Plan Your Meetings

Hong Kong: Asia’s global city

By Alvin Tse and Shilu Zheng, edited by Kristi Casey Sanders

Want to meet in a place with history?

The Five-Star Peninsula Hong Kong has provided luxurious hospitality and meeting space for high society since 1928. Amenities include a helipad planners can use to transfer VIPs from the Hong Kong International Airport. Meeting space ranges from the classic British-style elegance of the divisible Salisbury Room (groups of 36-300) to the modern China Clipper space, which is on the top floor of the hotel’s tower and accommodates 16-40 people. Located at Diamond Hill in Kowloon, the Nan Lian Garden was built on top of and modeled after Jiangshouju, a Tang Dynasty (618 AD to 907 AD) landscape garden. Traditional landscape gardens are designed to engage all the senses and have four major aesthetic goals: to put man in harmony with nature, to help them learn from nature, to exist harmoniously with its exterior surroundings and encourage respect for nature. Venues available for rental include Xian Hai Xuan (The Hall of Fragrance), a 1,894-sq. ft. multi-purpose room built in the Tang Dynasty style with a seating capacity of 180, and a 50-person conference room on the second floor of Long Men Lou (Dragon Gate Tower), a vegetarian restaurant operated by the Chi Lin Nunnery.

Want dramatic venues?

The Hong Kong Cultural Center in Kowloon has three major performance halls, including a 2,019-seat oval-shaped concert hall, an adjustable acoustic canopy and a 8,000-pipe organ. In addition to theater, dance and music concerts, the center has art exhibits. The Hong Kong Heritage Museum has a 400-seat theater for Cantonese opera performances, lectures, seminars, ceremonies or multimedia presentations. Exhibits include artifacts from 6,000 years of New Territories history, and fine and decorative Chinese and Tibetan art. The Fringe Club, a multi-arts venue for exhibitions and performances has several event spaces for special events, banquets or performances. Its 90-seat studio theater is a converted WWII cold storage warehouse. Its Fringe Theatre (capacity: 100) used to be a Dairy Farm shop that sold ice cream, fresh milk and meat. Other on-site options include photography and art galleries, a pottery workshop, a roof garden and M at the Fringe, which has been ranked one of Hong Kong’s best restaurants. Within walking distance is Lan Kwai Fong, a hip nightlife district.

Want a facility for large conventions?

Hong Kong’s major convention venues include AsiaWorld-Expo, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Hong Kong International Trade & Exhibition Centre. AsiaWorld-Expo, which is connected to the Hong Kong International Airport, has a maximum capacity of 13,500 delegates in its concert arena, an on-site restaurant and a 107,640-sq. ft. column-free hall, the city’s largest indoor exhibit hall (capacity: 5,000). The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is located on the harbor-front in the heart of the city, has seven exhibition halls, two ballrooms, two theaters, two function rooms, two foyers for pre-function gatherings, two on-site restaurants and 52 meeting rooms of various sizes. The Hong Kong International Trade & Exhibition Centre in the heart of Kowloon Bay is a multipurpose facility that has dining, entertainment, retail and office space, in addition to a 702-seat auditorium and 17 meeting rooms. Three rotunda halls accommodate receptions of 1,000 to 1,600 people or banquets of 80 to 100; the four-story, 30,000-sq. ft. Star Hall accommodates up to 3,600 theater-style and 160 banquet-style.

Want group dining?

Yun Fu on Hong Kong Island’s Wyndham Street celebrates China’s ethnic minorities with cuisine drawn from northern and western China and Tibet. Situated on the top of the Peak, seafood restaurant The Peak Lookout is an ideal place to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Indoor and outdoor seating with panoramic views of Aberdeen give attendees an unforgettable experience, and nostalgic photographs celebrate 19th century Hong Kong. SEVVA has a lot to offer besides food. People come to enjoy live music and art as well as several dining environments. Located on the penthouse level of the HSBC headquarters building it has a lounge; Taste Bar, a tapas bar with a terrace overlooking the harbor; Bankside, a dining venue catering to the business set; and Harborside, an elegant dining room with panoramic views. Looking for a stylish place to go? Try the Aqua Tokyo Roma & Spirit. Located in Kowloon’s fashion center, One Peking Road, the restaurant has ultra-stylish interiors, stunning harbor and city views, and serves an innovative combination of Italian and Japanese cuisine. Lung King Heen (View of the Dragon) at Four Seasons Hotel is the only restaurant in Hong Kong to receive three Michelin stars. It offers contemporary Cantonese cuisine and a spectacular view of the Hong Kong harbor.

Want to show attendees the city?

Gray Line Tours, operating under the franchise from Gray Line Worldwide, offers affordable tours, ranging from a day tour on Hong Kong Island that covers the Peak, Repulse Bay, Stanley Market and other attractions to a flightseeing tour of the city. 
Or, take an evening tour that begins with a Victoria Harbor cruise and concludes with dinner at the famous Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant. Other tours providers include China Travel Service, Jetway Express Ltd. and Vacation Asia.

Want to team-build?

For more than a thousand years, lion-dancing has been a Chinese tradition that requires teamwork and coordination. Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK) can help planners organize a short lesson to teach attendees how to perform this graceful costumed dance. Other programs offered by MEHK include dragon boat racing lessons,  treasure hunts and seafood cooking classes.

Want to incorporate local culture into your event?

Apply the principles of Feng Shui to your room sets to create a harmonious environment. Include education about Chinese tea, opera, jewelry, medicine, architecture, art or antiques. Offer tai chi classes before sessions begin. Take attendees to Kowloon Park for a kung fu demonstration or cultural performance. Team-build with a Chinese cake-making class. Or take attendees on one of the last authentic Chinese sailing junks, the Duk Ling. These programs and more are available through the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Cultural Kaleidoscope program.

Destinations (MAP)

International

United States

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What you should know

Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial centers, linking the booming manufacturing-based economy of the People's Republic of China to Asia and markets worldwide. The city limits extend for more than 400 square miles, and include Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories and more than 260 outlying islands. Despite its size, you can easily travel the city from east to west, north to south by public transit within an hour, thanks to the city’s convenient and efficient public transportation, which includes rail, subways, buses, ferries and trams. Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK), an office of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, can help meeting professionals arrange meetings, incentives and conferences in the city.

What will surprise you

Despite reunification with mainland China, Hong Kong still enjoys a high degree of autonomy. It exercises its own executive, legislative and independent judicial power. The legal system of Hong Kong, which is based on the common law and the independence of the Judiciary, is different from that of the People's Republic of China. Different parts of Hong Kong offer different feels. Hong Kong Island is more British while Kowloon is more Cantonese. The New Territories are less urbanized than either of them, so they provide a respite from the city’s hustle and bustle. Hong Kong is a shopping and dining mecca, and you won't be limited to Chinese food and fashion; this is truly a global city.

The 411:
  • 1.76 million gross square feet in the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Center
  • 990,290 square feet of space in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center
  • 13,500-seat arena in Asia-World Expo
  • 57,000+ guest rooms
  • 11,000 restaurants
  • 150+ hotels
Essential Info:
  • Language: Chinese and English are the official languages, with Cantonese being the dialect most widely spoken. Many, particularly in business circles, speak English.
  • Climate: Subtropical marine climate. The yearly average temperature is 22.8 degrees Celsius/ 73.0 degrees Fahrenheit, with a mean temperature of 15.6 degrees Celsius/60.1 degrees Fahrenheit in January and a mean temperature 28.6 degrees Celsius/83.5 degrees Fahrenheit in July.
  • Currency: Hong Kong dollar (HKD).  Average rate of exchange is $7.75 HKD per $1 USD.
  • Gratuities: Hong Kong isn’t particularly conscious of tipping and there is no obligation to tip. For taxi drivers, just round the fare up or throw in a dollar or two more. However, it’s almost mandatory to tip hotel staff $10-20 HKD, and if you make use of the porters at the airport, $2-5 HKD a suitcase is normally expected. The porters putting your bags on a pushcart at Hong Kong or Kowloon Airport Express station do not expect a gratuity, though; it’s all part of the services. Most hotels and many restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill. Check for hidden extras before you tip. If using the services of a hotel porter, it’s customary to tip them at least $10 HKD.
  • Phone: Country dialing code is 852; mobile network is GSM 900/1800.
  • Time zone: GMT + 8. Hong Kong is 13 hours ahead of New York, 14 hours ahead of Chicago and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles. Since Hong Kong does not have Daylight Savings Time, subtract one hour from the above times if it is summer.
  • Entry requirements: U.S. visitors staying less than 90 days don't need a visa. However, if they wish to travel to the People's Republic of China (PRC), they must obtain a PRC visa from a Chinese embassy or consulate prior to their visit.
  • When to go: Weatherwise, October, November and December are the best months to visit Hong Kong; the skies are clear and sunny. Hotel prices come down outside the March-April and October-November high seasons.
Dining etiquette:

In China, diners share food from communal plates. If it is a formal occasion, there typically will be communal chopsticks and spoons, which are used to serve the food. It is considered impolite to use one's personal chopsticks to pick up food from shared plates, or eat using the communal chopsticks. But sometimes, a Chinese host will use their chopsticks to put food in a guest's bowl or plate as a sign of politeness. The appropriate way to react is to eat the food and say how delicious it is. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can say a polite "thank you" and leave the food untouched.

To hold chopsticks correctly, place them between the thumb and the first two fingers of the right hand. Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand only, even by left-handed people. When chopsticks are not in use, they must be placed neatly on the table with the two sticks lined up tidily next to each other. Never stab chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice, as this resembles incense sticks used at temples to pay respect to the deceased. When serving from a communal dish, pick the food that is on the top and closest to you. Never rummage through the dish for your favorite food or pick from the far side.