of shophouses has been preserved and restored – but only in part. ...

ArchitectureDesignHeritageHistoryInspring ItinerariesUrbanismWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments903 views 010 min read

Two Weeks in Quarantine With Photographer Wing Shya

Christopher DewolfOctober 9, 2020

A series of unexpected detours turned Wing Shya into one of Hong Kong's most renowned creative talents....

A Little BreakCinemaCulturePeoplePortraitsWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1532 views 014 min read

Sir Catchick Paul Chater: How a Calcutta Orphan Became Hong Kong’s Most Important Man

Christopher DewolfSeptember 30, 2020

Few people shaped Hong Kong as much as Paul Chater, and yet he remains little known to most Hongkongers...

Big StoriesHistoryPeoplePortraits0 Comments1556 views 012 min read

Hong Kong’s Wild Creatures, Part II: Tigers

Christopher DewolfSeptember 22, 2020

Tigers once terrified Hong Kong villagers and city-dwellers alike. What happened to them?...

Culture0 Comments274 views 07 min read

Hong Kong’s Colonial Heritage, Part VII: The Pedder Building

Christopher DewolfAugust 27, 2020

The Pedder Building is known as a hub for art galleries, but that is just the latest chapter in a long life....

ArchitectureArtDesignHistoryInspring ItinerariesUrbanismUsual Suspects & LandmarksWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments1914 views 08 min read

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 Comments1338 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 Comments1288 views 06 min read

Queen's road central The Friend of China

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 Comments1370 views 09 min read

Into the Wild: 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 Comments1077 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 Comments2875 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 Comments722 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 Comments2377 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 Comments1366 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 Comments4655 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 Comments590 views 09 min read