WAN CHAI

Perhaps best known to international audiences as the world of Suzie Wong, Wan Chai may be a former red light district, but it’s so much more than that. Situated on the northwestern tip of Hong Kong Island, Wan Chai is sprawling and diverse, serving not only as a major commercial area, but also a hub for the arts – which is only fitting, seeing as it’s home to the Academy of Performing Arts! The neighbouring Lyric Theatre boasts the city’s biggest stage for both local and international productions, while the nearby Convention and Exhibition Centre plays host to the massive annual book fair, anime convention, and food expo. Steeped in history, Wan Chai houses some of the most prominent protected buildings in the city. The district has undergone something of a facelift in recent years as urban renewal projects seek to inject architecturally significant old tenement buildings – such as the classic old Blue House on Stone Nullah Lane – with new purpose. In Wan Chai, you’ll find comic artists’ studios nestled in carefully renovated pre-war buildings, an apartment block perched on top of a preserved market building, a 19th century pawn shop-turned restaurant, and more. Speaking of food, the district’s dining scene offers a rather literal smorgasbord ranging from traditional Cantonese roast meats, streetside dimsum and criminally underrated curries, to modern tapas bars, French bistros, and Italian trattorias. To get a feel for the daily life in Wan Chai, grab an egg tart or pineapple bun at a local cha chaan teng and wander around Tai Yuen Street, where the open-air market is heavy with local flavour. Vendors peddle everything from traditional Chinese sweets to fresh produce, clothes, flowers, knick-knacks and more. Just a short walk away is the Star Street Precinct, where artists’ galleries, carefully curated lifestyle stores, restaurants and coffee shops line some of the oldest streets in the city. At night, Wan Chai lives up to its reputation as a place for unpretentious fun as Lockhart Road and its surrounding streets are filled with merriment. If you’re averse to dress codes and bottle service, and prefer your nights out to end quality late-night snacking, this is the place for you.
read moreread less
RECENT ARTICLES IN Wan Chai
Teen seriously injured after being gouged in face with pen during fight

Teen seriously injured after being gouged in face with pen during fight

A student was seriously injured after having his face gouged with a pen during a fight with another pupil at a Hong Kong high school yesterday. Ming Pao reported police and an...

Four luxury cars hit in ‘paint bomb’ attack targeting HK executive

Four luxury cars hit in ‘paint bomb’ attack targeting HK executive

Splat: the sound we imagine two plastic bags full of red paint make when giving four luxury cars an unwanted new colour. It was a noise perhaps heard yesterday when three Mercedes...

First look: The new ‘wallet-friendly set lunch’ at Tipsy in Tai Hang

First look: The new ‘wallet-friendly set lunch’ at Tipsy in Tai Hang

Tai Hang is just a stone’s throw away from Causeway Bay’s busy shopping district, and the pleasantly quiet, laid-back neighborhood is already known to have a solid...

Activists remove Liu Xiaobo from Times Square after mall threatens legal action

Activists remove Liu Xiaobo from Times Square after mall threatens legal action

Threatened with legal action, pro-democracy activists yesterday removed a statute of Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo from outside the Times Square shopping mall in Causeway...

Wonton noodle shop honored in Michelin guide to close its doors in August after 68 years

Wonton noodle shop honored in Michelin guide to close its doors in August after 68 years

After more than half a century, a noodle restaurant named by the Michelin Guide as one of the best places to grab a cheap eat in the city has announced it will be shutting its...

Man arrested after climbing on top of taxi, dancing, and breaking windshield

Man arrested after climbing on top of taxi, dancing, and breaking windshield

It started with an attempt to hail a cab, descended into an destructive taxi-top dance, and ended in hospital and handcuffs. Welcome to the latest instalment of people getting...

Suspended police officer kneels in the rain to beg forgiveness from police chief

Suspended police officer kneels in the rain to beg forgiveness from police chief

A troubled police officer —  who in 2015 publicly asked people to bid on how he should commit suicide — was last week suspended from the force, prompting him to kneel...

Bread & Beast: The best of Hong Kong food in a sandwich

Bread & Beast: The best of Hong Kong food in a sandwich

Think of a Hong Kong dish that you can imagine eating every day for the rest of your lives. Now imagine it as a sandwich. That’s what Bread & Beast founders Chris Cheung...

(Video) Woman in bathing suit dangles legs off edge of high-rise hotel roof, internet shakes head in response

(Video) Woman in bathing suit dangles legs off edge of high-rise hotel roof, internet shakes head in response

She apparently thought she’d be edgy and cool.  Netizens, however, thought “stupid” was a better way to describe ignoring a safety barrier and dangling your...

Vee whiz: Car registration plate with letters ‘VV’ sold for HK$9.3 million

Vee whiz: Car registration plate with letters ‘VV’ sold for HK$9.3 million

Hongkongers’ obsession with lucky digits, especially the number eight, which rhymes with “wealth,” is well known, but turns out the letter “V”...

Featured

Hong Kong in 60 Hours (Without Killing Yourself!)

PRESENTED BY HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD

POPULAR NEIGHBORHOODS

  • Central & Western

    Central & Western

    Hong Kong’s reputation as a cutthroat financial hub – a city that never...

  • Yau Tsim Mong

    Yau Tsim Mong

    Yau Tsim Mong is set of the western side of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Peninsula,...

  • Wan Chai

    Wan Chai

    Perhaps best known to international audiences as the world of Suzie Wong, Wan...

  • Eastern District

    Eastern District

    Hong Kong’s Eastern District has a rich marine heritage, having played a big...

  • Kowloon City

    Kowloon City

    Once synonymous with the cramped, lawless walled city that gave the district...

  • Outlying Islands

    Outlying Islands

    The Outlying Islands District, also known simply as the Islands District,...

view all