Economists, however, are not worried about an asset price bubble just
yet.
They think a strong property market will create wealth, spur consumer
spending, and enable the territory to still notch up 4-5 per cent economic
growth even if the US economy tips into recession and hits exports from one
of the world's busiest ports.
Hong Kong's gross domestic product (GDP) has grown an average 7 per cent
annually in the last four years.
'Mass market property prices are still 35-40 per cent below their peak in
1997,' said Nicholas Kwan, Asian head of research at Standard Chartered
Bank.
'So even if they rise 30-40 per cent, prices would only be what they were
10 years ago,' he said. 'It's hard to argue that would be a bubble.'
Hong Kong home prices slid after the 1997 Asian economic crisis. Home
prices were rocked by the bursting of the dotcom bubble and they slumped in
a 2003 outbreak of the Sars respiratory disease, before rebounding about 80
per cent in the last four years.
Clifford Lam at Credit Suisse believes a steady Hong Kong economy could
send home prices up 15-20 per cent this year but warns against complacency.
'If the US goes into recession and China's economic growth slows, Hong
Kong businesses, including exporters and high rollers in the financial
industry, are going to get hit,' he said. 'Some of the home buyers that are
jumping into the market on the assumption property prices will rise 40-50
per cent will be disappointed.'
Prices for luxury property, on a four-year roll, have already returned to
1997 levels, with an Indonesian fund paying US$30 million for a house on
Hong Kong's iconic mountain, the Peak, last month - an Asian record on a per
sq ft basis.
With the pegged Hong Kong dollar's weakening, property has become
attractive to foreigners and mainland Chinese.
- 2008 February 5 BUSINESS
TIMES
Hong Kong property market gets hotter
Properties in HK$50m-HK$100m range particularly popular now
Luxury rents in Hong Kong are soaring to
new highs, with monthly payments hitting as much as HK$500,000 (S$97,000),
as demand from financial services professionals shows no sign of abating.
Prime residential sites on the Peak and
the south side of the island are being leased for up to HK$500,000 a month,
with the luxury sector already up around 10 per cent in the first six months
of the year.
According to property experts, there is
still more room for growth this year as supply remains tight and
professionals in the financial services industry with very large budgets
continue to flood into the city.
As Ricky Poon, a director at Colliers
International, explains, it used to be that the top-priced properties were
standalone houses on individual plots.
However, today, houses that are part of a
larger complex of properties are able to hit the HK$500,000 range. 'It's
lack of supply,' Mr Poon says. 'If you want something very grand and super
luxurious - and a house - there's no supply at all.'
Developers have been fast to buy up land
on the Peak over the years and they place up to five or six individual
houses on the plot, rather than just one mega structure. 'They can call this
a single number plot, but it still has five houses on the lot ... but these
are still very expensive houses,' adds Mr Poon.
The property firm is forecasting a rise
in rents of 10 to 15 per cent this year as a whole. There's also a lot of
expatriates coming to Hong Kong, 'so we are seeing a lot more demand', he
stresses.
Summer is traditionally the busiest time
for luxury leasing in Hong Kong as families move to the city in time for the
new school year starting in September.
The issue of school places, however,
still remains a thorny one for policy-makers, as international supply is
tight and families are forced to put their children on waiting lists.
There have also been reports of
million-dollar dividends being paid to secure a place as Hong Kong struggles
with its supply of international school places. The options for families are
either to enrol their child in a private school, or secure a place at the
English Schools Foundation, which is subsidised by the government.
In the past year in particular, as more
expatriates come to the city, places have become scant.
Office rents in the city are likewise
still on a roll: the iconic International Finance Centre 2, which started
leasing at the height of Sars in 2003 at just HK$25-35 per square foot, is
now fetching rents of more than HK$100 per square foot.
Luxury sales are still rising, with
properties in the HK$50 million to HK$100 million range particularly popular
at the moment. 'We're still seeing a lot of buyers out there who like a good
location and get these properties for their own use,' Mr Poon explains.
In terms of the mass residential sector,
the market is slowly improving but still remains up to 30 per cent off the
prices in 1997, when the property sector as a whole last saw its major high.
According to the Land Registry of Hong
Kong, property transactions in July were valued at a total of HK$38 billion,
up 118.8 per cent from a year earlier but still down 3.4 per cent from June.
The number of transactions was up 67 per
cent from a year earlier at 11,121, but down 7.2 per cent on June's figure.
Of the 11,121 sale and purchase agreements in July, 9,188 were for
residential units - a drop of 4.8 per cent compared with June, but a rise of
70.2 per cent over the past 12 months.
- 2007 August 4
SINGAPORE BUSINESS TIMES
Hong Kong apartments most expensive to
rent
Hong Kong's high-end apartments are the
world's most expensive to rent, followed by those in Tokyo and New York,
reflecting the high living costs in those cities, according to a survey on
expatriate accommodations.
An "executive" three-bedroom
apartment in Hong Kong costs more than $8,500 a month to rent, said the
report, released Tuesday by ECA International, a human resources consultancy
in Britain.
Rents for typical expatriate apartments
in Hong Kong rose by an average of 10 percent last year and 15 percent in
2005, thanks to the Chinese territory's robust economic growth, said Lee
Quane, general manager of ECA International's office in Hong Kong.
In addition, the gap between Hong Kong
and other cities was widening, he said.
The survey compared rental prices in 92
locations worldwide, the firm said.
Tokyo rents for expatriates averaged
$7,358 a month. In New York, rents averaged $7,249.
Moscow was ranked the fourth-most
expensive rental city, at $6,526 a month, followed by Seoul, London, Mumbai
and Shanghai, the survey found.
Caracas was ranked ninth because, Quane
said, expatriates there need to live in high-security compounds for safety
reasons. Paris ranked 10th in the survey.
- ASSOCIATED
PRESS 23 May 2007
 |
Mass market
housing is a speculator's market
[Real estate as a trading
commodity]
Not for the feint at heart and
must have deep pockets. Caveat
emptor!
|
2006: Year in Review -
Hongkong Property
The residential market in 2006 had
slower transaction volumes than 2005, but still managed to post some slight
pricing gains. The following summarized by CLSA
who has best rated research in the region.
Residential
prices rose 1.9%. Up to 24 December 2006
, the Centa-City Leading Index rose up by 1.9% to 53.94. From the lows
in August 2003 (index level 31.77), the index has risen 70% from the bottom
of the market. However, comparing to the October 1997 peak (Index
level 102.93), the index is still 48% below the peak.
Total
sales activity dropped 20%. The
total number of sales activity was around 98,400 transactions in 2006,
compared with 123,697 transactions in 2005. This was 52% below the
peak of 205,461 transactions in 1997.
Primary
transactions dropped 20%. The
number of primary sales was down 20% to around 12,000 transactions in 2006,
due to the hold back of new launches by developers. Primary sales were
62% below the peak of 31,398 transactions in 1998. In 2007, it is
estimated that developers will launch about 18,000 units in the market.
Still well below long run averages.
Secondary
transactions dropped 21 %. The number of secondary market
transactions in 2006 decreased by 21% to around 69,800 units, compared with
88,337 transactions in 2005.
Sales
activity in non-residential properties decline 18%.
The number of sales activity for non-residential properties (mainly
office/retail/car parking space) was around 16,600 transactions, 18% down
from 20,289 transactions in 2005. Comparing with 26,462 transactions
in 1997, the sales activity was 37% below the peak.
Government
land sales. Total land sales by the government amounted to
HK$7.06 bn in 2006, down 43% from HK$12.493 bn in 2005. Total GFA of the 5
residential sites sold in 2006 was 1.14mn sf, decreased by 39% compared with
1.87mn sf in 2005. Though the total land sales value has dropped, a new
record price was set with the auction of the site at the Peak at a price of
HK$42,196/sf.
Jones Lang Lasalle referred to a demand-supply
imbalance in Central where tight availability is not serving the ongoing
demand from banking and finance sectors. Although
the Office market started to slow down in October, there was take-up of
152,000 sq ft in November 2006 mainly from banking sector who are expanding
their operations.
The market is also affected by the burgeoning
hedge fund market which doubled from 58 to 118 over the last two years
according to a survey conducted by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Of the top 20 hedge funds in Hong Kong, ranked by the total value of assets
under management, 13 were associated with hedge fund managers from the US,
UK and Japan, highlighting Hong Kong's position as the leading hedge fund
management centre in Asia.
The Luxury Residential market continues to
experience healthy activity. Recent transactions as
evidenced below indicate larger capital values and unit sizes.
- a house at 3 Coombe Road at The Peak sold for
HKD $150 million ($33,814 per square foot);
- a house at 15 Gough Hill Road at The Peak sold
for HKd $166 million ($18,444 per sq foot);
- a house at 13 Big Wave Bay Road in Shek O sold
for HKD $380 million.
Property
stocks to rebuild steam
Hong Kong property stocks
lagged in 2006 but analysts say the sector could regain momentum next year
albeit at a slow pace.
Major blue-chip developers such as Cheung Kong
(Holdings) (0001), Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) and Henderson Land
Development (0012) recorded respectable increases of 18 to 20 percent in
their share prices in 2006 but this paled against the Hang Seng Index, which
closed up 34.2 percent at 19,964.72.
Sun Hung Kai Financial strategist Castor Pang Wai-sun
said investors looked not at how much a plot of land was worth or how high
the selling price per square foot was, but rather, whether developers could
sell their projects fast enough. - by Danny
Chung HONG
KONG STANDARD 30 December 2006
HK bank rate rise adds to pressure on
property market
Hong Kong banks raised lending rates to their
highest level in four years yesterday, putting further pressure on what had
been the hottest property market in Asia.
HSBC Holdings plc and its Hong Kong unit Hang Seng
Bank, BOC (Hong Kong) Ltd, Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia Ltd, are
raising their prime lending rates by 25 basis points to 6.75 per cent from
today. Other smaller banks such as Wing Hang Bank, DBS Bank (Hong Kong),
Citic Ka Wah Bank and Fubon Bank (Hong Kong), are also following suit.
Mortgage rates are under 5 per cent, well below
prime rates, but they have doubled this year and rises in the past couple of
months have punctured a home-buying boom.
However, Vincent Kwan, chief economist at Hang
Seng Bank, said property prices seemed to be holding up. 'The cost of home
ownership is increasing but the economy is improving and incomes are rising,
so I think the property market is unlikely to suffer a significant impact
from interest rates at this stage,' he said.
The Hong Kong rate rises follow a quarter-point
increase in the US fed funds rate on Tuesday.
Hong Kong tends to track US rate moves because of
its currency peg to the US dollar and analysts expect prime lending rates in
the territory to reach 7.0 to 7.5 per cent by the end of the year. The banks
also raised savings rates by 25 basis points, pushing their top deposit
rates up to 1.5 per cent, or slightly higher.
Property is a pillar of the Hong Kong economy and
a bellwether of consumer sentiment. Developers are now selling about 50
units a week, a far cry from the 1,000 units snapped up weekly at the
beginning of April, when leading developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd
launched The Arch, a luxury project where badminton-court-sized apartments
sold for US$1 million. Total transactions fell 30 per cent in July to 8,933
from a month earlier and banks are now offering various sweeteners to lure
mortgage business.
Property prices are still around half their 1997
peak but they have rebounded in the past two years. They are holding up
despite the slowdown in transactions and analysts say more rate rises will
cool but not derail the recovery.
JP Morgan analyst Raymond Ngai said this week that
rising interest rates would hamper projects launched by developers Cheung
Kong (Holdings) Ltd and Henderson Land Development Co Ltd in the next three
months. - Reuters
11 August 2005
Hong Kong had a record year in 2004 since the
Asian financial crisis. It saw some 125,000 transactions in the private
residential market and DTZ expects prices there to continue its ascent in
the new year by 30-35 per cent.
The rental market, too, is expected to hold up
with new developments like Three Bays offered at a whopping HK$170,000 a
month and with good response too.
ResearchWorldwide. com said: 'Hong Kong still has
plenty of steam left in its 'catch up' phase. Its strategic location as a
user-friendly city into the lucrative and fast-growing Chinese economy is a
relatively new demand driver.'
Hong Kong was one of the worst-hit markets during
the economic crisis in the late 1990s. - by Andrea
Tan SINGAPORE
BUSINESS TIMES 8 Feb 2005
Hong Kong’s sluggish property market may at last
be on the rise, but recent record-setting deals have some people worried
about a bubble. The luxury-residence sector has led the property rises,
topped by a sale in October in which a mainland property-developer paid
HK$130m ($16.7m) for a luxury apartment, complete with private pool and
terrace. The price—the equivalent of $28,139 per square foot—topped the
prices of the property market's 1997 peak.
Just eight days later, a big Hong Kong property
developer, Cheung Kong Holdings (which is owned by Li Ka-shing, a
high-profile tycoon), paid HK$9.4 billion for an urban residential site.
This was the second-highest price ever for land sold by the government. The
site was sold at auction, and was expected to go for around HK$7 billion.
-
ECONOMIST.com
26 Oct 2004
Institutional investors entering the
Hong Kong market
International and particularly American
institutional players have entered the Hong Kong property market as a
toe-hold to entering the fast paced growth of Asia. Hong Kong
provides the stability of Rule of Law from a century of presence by the
Brit's since the Opium Wars and a large labour pool that is versed in
operating in the West.
There are 87 investment banks in Hong
Kong so no need for 'compradors' who claim they can assist Asians in New
York or London. And besides with now at least one generation of
Chinese dynastic wealth who have been educated at Andover, Eton,
Harvard, Stanford etc. families can now count on their own to
counsel on investing globally.
Meanwhile the growing pool of
millionaires from the mainland are rushing to Hong Kong to emulate the
chi-chi life that Hong Kong has honed over the last two decades.
And blue chip developers in Singapore and
Hong Kong are now cooperating for mutual benefit in their respective
marketplaces because the competition in China with local players no longer
makes them the dominant players. A most interesting
time indeed. - ANDREA
ENG is a global real estate strategist in both Asia and the
Americas for over two decades
Foreign funds eye
mid-tier homes
Foreign funds have
always been active players in Hong Kong's property market, but recently they
have changed their appetite to hunt for upscale or even mid- tier housing
estates rather than traditional luxury units in Island South and The Peak.
South Korean fund Mirae Asset started the
ball rolling in mid-October, when it paid HK$1.85 billion for one block of
Bel-Air No 8, the last phase of the residential project of Cyberport in Pok
Fu Lam, held by Richard Li Tzar-kai's PCCW (0008).
The purchase of 102 apartments works out
at about HK$12,500 per square foot, a 16.6 percent discount on the target
selling price of developer Pacific Century Premium Development (0432), the
property arm of the local telecom giant.
Since then, more foreign funds have
joined in the buying frenzy, especially as more new projects are released.
Their interest is not confined to flats on Hong Kong Island, but also
mid-tier projects in less favorable areas.
A US-based fund bought 42 units of The Long Beach in Tai Kok Tsui from
Hang Lung Properties (0101) for HK$400 million, according to media reports.
Henderson Land Development (0012), meanwhile, gained HK$500 million by
selling 96 units in The Sparkle to the same fund. The Sparkle is located in
Cheung Sha Wan, an old industrial district in Kowloon.
Simon Lo Wing-fai, research and consultancy director at property
consultant Colliers International, said the institutions' interest in the
property market is tied to rental levels.
Quality estates are attractive as overall rents have risen sharply. "Rents have picked up at a higher-than-expected speed,"
Lo noted. Rising inflation and decreasing mortgage rates translate into low
financing cost, which is boosting demand, he said, adding that though the
leasing market for luxury units has grown, those stately homes are
"simply out of stock."
He said: "Funds are switching to the mass market because the yield
is still good."
Property agents said the traditional luxury market is changing as top
homes are increasingly being snapped up by the Chinese new rich, who are
pushing prices to the limit.
Alibaba.com's (1688) Jack Ma Yun spent HK$300 million for a penthouse
duplex in the Mid-Levels. The price tag set a record as the most expensive
apartment in Asia.
Hang Lung Properties chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung said liquidity has
been accumulating in nontraditional economies, such as Middle East, because
high oil prices are driving up the trading surplus. "But there are few
investment opportunities there so they go elsewhere."
Tony Tse Wai-chuen, general manager for sales at Henderson Land, said
institutional investors choose Hong Kong as they are optimistic about Asia.
They are worried about buying US homes because of the subprime crisis, while
growth in the UK market has been slowing down after years of thriving on
foreign investment.
"Funds will commit to real estate in Hong Kong because of its
political and economic stability, and it being a gateway to China," Tse
said.
The sustained weak trend of the US dollar, and thus, the Hong Kong
currency too, is also causing the city's homes to become cheaper. Financial
institutions prefer to buy whole blocks. When supply is short, as in today's
market, they choose new apartments. Chan said unlike investing in stocks,
institutions will not easily pull out when the market turns around.
"It's difficult to sell dozens of flats at one go."
Tse said these investors usually do not speculate but hold the investment
medium to long term, say for three to five years. He believes the phenomenon
will continue as long as fundamentals for the Hong Kong property market
remains strong. Henderson is in talks with more than one institution
interested in buying the whole of the high-rise City 18 in Jordan, which
consists of 94 units mainly of 372 sq ft to 647 sq ft.
- 2007 November 29 THE
STANDARD
Is Hong Kong's role role as a
fund-raising hub threatened?
The surge of initial public offerings in Shanghai and Shenzhen
last year has caused concern among Hong Kong-based financial services companies
that their IPO-related businesses are about to be snapped up by their Chinese
counterparts. Adding further to these worries, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) last
week projected that a continued lack of mega IPOs will result in less funds
raised in Hong Kong in 2008 than in 2007.
However, PWC believes Hong Kong will maintain its competitiveness as a
fund-raising platform for global capital in the next five years. It argues that
the equity capital markets in Hong Kong and China are different and that there
is little competition between them.
"Different companies have different aims when they go public", says Edmond
Chan, a partner in PWC's capital market services group. Some companies want
to polish their brands and images, to get access to international capital and to
enjoy higher flexibility of money flow. They will choose to list in Hong Kong.
Companies that list in the A-share market, which is (largely) restricted to
domestic investors and is being operated under an exchange control regime, are
primarily focused on raising renminbi funds to finance their expansion in China.
According to reports issued by the accounting firm, ample liquidity and the
return of Hong Kong-listed H-share companies to the A-share market resulted in a
tripling of the total IPO funds raised on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges
last year to Rmb477.1 billion ($65.7 billion). The Rmb438 billion raised on the
Shanghai Stock Exchange saw the Chinese bourse top the world in terms of IPO
funds raised in 2007, surpassing both the London Stock Exchange and the New York
Stock Exchange. Companies going public on the Hong Kong stock exchange raised a
combined HK$295 billion ($37.8 billion).
Part of the reason for the sharp increase of IPOs in China is that Beijing
has been directing large profitable Chinese companies to list in Shanghai or
Shenzhen as a way of raising the profile of the local equity markets. While the
regulators have issued no formal guidelines in this respect, it is no secret
that several companies that originally sought to go public in Hong Kong changed
their plans and went for a domestic listing instead.
Indeed, Vincent Chan, who is head of China research at Credit Suisse, argues
that there is now real competition between Hong Kong and China, compared with
the situation before 2006 when Hong Kong was the dominant market for Chinese
companies wishing to raise equity capital.
"Companies can raise funds either domestically in Shanghai or
overseas in Hong Kong and the domestic (China) market will be playing a
bigger and bigger role" says Chan. "Right now the A-share market
is commanding extremely rich valuations, which I don't think is sustainable,
and in the near term, when the market starts to correct, there might be a
cooling-down period of A-share listings. But in the longer term, domestic
listings will be a trend, and to a certain extent, the Hong Kong market is
threatened by that trend.
That said, he notes that Hong Kong maintains its edge as an international
fund-raising hub“ for now.
"Currently the A-share market is mainly attracting domestic funds
and H-shares are mainly attracting overseas funds. Gradually the line will
be increasingly blurred, but it will take some time" he says.
One reason for this is that the main way for international investors to
buy A-shares today is through the qualified financial institutional investor
(QFII) scheme and that is still relatively small in scale. Also, until the
renminbi is fully convertible, companies will continue to raise funds in
both markets, he adds.
PWC notes that Hong Kong achieved the highest ever number of new listings
in 2002 with 117 companies going public, including 57 on the Growth
Enterprise Market (GEM). Despite a significant drop in the number of new
listings on the GEM board, the number of new listings remains at 70 or over
each year. In 2007, Hong Kong saw 86 new listings even though there were 125
new listings in Shanghai and Shenzhen combined.
"Based on these statistics and the different roles of Hong Kong and
mainland China stock exchanges, we can conclude that the A-share market has
not affected the Hong Kong market much so far" says PWC's Chan.
The firm expects the number of new Hong Kong listings to increase to 90
in 2008 from 86 last year, but the total capital raised will shrink by about
5% to HK$280 billion. The IPO activity will be driven by new listings of
mid-cap Chinese enterprises with fund-raising targets between HK$1 billion
and HK$5 billion. These will typically be privately-owned entrepreneurial
firms, rather than the state-owned giants that have dominated the Chinese
IPO issuance in the past.
At the same time though, PWC predicts that the Chinese government may
allow Hong Kong-listed red-chips to sell shares in the A-share market this
year, following the mass return of H-share companies last year. Companies
that already have H-shares listed in Hong Kong accounted for 70% of the
total IPO funds raised in the A-share market last year, even though funds
raised by other mainland companies increased by 68% to Rmb154.9 billion.
"We see this momentum continuing in 2008 although most of the
H-share companies have already listed in the A-share market. The market is
looking forward to the next cycle led by A-share listings of the red-chips,
Frank Lyn, China markets leader of PWC, says in a written statement.
Today, red-chip companies are prevented from listing in the A-share
market because they are incorporated outside Mainland China, but the
regulators have indicated that they are considering changing the rules to
make a domestic listing possible. If they get a green light to sell
A-shares in 2008, the total IPO funds raised in the Shanghai and Shenzhen
capital markets are expected to reach Rmb 480 billion, Lyn says.
Perhaps it is too early to draw the conclusion that Hong Kong is losing
its competitive advantage as an international fund raising hub, but it is
quite true that its "Golden Age" with mega state-owned Chinese
IPOs has already gone. According to the PWC reports, there were only
six new H-share listings on Hong Kong's main board in 2007, compared with 17
in 2006.
"On the international fund-raising side, Hong Kong will definitely
maintain the edge for some time, because the domestic A-share market is
still quite distant to attract foreign financing. But the overall pie for
foreign financing is declining. The period after Sars, between 2003 and
2006, was probably the best period for Hong Kong market development.
Competition is definitely rising" , says Vincent Chan at Credit
Suisse. - 2008 February
8 FINANCE
ASIA
SELECT
HEADLINES ARCHIVED
Hong Kong's Heart
In the
shadow of the highrise forest, the capitalist city is blossoming with soul
Mister Softee ice cream truck stands outside the
entrance to Hong Kong's brand new Heritage Museum, a tinkly Skater's Waltz
wafting from its loudspeaker. It is Saturday afternoon and I have already
passed three wedding parties in the Shin Ha neighbourhood, brides springing
up like flowers, smiling for the cameras beside the jade-green Shin Mun
River.
Four years have passed since the
"handover" of Hong Kong to China. Yet, to the visitor, this
"borrowed place living on borrowed time"-- as The London Times
famously phrased it -- retains its status as the eastern capital of
capitalism: A highrise forest where work is holy, suits out-class Savile
Row, and scarves are pure pashmina. Only the traffic moves on the left.
Still, beneath the capitalist fervour, Hong Kong
is changing. These days it is blossoming with soul; Hong Kong soul. An
oxymoron, surely? Not at all.
Take the case of the Heritage Museum. Patient
locals have directed me here, to a building so new some bamboo scaffolding
still clings to it. Inside, the place is buzzing. Five floors of
family-friendly exhibitions offer an animated glimpse into history:
life-size re-creations of villages, fishing boats, temples, shops stocked
with simple wares. Children surround one computer terminal, playing a game
where villagers in the New Territories fiercely resist British troops in
1898. (Revisionist, but true.) In no time we pass into the Great
Transformation -- the mid-century highrise boom that left village life a
mere memory. Elsewhere, there is art from every dynasty, plus a series of
rooms laden with classical Chinese furniture. Teenagers wearing
jeans and sneakers coolly take their ease on formal ebony and
mother-of-pearl chairs, as if they have just walked into their own past.
Strolling into Hong Kong's past has become much
easier for everyone these days, thanks to the tourism department's Meet the
People program. Sunday morning feng shui, anyone? At 9:30 a.m., at the main
tourist centre, a master of the 6,000-year-old art of "Wind and
Water" sweeps into the room and gets to work. After showing some press
clippings from San Francisco, where he has worked for Fidelity Investments
and Friends of the Urban Forest, among others, Mr. Cheung declares,
"Trees are very good feng shui," adding that "stupid guys in
Canada cut all the trees." A natural entertainer, he happily confides
that "Life is a drama; I don't care what role I play." An
explosion of laughter follows each self-deprecating joke. Showing us feng
shui's curio-like compass, he allows that a "boy scout compass will
do." An hour passes quickly, and though I try to follow his
"easy" lesson about relationships among elements such as fire,
metal, wood, earth and water in order to achieve harmony and good energy
(chi), I suspect it is more complicated than he lets on.
One nugget of a story lodges firmly in my brain,
however. In 1997, the Bank of China commissioned a new building from
architect I.M. Pei. His 70-storey twin towers with a knife edge design
point directly at the colonial governor's residence. Menacing and sharp, the
design was viewed as an attempt to intimidate Hong Kong through powerful
feng shui. A waste of money, is the consensus, since much of the new bank
space is vacant. Today, the governor's residence remains unoccupied -- in
spite of the weeping willow planted by another feng shui master, to absorb
the Bank's "secret arrows." Our little class comes away with new
insight into hyper-modern Hong Kong. And I love the three-part wrap-up:
"Happy memories are best. Don't complain. Travelling is just
memories."
Shopping is a time-honoured Hong Kong pastime,
whether it's jeans, pashminas or antiquities. For me, the phrase "Hong
Kong antiques" recalls the day years ago when I was sold serious fakes
by a wholesaler on Hollywood Road, the heart of the curios and antiques
district. (On the upside, I soon realized I was no businesswoman.) Said
dealer shamelessly sent me cheery Christmas cards year after year. So, I am
interested in meeting Victor Choi, the proprietor of Dragon Culture, another
tourism ambassador, who greets visitors in his shop a few afternoons a week.
An affable gentlemen with two antiques stores, Mr.
Choi boasts more than 30 years in the business. At the low end, he sells
small items for $50, but most of his merchandise, such as his early Tang
dynasty horses and riders, fetch far more. The stuff in the safes downstairs
run to a million bucks, he says.
Fakery in Chinese antiques has a long and
distinguished history. Blue-and-white Ming glazed pottery (1368-1644), has
been faked for over 200 years, allowing for the delightful chance that even
your fake purchase is an antique. For the suspicious buyer, says Mr. Choi,
there is something new, the Oxford Thermoluminescence Test, a procedure that
dates objects within a few hundred years, eliminating the possibility that
your Ming, like mine, came from a Taiwan factory line.
However, spirit should rule when making a
purchase. "Train yourself to have a sense of beauty," counsels Mr.
Choi. "The soul of a piece is difficult to copy." He offers
practical tips too: Avoid [neighbouring] Cat Street-- "it's junk"
-- and don't enter any shop that calls itself a museum. As I leave Hollywood
Road, mildly lusting after a Ming period Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, I
remember a Choi maxim: "Spirit cannot be faked." The goddess was
both genuine and affordable, but her spirit was silent. I feel I've advanced
a rung on the shopping stairway.
My last day begins with a harbourfront Tai Chi
class lead by the ageless Pandora Wu, clad in a red jacket embroidered with
bright flowers. We are outside, and the morning mist has not yet cleared
from a spanking new office tower, still cocooned in green wrappings.
Ferries, fishing boats and barges ply the waters. "Face the bus
station," translates Elke from Germany, as we perform our best
bird-imitations. All over Asia, Tai Chi, done individually or in groups,
opens the day by awakening the spirit. Trying to imitate Pandora's slow,
strong movements, I hold the world in my hands, a great invisible ball. As
the session ends, a cellphone trills. Oops. Chagrined, I talk to a friend
from home. Nobody turns a hair. Was this my quintessential new/old Hong Kong
moment? Absolutely. Connecting with an old friend during a Victoria Harbour
Tai Chi class, bird-wings outstretched to embrace the world.
IF YOU GO:
GETTING THERE I flew Cathay Pacific to Asia. The
flight from Toronto stops in Anchorage, but there is no change of plane. The
flight home to Toronto is non-stop. Business and first-class travellers can
access the lounge in Hong Kong's new airport, with amenities such as hot
showers and free Internet service, plus an on-site spa. Call (800) 268-6868,
www.cathaypacific.com.
EATING Among thousands of places to eat in Hong
Kong, many evoke the city's 'old soul'.
MOST ROMANTIC A drink at The Peninsula Hotel at
dusk. Comfy chairs in the vintage lobby, by white pillars topped with gold,
while a jazz trio and potted palms speak of a gentler age.
BEST VIEW The Lobby Lounge in The Regent Hotel
offers sweeping views of the harbour. Great coffee too.
SHANGHAI CHIC Hong Kong's current fascination with
all things Shanghai continues. Can't spice up your Cantonese with a Shanghai
accent? The Club Shanghai in The Regent Hotel mimics Old Shanghai with opium
pipes, lacy anti-macassars on comfy chairs, cigars and 'aphrodisiacs' in a
wall of pharmacy drawers. Hong Kong Old Restaurant (www.hkoldrest.com. hk),
at three locations, serves Shanghai delicacies such as smoked egg with
candied walnuts, oven-smoked pigeon and bean curd rolls stuffed with
woodsy-tasting mushrooms.
HONG KONG TRADITIONAL Moon Garden Tea House, 5 Hoi
Ping Road, Causeway Bay, offers a free one-hour introduction to the art of
tea. Vincent Li teaches about tea's near-mystical properties in this
restful, antiques-filled oasis.
Luk Yu Tea House, 24-26 Stanley Street. The city's
oldest teahouse also serves delicious dim sum. You might not get inside if
they don't recognize you, but it's worth a try, just to savour what the city
was like before the Great Transformation. Named for the god of tea.
Dai Pai Dong, Stanley Plaza, Stanley. In the
happening Stanley market area, also home to the oldest Tin Hau (Goddess of
the Sea) Temple in Hong Kong, a living reminder of Hong Kong's fishing
village roots. Dai Pai Dong offers coffee and tea, plus egg-dipped French
Toast with peanut butter.
Happy Garden Noodles & Congee Kitchen, 76
Canton Rd, Kowloon. Friendly spot serving excellent soups, shrimp dumplings,
soothing congee. Across from the ferry teminal to the mainland.
BEST HIGH TEA Colonialism is dead, but high tea
lives on. The Repulse Bay offers an excellent version: crustless cucumber
sandwiches, smoked salmon, wonderful pastries, with a side of history.
Canadians and British troops, aided by local Chinese, held out here for
three weeks against Japanese invaders. In 1954, William Holden and Jennifer
Jones rowed across the romantic bay in Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing.
Bonus: the best feng shui in all Hong Kong.
SHOPPING Do not hesitate to ask for shopping tips,
the answers alone are worth it: "Behind the Sheraton, in Far East
Mansions, next to the Fotomat, up the steps, press buzzer number two."
Bargain-seekers take the train or ferry to the mainland city of Shen Zhen,
where they snap up the Fendi knock-offs. Caution: you'll need a Chinese
visa, and customs line-ups take time.
