The very name Hong Kong immediately conjures up luxury boutiques, wild nightlife, street food and spectacular architecture. We asked Angelababy (Angela Yang Ying) to help us get to the heart of this dynamic city with so much to offer.
The Hong Kong-based Hollywood actress and high-fashion model calls her adopted hometown an exciting blend of cultures. “Hong Kong is a real mix of East and West,” she says. “It’s the culture that makes the city so special.”
The city’s cultural celebrations include epic festivities like Lunar New Year when Victoria Harbour’s sky is lit up with fireworks, the centuries old Cheung Chau Bun Festival when competitors scramble up a tower of steamed buns filled with lotus paste and the thrilling Victoria Harbour river races of the Dragon Boat Festival. This Lunar New Year (17 February) welcomes the Year of the Horse, when the city’s streets come alive with parades, lantern displays and bloom displays; considered auspicious for the new year. The festivities last for two weeks, culminating this year on 3 March; the Lantern Festival.
Here are Angelababy’s favourite ways to explore Hong Kong – at Lunar New Year and beyond.
1. Best for local culture: Cha chaan teng
To find the real Hong Kong, Angelababy recommends looking no further than a cha chaan teng (tea restaurant). “Tea houses are deeply rooted in Hong Kong’s culinary culture. Traditional Hongkongers enjoy going to tea houses for lunch with family or friends.”
2. Best culinary experience: Dim sum
Another culinary custom synonymous with Hong Kong culture is dim sum; a traditional Chinese brunch where a dazzling variety of small, savoury bites in bamboo baskets are wheeled through the restaurant on carts, to be shared with the whole table. “[It’s] quality time with family,” says Angelababy. “It’s not just about filling the stomach; it’s an experience.” Hongkongers tuck into baskets of stewed, roasted or steamed dumplings such as char siu bao (doughy balls of sweet roast pork); siu mai (open-topped steamed dumplings); or soup dumplings filled with richly flavourful broth, which they wash down with tea.
3. Best for place for souvenir shopping: Hollywood Road
Hollywood Road was recently dubbed the second coolest street in the world by Time Out in 2024 for its long history and constantly changing offerings. This historic street running between the Central and Sheung Wan neighbourhoods is filled with landmarks such as the 19th-Century Taoist Man Mo Temple, Michelin-starred restaurants, antique shops and galleries. Angelababy recommends a visit to G.O.D (Goods of Desire),which has quirky home buys. “I love to stop at Hong Kong’s creative art hub PMQ,” she says, referencing the seven-storey 1950s former “Police Married Quarters”, where the police and their families lived. “There are many local designers’ studios and workshops at PMQ. It’s a very interesting place for creative exploration.”
4. Best place for hiking: Dragon’s Back
Hong Kong’s hilly and mountainous terrain makes it great for outdoor sport. “If I have visitors in Hong Kong, I will take them hiking,” says Angelababy. “That’s one of the special things about Hong Kong. There are not that many cities where you can go hiking in nature in 30 or 40 minutes. You can just [pick up a bottle of] water and go.”
Angelababy recommends holidaymakers pull on their hiking shoes and hit Dragon’s Back Mountain at Shek O Country Park; a curvy mountain trail that overlooks Tai Tam Bay. “It’s not a hard walk and it comes with panoramic views,” she says.
Dragon’s Back Mountain can be found on the south-eastern corner of Hong Kong Island. The trek begins with a gentle walk that leads hikers through the forest, along the ridge of the mountain to Dragon’s Back Viewing Point where people can see Stanley, Tai Tam Bay and Lamma Islands. “You feel miles away from the city at Dragon’s Back. I feel so relaxed when I’m there,” says Angelababy. “I [go] for a walk over Dragon’s Back and then down to the white-sand beach of Big Wave Bay.”
5. Best for place for island hopping: Tai O
Hong Kong is home to 263 islands, including Lantau Island – known as “the lungs of Hong Kong for its great swaths of indigenous forest – and the idyllic Lamma Island; a popular escape from the chaos of the mainland. Angelababy’s Hong Kong island pick is the tranquil island of Tai O.
Home to the Tanka boat people, Tai O’s Venice-like canal is lined with 200-year-old fishermen’s stilt houses. The fishermen on this island are famous for producing the island’s salty shrimp paste used to add flavour and umami to many curries and sauces. Visitors can observe the fishermen puttering around the island in colourful sampan boats with their fresh daily catch.
Recently, film crews have taken a shine to the historic island with its vintage shophouses; one even appeared on the Netflix show Restaurants on the Edge. But Angelababy loves heading to Tai O to see the island’s famous pink dolphins. Despite their name, these beautiful, endangered creatures are actually white, only appearing pink due to the blood vessels that run close to the surface of their skin.
“I used to visit the island when I was young,” she says. ” Now I take my son to see the pink dolphins. Last time, we arrived Tai O at 10:00 and then took a 30-minute boat tour out to sea to look for dolphins. I think you need some luck to see them, but not much. If you go there in the good weather, you’ve got a good chance.”
6. Best place for families: Ocean Park
Proud mum Angelababy recommends that visitors check out Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island or Hong Kong’s own Ocean Park. First opened in the 1970s, this zoological theme park with more than 80 attractions has become one of the biggest theme parks in the world. “It’s really good for families,” says Angelababy, who also enjoyed visiting as a teenager. “The park has two parts. It’s so big, you need to take the cable car. You can see Hong Kong south and [the] mountainside.”
Found within the park is a grand aquarium with more than 5,000 fish, as well as golden snub-nosed monkeys, penguins and now six pandas. “There are two new pandas, and the park [has] new born [babies] too,” says Angelababy. The Thai people may have Moo Deng, but the Hong Kongers have new baby pandas for visitors to peek at in February.
In 2026, Ocean Park will host a massive Lunar Fiesta celebration with lion and dragon dance performances – plus a visit from the God of Fortune – to ring in a lucky Year of the Horse.
Read the full article by Claire Turrell / BBC
