Hong Kong Style

Report Serge Barret Photos Alain Parinet.

And indeed, it works! If you thought you'd only find the old and the new, if you were expecting the umpteenth postcard; if you were a bit snobbish and tried valiantly to decline the Victoria Peak excursion on the pretext that you wanted to discover a trendy Hong Kong; even if all that and more, you won't regret for a moment having let yourself be convinced.

Because Victoria Peak, the mountain that towers 554m above Victoria Bay, is to Hong Kong what Corcovado is to Rio. Simply breathtaking! It's undoubtedly one of the most beautiful urban maritime landscapes in the world, a marvel that can be reached in ten minutes or so via a delightfully retro funicular that winds its way up 30° slopes through tropical undergrowth much sought after by the ultra-rich.

At its foot lies a forest of long, extremely concentrated skyscrapers, some of which are veritable masterpieces of concrete and glass, designed by the world's greatest architects such as Norman Foster for the HSBC bank headquarters and I.M. Pei for the Bank of China.

Mythical star ferries

You'll be amazed by the hyper-activity of Hong Kong Bay criss-crossed by dozens of cargo ships, overloaded container ships or the legendary green and white Star Ferries. Beyond the channel, which takes just ten minutes to cross, lies the Kowloon peninsula, also dotted with towers...

For the moment, and still from this Peak, let's choose to stay visually on Hong Kong Island and zoom in on the magic of the stage - a real theatre set - to get a better idea of where we'll be making our next discovery. It's actually quite simple: down below and straight ahead is the Central District, the historic heart of the island, now the kingdom of business and finance. Adjacent to the west is Old Town Central, the area where the English flag was planted on 26 January 1841.

It is here, around Tai Ping Shan Street and Po Hing Fong, in what was once the favourite district of sailors, upstarts and multi-recidivist traffickers, that young urbanites now settle - or dream of settling, as rents in Tai Ping Commons are unaffordable like everywhere else on the island - most often working in the creative sectors.

So let's get off the Peak and get into the swing of things with a trendy urban trek, criss-crossing winding lanes, tumbling down staircases, discovering buildings of no more than four or five storeys, schools and children, mini parks and potted plants on the street.

And in the middle of it all, here comes a contemporary art gallery and here an antique Chinese grocery shopThere's a fashion boutique, or perhaps a design boutique, next to an unlikely garage, a real post-war setting, and elsewhere a trendy café-bar that makes do with the proximity of a coffin shop. The cold, uncluttered, aseptic design, clean to the point of tedium, and ultimately the same all over the world, has not yet killed off the warmth of the local atmosphere. At least not too much, to be fair...

suzy wong's hong kong

Tai Ping Commons is undeniably a great place to live. And so is wandering around! Let yourself go, for example, from a trendy florist to a temple, the Man Mo, the oldest Chinese temple in the colony (1848); then, almost opposite, push open the confidential door of Mrs PoundThen there's the chance to buy some Chinese tea at Teakha, and finally, almost by chance, to discover the beautiful architecture of the former YMCA, a 1918 building - a Chicago school after all - renovated and transformed into a community centre and workshops.

Descending the hill, you come to Hollywood Road, one of the city's longest avenues, where much of the film The World of Suzy Wong was shot in the 1960s. Today, this is the street of antique dealers, almost all of whom display marvellous, priceless Tang horses in their windows. It's a good idea to head for the parallel street, Upper Lascar Row, for both its atmosphere and the items on offer. In fact, it's Hong Kong's flea market. You'll find everything from posters and propaganda items from the Mao era to opium pipes from the time of the British colony.

When you go bargain hunting, you'll sometimes come across little marvels, especially porcelain, which you'll want to bargain for. In any case, it will make souvenir gifts in much better taste and not much more expensive than the usual gaudy trinkets sold in tourist shops.

If you're still in good physical shape after all that - it's exhausting, all those false flats, those ascents and descents interspersed with awkward staircases - you'll descend to the canyons of the business district, a mini Asian Manhattan. The crowd is young, undoubtedly in a hurry, a little formal in its dress and inevitably seated around multicoloured cocktails at happy hour.

The omnipresence of the language of Molière is not lost on the Hong Kongers either, who conclude, perhaps a little too quickly, that "French youth are leaving their country for lack of work".

And then it's back to KowloonOn the other side of the bay, there are a number of luxury hotels, some of them very luxurious, which can accommodate business tourists. It would never occur to anyone, especially a corporate group who are not usually there to save money, to take one of the tunnels under the sea to reach the mainland. In 99 % of cases, they prefer to try the mythical Star Ferry experience, the chunky green and white boats that have been shuttling between the two districts since 1888.

The current models date back to the 50s and 60s, and Hong Kongers are so attached to them that they do not change the look of the new boats, which, like double-decker trams, have two decks, second class on the first and first class on the second. The weathered wooden benches add to the charm of the crossing, with just enough time to admire the fabulous Hong Kong skyline from the back of the bus. At night, all the multicoloured illuminated buildings and gigantic advertising hoardings perched high in the sky are a veritable firework display.

Foodie getaways

And if you're going to set foot on the Kowloon peninsula, you might as well do it in all its authenticity by wandering through the Sham Shui Po district, far from the images of the past. Why there? Firstly, because a small company, Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours, organises foodie escapades there, which are definitely very trendy all over the world. Secondly, because this same district is renowned - everyone goes there, it's like a specialised shopping centre - for its bargain basement prices on high-tech equipment, whether it's computers, smartphones or the latest gadgets.

And finally, because this is the other side of the Hong Kong scene, the colourful, noisy world of the little people170,000 of them live in tiny 6-metre flats, despite rents on a par with those in the best districts of Paris.² and even less. As a result, most of their time is spent outside, turning the street into chaos. This food tour is therefore also an original way of discovering a district off the beaten track, moving from one market to another, from an area devoted to high-tech to another specialising in fabrics. Three birds with one stone, as it were. In all, six restaurants will be visited during a three-hour tour, from 9am to midday.

Six no-frills establishments, Chinese to the core, noisy to the point of earplugs, with little regard for décor and a focus on their specialities. From the extraordinary pineapple soufflé to the rice roll, from tofu in soya milk to roast pork - magnificent - or Peking duck, from biscuits to egg noodles... Between each restaurant, the guide offers a commentary, pointing out a discreet pawnbroker's stall, a building specialising in mah-jong games and, with photos of the interior, a building housing what are known as cage flats, in other words spaces measuring 3 m²Sometimes even less, with a cage-like wire door and no external opening whatsoever. The hidden face of Hong Kong.

However, this district, which used to be home to factories, particularly textile factories, is also undergoing a major transformation. Designers and artists are moving in, notably near a former youth hostel, the Wontonmeen, which has been transformed into an incubator for young talent. Contemporary art galleries, such as 22 Degrees North, are also following this trend.

Back to calm

In the evening, still on Kowloon, you can't escape one of its must-sees, Nathan Road, a long avenue crossing the peninsula from north to south, lit up by hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of multicoloured neon lights, laid out length and breadth, perfectly matching the image you have of Hong Kong by night.

There are a whole host of popular shops, tourist stalls, shopping arcades, bars, restaurants, Chinese fast food outlets, gargotes, tailor-made clothes, nightclubs, sounds, banners, lights and crowds, crowds, crowds... There are museums too, the history museum and the space museum, as well as hotels of all categories, including the historic, very luxurious and very glamorous Peninsula, which offers a wide range of accommodation. british forts afternoon teas in the absolute calm of its whispered salons.

But the real peace and quiet can be found in a completely different world, just half an hour by double-decker bus from the centre of this crazy city. It's often forgotten that the most vertical city on the planet is not just an explosion of buildings on the seafront. You can go green on the island of Hong Kong itself and discover a nature that, at times, seems almost Provençal. Like the "dos du dragon", a round mountain offering a very easy hike, from 45 minutes to three hours, through what looks like the garrigue of the south of France. Even better! As if to echo it, the sea below is decked out in all the blues of the Mediterranean.

And, to make it even more unexpected, the hike leads to Shek O, an unpretentious fishing village now converted into an informal seaside resort, with tin roofs, hanging lanterns and plastic flowers. Out of season, it's a delight. Few or no cars, a white sandy beach, informal bistros and café-restaurants with terraces. Delicious, peaceful days on the edge of the China Sea, just half an hour from the city lights.