The City
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China
Hotels
The Upper House
With the Upper House, renowned architect and designer André Fu has broken almost every rule in hospitality – in a good way. Located above the Pacific Place Mall, the entrance is hidden in a wavy stone facade designed by Thomas Heatherwick. Check-in is paperless. A “guest experience specialist” – on hand to attend to the smallest of whims – leads guests directly to their room, each of which comes with a 28-square-metre bathroom and sleekly decorated interiors of bamboo, oak and Bedonia stone. Pour a complimentary drink from the well-stocked minibar, fill up the free-standing limestone bathtub and marvel at the views of Victoria Harbour as you soak in the hotel’s exclusive Bamford products. If you can bear to leave the room, head to Café Gray Deluxe on level forty-nine to mingle with other well-dressed guests.
A Sense of Style
Liang Yi Museum
After years of amassing antique Chinese furniture, in 2014 tycoon Peter Fung opened the Liang Yi Museum to share his collection with the world. Housed in a four-story former tenement building, the facility is massive by Hong Kong standards – around 20,000 square foot in total – yet still not large enough to display all of Fung’s treasures at any one time. With its whitewashed walls and wooden floors the museum is deliberately minimalist, ensuring attention remains squarely on exhibits of mostly wooden pieces, some of which date back to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The relative abundance of space has allowed the curators to place pieces in the context of how they would typically be arranged in homes of each period, and even after all these years, the finely carved chess tables, canopy beds and cabinets of fragrant rosewood possess a certain vital glow. Somewhat anachronistically, the museum also hosts an impressive assortment of European cosmetics objects from the last two centuries, including jewel-encrusted compacts and powder boxes from the likes of Boucheron and Cartier. The Liang Yi is a one-of-a-kind institution and should be considered a must for any history or design enthusiast.
Restaurants
Arcane
In 1893, the landmark Venetian Gothic tower designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb was opened as a private club, where legendary sports families like the Wrigleys and Comiskeys mingled. After operating non-stop for 114 years, the club closed in 2007. It reawakened in 2015 as a lifestyle boutique hotel, thanks to operator Commune Hotels & Resorts and board chairman John Pritzker, son of the founder of the Hyatt hotel chain. There’s a lot of history here, ranging from the quirky (the Chicago Cubs logo was patterned after that of the CAA), to the design-relevant (thanks to Roman and Williams). Social and sport pursuits still figure into the equation with a games room where you can play pinochle, just like old times, and guest rooms in which vintage gym ladders have been transformed into unique bookshelves. Find it directly across from Grant Park, which could be called the city’s biggest open-air gym in its own right.
Arts and Culture
The Golden Triangle
First opened in 1989, this showroom and gallery has continued to grow in popularity and prestige with both domestic and international clientele, for its eclectic, niche events – Chinese tea tastings, Japanese poetry readings, Eastern music concerts – and awe-inspiring inventory. Its size has increased exponentially; partners Doug Van Tress and Chauwarin Tuntisak upgraded from their initial 50-square-metre space on the Westside to the current 2,000-square-metre showroom in River North years ago. They divided the space into dozens of rooms, each displaying a distinct culture, colour scheme, design decade or aesthetic inclination. Visitors should set aside at least an hour to wander through for the full effect. The Golden Triangle originally specialized in Asian and European antiques, but recently the two owners have built relationships with local artisans, including Jacob Weiner of Modern Industry and now offer a Made in Chicago furniture collection.
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