Exploring Hong Kong: the city that just keeps on giving

Someone who doesn’t share in any pessimism is quintessential Hong Kong “it girl” Lindsay Jang. Entrepreneur, restaurateur and tattoo aficionado, she runs one of the most fashionable spots on the island, Yardbird. It’s been difficult to get a table here ever since it opened in 2011, with customers clamouring for the “KFC” (Korean fried cauliflower) and “Bloody Kim Jong Il” — a kimchi twist on the traditional Bloody Mary.

To Lindsay, Hong Kong is in safe hands. “When the British gave Hong Kong back to China, they didn’t know what was going to happen, and then they realised Hong Kong is fine.” The city’s Cantonese-speaking, Western-educated millennials have studied abroad and returned home with heightened expectations. “They are demanding a new level, places that remind them of where they hung out when they went to school in New York, Boston, LA or London,” claims Jang.

This desire has blended well with the city’s long history of private members’ clubs, a legacy of the days of British colonial rule. Some of the most renowned are the Hong Kong Club and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, but today a new generation of upstarts has begun. Kee Club, for example, is old-world opulence for new media creatives. Think of it as a harbourside Soho House.

Perhaps I’ve been asking the wrong question all along. Hong Kong’s future is neither truly with China or Britain, old or new: it’s both and yet, at the same time, neither. Hong Kong has an identity that is distinctly its own. Chaotic and cosmopolitan, historic and still history-making; it’s charting its own path. “There’s so much passion in Hong Kong, with so many different people bringing so much to the table. Hong Kong is one of — if not the most — international cities in the world,” states Jang’s friend, Raphael Holzer, matter-of-factly. Cheers to that!

James Williams presents Hong Kong in 24 Hours on January 16 at 1.30pm on CNN International.