Ever since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997, the Hong Kong Government has placed a major importance on arts and culture. And with the new West Kowloon Cultural District – one of the world’s largest cultural projects – soon to open its first venues, any visitor will be keenly aware of Hong Kong’s increasingly vibrant artistic and cultural life, which combines the best of East and West, traditional and modern.

Hong Kong Harbour

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre, which opened in 1989, has long been a major tourist attraction thanks in large part to its spectacular harbourside location. The West Kowloon Cultural District, which also sits on the harbour on 40-hectares of reclaimed land, is set to follow suit. Talk about prime positioning.

Visiting Hong Kong in January for the culmination of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s four-year Wagner Ring Cycle, the place is abuzz. The Cultural Centre, where the performance of Götterdammerüng takes place, sits on the Kowloon peninsula with stunning views across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and its dramatic skyline of skyscrapers and mountain peaks. At night, the cityscape is...