Lan Kwai Fong is a short, narrow, L-shaped, cobblestone-paved street between Wyndham Street and D'Aguilar Street in Central, Hong Kong, filled with Western-style restaurants and bars, but with a big reputation.
[edit]History of Lan Kwai Fong
Lan Kwai Fong Bar Street began in the early 1970s, when the Hong Kong government started urban renewal in the Central and Western District. The opening up of roads attracted commercial capital, and an Italian businessman opened an Italian clothing store and restaurant in the area. Some of the "yuppies" working in Central were looking for a place to talk after work, and the restaurant became their happy hour hangout. Subsequently, some movies were filmed here and Lan Kwai Fong gradually became a classy place to hang out, with more and more bars, restaurants and entertainment venues opening up. With the development of bars and restaurants in the neighborhood in recent years, D'Aguilar Street, at the junction of Wyndham Street and Wing Wah Lane, has also been included in Lan Kwai Fong.
In Hong Kong there are many independently owned bars in addition to the luxury hotels. Hong Kong is a small city with a lot of bars. Lan Kwai Fong with its rich and petit bourgeois atmosphere, Lok Kok Road in Wan Chai with its glittering lights, and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon with its glittering lights, are all areas where bars are concentrated. Friends who like to play the bar if every night to soak a bar, every day to choose a different bar, alone Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui, it is estimated that three months can not finish playing. However, the most famous and characteristic bar area is not Lan Kwai Fong. Walking from Pedder Street Exit of Central MTR Station along the path up the hill, it takes about 10 minutes to reach the Central Police Station, Foreign Correspondents' Club and Lan Kwai Fong. When you walk to Lan Kwai Fong, the atmosphere is very different from that of Central. This cobblestone-paved path is full of European atmosphere, with bars and restaurants on both sides. Most of the bars are open from noon to 1 a.m. or later. British and Australian pubs and Japanese karaoke lounges serve snacks all day long. When night falls, many of Hong Kong's young and trendy generation love to hang out at the disco, adding another unique and exciting atmosphere to the street.
Today, Lan Kwai Fong has evolved from an alleyway into an area rich in Western culture. The entire Lan Kwai Fong area has opened more than 50 bars and restaurants, with westernized names and decorations, exotic atmosphere, known as Hong Kong's unique cultural district. Every day from 5 to 8 p.m. is "Happy Hour" time, when the bars are filled with white-collar workers from work. The term "happy hour" refers to the time between the end of a white-collar job and dinner. Because of the influence of British culture, Hong Kong people usually have afternoon tea at around 3 p.m. and dinner at around 8 p.m. So happyhour is a popular time for office workers. So happyhour is a good time for office workers to have a couple of beers and spit with their colleagues, and at this time drinks are also cheaper than in the evening. From 9pm onwards, there are many fashionable young people and foreigners coming to the bar for drinking and entertainment, with all the lights, colors and excitement of the night. The busiest time is during festivals, such as Christmas, Halloween, Lan Kwai Fong Festival, Food Festival and so on, when Lan Kwai Fong holds street carnivals.
With the Hong Kong Tourism Board's publicity, Lan Kwai Fong has now become a tourist hotspot in Hong Kong. Not only are beer-loving foreigners attracted to Lan Kwai Fong, but also many mainland travelers have included a visit to Lan Kwai Fong in their itineraries to get a glimpse of its charms and elegance.
[edit]Founder of Lan Kwai Fong
In Hong Kong, there is a foreigner who is a household name. He single-handedly created Lan Kwai Fong and revitalized Ocean Park. He is known as the "Father of Lan Kwai Fong" and has been described as the "Maker of Happiness". He is the double owner of Lan Kwai Fong and Ocean Park, Sheng Zhiwen.
"I have been living in Hong Kong for 37 years, I love it here and Hong Kong is my home." Sheng Zhiwen said in an exclusive interview.
In the early 1980s, Sheng Zhiwen opened a Western-style restaurant in the city to entertain his business clients, giving it the then trendy name "California". Later on, more and more western-style restaurants and bars were opened, covering the whole street. Whenever night falls, neon lights flashing, people of all colors will flock in, or openly drink, or talk, or dance to the song, making Lan Kwai Fong into a happy resting place where Chinese and Western cultures meet, and an important symbol of Hong Kong's cosmopolitan city life.
"When I came to Hong Kong in 1997, I was interviewed by many journalists from foreign media, who asked me whether the return of Hong Kong meant that Hong Kong was 'finished'. I told them not to worry, Hong Kong would be successful after the handover. Now I have been proved right. Ten years after the handover, Hong Kong is better than before." Sheng Zhiwen said he dared to make such an assertion at the time because he understood China.
"Many foreigners at the time expressed concern about Hong Kong's future because they knew little about China. China needs an international city like Hong Kong to help modernize the mainland without turning Hong Kong into another mainland city. With freedom of speech, a sound legal system, common English, and a host of other advantages such as finance, trade and talent, plus the protection of 'one country, two systems' and the Basic Law, Hong Kong's future is bound to be bright." He said.
After the handover, Hong Kong was hit by the Asian financial turmoil and SARS, and some people panicked, but Sheng believes this was a turning point in the city's development. "After this, the central government launched a number of policies to promote Hong Kong's economic development, such as the 'individual visit' program to Hong Kong. This is like turning on the tap, allowing the wealth of the mainland to flow into Hong Kong. For example, mainland tourists now account for nearly half of the total number of visitors to Ocean Park."
It has been proven that Hong Kong's economy has continued to grow since then, and many Hong Kong people who emigrated overseas back then have returned. Sheng Zhiwen cites changes in Lan Kwai Fong's consumer base as an example: before 1997, 75 percent of Lan Kwai Fong's customers were Westerners and 25 percent were locals; shortly after the handover, the ratio of foreign and local customers, which was basically 50/50, is now dominated by locals.
[edit]Lan Kwai Fong Transportation
MTR
Central Station on the Island Line or Tsuen Wan Line, Exit D1
Hong Kong Station on the Tung Chung Line or the Airport Express Line, Exit B2
Buses
12M, 13, 23A, and 40M
Green Minibuses
Light Buses Line 10A Minibus Line 10A and Minibus Line 10B
Car parks, 2 nearest parking lots on Arbuthnot Road include:
Central Plaza
World Trade Center
[edit]Spending in Lan Kwai Fong
Spending in Lan Kwai Fong can be as expensive as you want it to be, especially with the economy in Hong Kong in a downturn in recent years, and the bars have been using low prices to lure in the clientele. A cocktail is only 20 to 30 Hong Kong dollars, a glass of vodka with ice 50 Hong Kong dollars, the bar also provides free peanuts, figs and other snacks for all guests; a bottle of 355 milliliters of Carlsberg beer, some of the lowest bar when selling only 15 yuan. However, drinking in Hong Kong bars, and mainland bars are very different, every time you call for a drink, you have to pay along with it, and generally pay a certain amount of tips to the barman.