Top Picks Hong Kong: Your guide to the best cultural experiences


Until 18 October

Qianlong Emperor: A Legacy in Art, CUHK, Top Picks
Qianlong Emperor: A Legacy in Art, CUHK

The exhibition presents over 150 works from the Huaihaitang Collection. Focusing on the golden age of 18th-century Chinese court art, it features porcelain, jade, bronzes, lacquer, textiles, books, calligraphy, and painting, highlighting imperial craftsmanship and cultural refinement. This exhibition brings together an exceptional selection of Qing court masterpieces, showcasing the Qianlong Emperor’s personal taste and his collection of Chinese decorative arts in a single immersive experience.


Until 19 October

Headdress with animals, Probably Eurasian Steppe, 4th to 3rd century BCE, Gold, Top Picks
Headdress with animals, probably Eurasian Steppe, 4th to 3rd century BCE, Gold

The Hong Kong Palace Museum presents Treasures of Global Jewellery from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition covers 4,000 years of adornment across five continents with 200 works from The Met. The collection includes items from HKPM’s Mengdiexuan Collection, the Chris Hall Collection, and the ILLUMINATA Collection. A standout object is the gold headdress with animals from the 4th to 3rd century BCE in the Mengdiexuan Collection. The exhibition uses five themes: divine gold ornaments, royal jewellery, jewellery and beliefs, jewellery as art, and materials, techniques, and innovation.


26-29 November

IBB 2026 Dance Sakhi 3 (Photo Courtesy Keelaka Dance Company), Top Picks
India By The Bay 2026, Dance Sakhi 3, Photo Courtesy Keelaka Dance Company

Themed “Heritage, Reimagined”, this year’s festival treats Indian tradition as a living inheritance. Highlights include The Violin Trio: Dr L. Subramaniam, awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the President of India, performs with his son, Ambi, and granddaughter, Mahati. Keelaka Dance Company’s SAKHI reimagines Sita and Draupadi, heroines of the ancient Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as friends. Author Twinkle Khanna discusses writing humour and her latest book, Mrs Funnybones Returns, while India’s Ambassador to China examines Indiaโ€“China relations with The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Cheng. A children’s storytelling session, a gala dinner by acclaimed restaurant Indian Accent and a Christie’s art showcase complete the programme.


Until 17 March 2027

The Qianlong Emperor Holding an Arrow, Qing dynasty (1742), Giuseppe Castiglione and others, Top Picks Hong Kong
The Qianlong Emperor Holding an Arrow, Qing dynasty (1742), Giuseppe Castiglione and others, Hanging scroll, Ink and colour on silk

This exhibition presents nearly 100 masterpieces of Chinese horse paintings from the Yuan dynasty to the 20th century by over 60 artists, including Qiu Ying, Giuseppe Castiglione, and Xu Beihong, across four thematic rotations to protect light-sensitive works. โ€‹It features 76 Palace Museum pieces, including 15 grade-one national treasures โ€“ China’s highest designation for priceless cultural relics of exceptional historical, artistic, and scientific value. For instance, works by Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione revolutionised Qing court art by blending Western realism with Chinese ink techniques. His monumental The Qianlong Emperor Holding an Arrow is on view only until 15 June, after which it will be rotated out.


Until 4 July 2027

Gilt silver filigree tea service, (1740โ€“1750),Qing dynasty, Metal (gilt silver), HKMoA, Top Picks Hong Kong
Gilt silver filigree tea service (1740โ€“1750), Qing dynasty, Metal (gilt silver)

Proudly from Canton presents a landmark collection of more than 2,000 Cantonese and export artworks from the Muwen Tang collection donated by Dr Simon Kwan. Export art refers to works made in Canton for imperial patrons, local use or overseas markets, often blending Chinese craftsmanship with Western tastes. The inaugural display brings together over 120 works, from gilt-silver tea ware and lacquer screens to embroidery, ivory carving, reverse-glass painting, and export portraits, revealing the ingenuity of 18th- and 19th-century Cantonese craftsmanship. A highlight is the Qing dynasty gilt silver filigree tea service, once in the Dutch royal collection and formerly owned by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.


Ongoing

Shape of Tea, Flagstaff Museum, Inkgo Lam, Top Picks Hong Kong
(left) Export tea caddy of hexagonal shape with floral decorations, First 1/2 of the 18th century, Ceramics
(right) Hong Kong camellia five-wall bamboo woven tea caddy featuring a reserved panel in the shape of the ya character, 2025, Bamboo, lacquer, Inkgo Lam

This exhibition presents 35 historic tea ware sets alongside 20 new works by two Hong Kong artists, linking Song dynasty (960-1279) aesthetics to present-day practice. Artists Yung Wing-yan (wood) and Lam Ka-yu (bamboo), Inkgo, explore form through joinery and bamboo weaving, creating nine and eleven sets respectively. Visitors encounter tea bowls, caddies, teapots, large mortise display racks, and long bamboo-woven tables that frame tea as a lived practice. The show draws on fallen local wood and Hong Kong flora to connect material, landscape, and daily tea rituals.


On display until weathered away

Meeting of Style, 12-Nov-25, Top Picks Hong Kong

Meeting of Styles has transformed Lai Chi Kok into a sprawling outdoor gallery. Fifty graffiti and street-art muralists from Hong Kong, Asia, Europe, and beyond collaborated to create large-scale murals across building faรงades and carparks.


On display until weathered away

Be Water My Friend, 2026, Hardthirteen, 23 Square Street, Sheung Wan, Top Picks

Hardthirteen, 23 Square Street, Sheung Wan

HKWALLS 2026 festival ended on 29 March, but its most eyeโ€‘catching murals still animate the streets of Central and Sheung Wan. A highlight is Jakarta-based graffiti artist Hardthirteen, known for photorealistic murals. His portrait of Bruce Lee turns this side alley into a landmark. Hardthirteen and seven other murals by local and international artists will remain until weathered away, so find time to stroll this openโ€‘air gallery.


Until 2028

Top Picks Hong Kong
Kowloon Walled City movie set

The movie Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In stirred nostalgia and curiosity for the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City. The film depicts the City of Darkness as a main character, a gritty, raw, and nuanced place for an action-packed narrative in the finest Hong Kong-styled film tradition. The shared hardships the characters experience in the movie remind us that even the darkest places can bring out the best in people. The exhibit at Kowloon Walled City Park features eight rooms displaying remakes of the movie sets alongside authentic relics, providing a sense of what old Hong Kong was like.


Ongoing

The footprints of Bai Juyi (Su Zhou Moon Bay), 2013, Pang Jiun, Oil on canvas - Hong Kong Art, Top Picks Hong Kong
The footprints of Bai Juyi (Su Zhou Moon Bay), 2013, Pang Jiun, Oil on canvas – Hong Kong Art

The Hong Kong Museum of Art presents nearly 100 diverse artworks from its collections, categorised by four personality traits. Visitors can take a personality test to find their match among the art in four specially curated zones. Artist Joey Leung created custom hand-painted characters for the artworks. Exclusive scents enhance each zone, offering a personalised and multi-sensory aesthetic journey. The exhibition highlights the unique characteristics of both individual personalities and artworks.


Ongoing

Ma Wan 1868, Top Picks Hong Kong

Ma Wan 1868, once a quiet fishing village near Lantau Island, has reinvented itself as a haven for art lovers, pet enthusiasts and explorers. Once dotted with abandoned homes, these buildings are now graced with vibrant colours and street murals. They host cafes, artist studios, and quirky little shops begging to be explored. Nearby, beaches, nature trails, and a life-sized Noah’s Ark offer additional eye candy for photographers and day-trippers.


Ongoing

Snuff bottle inside-painted with โ€œthe wedding of Zhong Kuiโ€™s sisterโ€ design Liu Shouben (1942-2022), 1989, Glass; C2023.0472, Top Picks Hong Kong
Snuff bottle inside-painted with โ€œthe wedding of Zhong Kuiโ€™s sisterโ€ design
Liu Shouben (1942-2022), 1989, Glass; C2023.0472

Epitomising the finest skills and artistry of Chinese artisans, the small, delicate snuff bottles soon became popular among the nobility and high-ranking officials upon their emergence in the early Qing dynasty and were often given as precious gifts in diplomatic, official, and social settings. This exhibition will showcase the entire set of 490 Chinese snuff bottles from the Fuyun Xuan Collection, donated by Mr Christopher Sin and Mrs Josephine Sin.


Ongoing

Top Picks Hong Kong
Relatum-The Mirror Road, Lee Ufan, 2021-2024

This exhibition explores the relationship between landscape and humanity in our modern, digital world, drawing on the M+ Collections. Shanshui (mountain and water) is a core concept in Chinese philosophy and art, extending beyond mere landscape. It represents intangible connections between stillness and motion, sight and imagination, and the interplay of immediate experience with history and memory. The exhibition explores how technology shapes our perception of nature and challenges us to reconnect through art.


Ongoing

The Ceremony, Rosanna Li Wei-han, 1985, Top Picks Hong Kong
The Ceremony, Rosanna Li Wei-han, 1985

This exhibition takes visitors on a 60-year journey through Hong Kong’s art scene, showcasing the development of local art since the museum’s founding. The exhibition includes sculptures by Tong King-sum (1940-2008), prints by Gaylord Chan (1925-2020), and ceramics by Li Wei Han and Rosanna. Alongside the artworks are projections and interactive elements that provide background and stories from the artists, helping us better appreciate their contributions to Hong Kong’s culture.


Ongoing

Top Picks Hong Kong

This exhibit recollects the pop culture that shaped Hong Kong from the 1960s to the 2000s, showcasing a unique blend of Eastern and Western influences across music, cinema, television, and radio programmes. Featuring more than 1,000 pieces, this exhibition showcases how Hong Kong culture has developed its own trends and tastes.  


Ongoing

Top Picks Hong Kong

Unveiling an extraordinary convergence of artistry, The Quest for Originality exhibition invites a captivating journey that transcends time. While the term sheji (design) emerged in China relatively recently, its artisans have honed their craft and created exquisite objects for centuries. With nearly 100 precious artefacts sourced from the Palace Museum, this exhibition sparks a dynamic conversation with Hong Kong’s contemporary design talents.


Ongoing

Top Picks Hong Kong

Design and architecture shape what we use, create the spaces we inhabit, and ultimately inform how we see and live in the world. This exhibition examines how developments in design and architecture across Asia have intertwined with shifts in the region’s economics, politics and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.


Ongoing

Bowl with dragons among clouds, Ming dynasty, Top Picks Hong Kong
Bowl with dragons among clouds, Ming dynasty

This exhibition features over 100 representative Ming ceramic treasures, exploring their development in form, glaze, and design across the early, mid-, and late periods. The Ming dynasty represents a golden age for Chinese ceramics, renowned for its quality and diversity, reflecting the imperial court, technological advancements, and cultural exchanges. Imperial patronage significantly influenced porcelain production and style at the Jingdezhen kilns. Ming potters built on past traditions while innovating, and their ceramics became highly sought after worldwide, driving global appreciation for Chinese porcelain.


Ongoing

Top Picks Hong Kong
Bruce Lee’s Iconic Yellow Tracksuit

Beyond the spotlight, the legendary Kung Fu master was a thoughtful friend and family man. Although better known for his physical prowess, he was also highly intellectual and thoughtful, expressing his emotions and ideas through letters and teaching materials for Jeet Kune Do, his martial arts style.


Related Tang dynasty golden age artistic highlights
Related Kowloon Walled City Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In Movie set