Basket of dim sum for less than a buck

Short on museums; food’s fabulous

What’s it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation?

Rory Boland, 29, grew up in Tamworth, England, and moved to Hong Kong in 2006 to pursue writing: He is the author of Moon: Living Abroad in Hong Kong, published in August (Avalon Travel; $19.99). Boland now lives in London and revisits Hong Kong.

Q: The Year of the Dragon begins Jan. 23. What is Chinese New Year like in Hong Kong?

A: It claims to have the biggest firework displays in the world (Jan. 24) and one of the biggest Chinese New Year parades (Jan. 23). Hong Kong is quite businessoriented and usually doesn’t close shops — except for this. Chinese New Year is a great spectacle to watch, but with everything closed, it’s not a great time for tourists to go.

Shops are usually closed for three days, but the whole holiday celebration lasts for three weeks.

We’re always hearing about new business zones opening in China. How does that reverberate in Hong Kong?

Those are hot-button issues. Hong Kong has always kind of positioned itself as a bridge to China, taking a cut from everything going in and out. Hong Kong still does, to an extent.

To see china as “workshop of the world,” just go across the border to the province of Guangdong, and its main city, Guangzhou. A lot of the manufacturing there is funded by Hong Kongers, and much of the profit ends up in Hong Kong hands.

But there’s concern that Hong Kong is losing status as a commercial bridge. Shanghai has already passed Hong Kong by some measures. There’s concern in Hong Kong about the city becoming just another regional Chinese city.

That said, Shanghai and other Chinese cities can build a bigger airport or shipping-container port, but China doesn’t have the freedom of press or rule of law — as we Westerners understand it — that Hong Kong does. That still makes Hong Kong a far more familiar and more attractive place to do business.

Even though Hong Kong is now part of China?

Hong Kong is ruled as a special administrative region of China under the “one country, two systems” policy. There is something called the Basic Law, negotiated between Britain and China, that guaranteed hongkong’s capitalist system and way of life for 50 years. The city enjoys a great deal of autonomy from Beijing and is — to an extent — self-governing.

What’s the “must-see” or thing in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is not especially a place of attractions — museums or other things to see. It’s more about having experiences.

And that has to be dim sum; Hong Kong has the best. It will be raucous and noisy and the waiters will probably be abrupt. But it’s such an exhilarating atmosphere and the food is fantastic.

Your personal favourite?

A great place is Tim Ho Wan, in Mong Kok. It used to be a real local place until earning itself a Michelin recommendation and the crowds arrived. A basket of dim sum can cost less than a dollar.