A HONG KONG KIND OF MAY
Spring kicks off with jazz, flea markets, island hopping and lazy Sunday brunches
APRIL SHOWERS ARE supposed to bring May flowers. Whoever came up with that trite saying clearly didn’t visit Hong Kong, where April’s gentle humidity rolls into the splashy start of Hong Kong summer and the whirring overload of the dehumidifier and aircon.
So let’s start inside.
The Economist’s Pride and Prejudice panel at Hotel Icon (24 May) brings together business people, policymakers and thinkers from around Asia to discuss the business case for LGBT rights. One question a lot of people are asking: after Hong Kong won the right to host the next Gay Games in 2022, can it become Asia’s world LGBT city?
We’ll eat raclette at Monsieur Chatté in Sheung Wan in honour of Le French May, a festival of all things French including exhibitions, music (including jazz trumpeter Stephane Belmondo on 14 May) and art. Then into the New Territories we go.
If you’ve been stuck inside and online at one of the city’s co-working spaces, go offline at Hong Kong’s first co-farming space in nearby Lau Fa Shan, set up by workspace The Hive.
The Hive CoFarm (1) aims to promote agri-tech and will feature a community garden.
While in Yuen Long, swing by the Red Brick House (2) market (which advertises itself as a ‘non-ordinary flea market’) for local crafts, drinks and food. A colleague went cycling in Nam Sang Wai (3) and loved it. As we’re nearby, we’ll visit Casphalt in Tuen Mun – a vegetarian cafe, arts space and shop carved out of an old Buddhist kindergarten.
( We would tell you to go to
Cheung Chau to watch the bun festival during 19-23 May, but a colleague lives there and would rather have his island to himself over the weekend. Our bet for an island escape is a breezy seafood lunch on laidback
Lamma Island (4) instead.)
There are two public holidays (1 and 22 May) that you can roll into long weekends. The formula is straightforward: hike (straight up Lion Rock (5)) + dinner (we’re loving the small plates of contemporary Aussie cuisine at
Elementary in Tai Hang) + an all-nighter (catch the bands playing at Wan Chai music bar
The Wanch, or bounce around the warren of bars on Soho’s
Staunton Street) + late brunch the next day (try the Bomb the Bay omelette at Sai Ying Pun’s
Black Salt (6)).
下過4月的春雨，就會帶來5月的春花。講這種老生常談的人，顯然從未來過香港。香港經過潮濕的4月梅雨天氣之後，迎來的不是春花，而是一片抽濕機與冷氣機低沉的嗡嗡聲。
先由室內活動說起。《經濟學人》雜誌Pride and Prejudice專題研討會於5月24日假唯港薈舉行，邀請多位來自亞洲的政、商界人士及學者聚首一堂，從商業角度探討LGBT非異性戀者的權益。香港贏得2022年同樂運動會的主辦權之後，很多人都問：香港會否成為亞洲的國際LGBT城市？我們到上環的法國美食店
Monsieur Chatté品嚐raclette芝士，慶祝羅展覽、音樂（括爵士小號手史蒂芬尼．貝爾蒙特於5月14日的演出）與藝術等節目的法國五月藝術節來臨。接著我們往新界去。
如果你將自己困於市區內某個共享工作空間內上網和工作，不如關掉電腦，到流浮山附近去見識一下香港首個共享農業空間The Hive
CoFarm（1）。這個農莊由共享工作空間The Hive設立，旨在推動農業科技，並有開放供人種植的社區花園。
既然來到元朗，不妨也繞到錦田紅磚屋市集（ 2）逛逛。這個以「非一般跳蚤市場」作宣傳的休閒市集內，有各式本地手工藝、咖啡茶座與食肆等，可以在那裡消磨半天。有同事曾到南生圍（ 3）踏單車，認為那是個好去處。由於我們距離屯門不遠，於是順道往清山塾去。這個地方前身是一家佛教幼稚園，現在改建為集素食餐廳、藝術空間與零售店於一身的文藝好去處。
（我們本來想向你推介5月19至23日在長洲舉行的太平清醮飄色會景巡遊與搶山活動，不過居於長洲的同事說那個周末長洲到處人山人海，除非你特別喜歡人潮擁擠的熱鬧場面，否則不如改往悠閒的南丫島（ 4）去，在海風吹拂下享受一頓寫意的海鮮午餐會更愜意。）
51月 日與22日分別為勞動節與佛誕公眾假期，可讓你度過兩個長周末。歡度長周末的方程式十分簡單：遠足（登上獅子山（ 5））+晚餐（我們喜歡位於大坑的Elementary餐廳，那裡以小碟奉上新派澳洲菜） +玩樂至深宵（到灣仔的音樂酒吧
The Wanch聽樂隊現場演奏，或者到中環蘇豪的士丹頓街上不同的酒吧連環暢飲） + 翌日的美味早午餐（到位於西營盤的Black Salt餐廳（ 6），品嚐他們炮製的Bomb the Bay奄列）。