Bob Travel

Travelers have come to the right place in looking for the best Hong Kong hotels, because ours have the perfect combination of the old and the new, and they are a brilliant reflection of this brilliant city.  With over seven million people, it is one of the most populated areas on the planet, and there is an intoxicating sense of human energy here.  Combining this with the gorgeous natural settings, and our famous skyline on the water, and one finds a place that is nothing less than splendid.  A fantastic mix of the East and the West, Hong Kong offers an amazing graciousness of style and design that is absolutely contemporary.  Our hotels offer nothing less than the best, so that the experienced traveler can count on a stay here that is absolutely delightful.

Hong Kong is extremely rich in history and culture.  Its cosmopolitan heartbeat has attracted any number of artists, intellectuals, and writers, for generations, and the tradition continues with the work of the young poet Jennifer Wong.  She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from the U.K.’s University of East Anglia, and she studied literature at Oxford.  Born and raised in Hong Kong, she spends most of her time in England, but returns to her home to attend such prestigious events as the Hong Kong International Literary Festival.

Her volume of poetry, Summer Cicadas, was published by Chameleon Press, and has been praised by critics for its deftness in exploring themes such as youth and love, cultural identity, and cultural displacement.  One of her trademarks is her use of oestranenie, Russian formalist Viktor Shklovsky’s term for estrangement, especially as the idea evolved through the works of the great novelist Haruki Murakami.  She has written herself into a strong lineage, and her delicate and precise use of words to create a profoundly sense of unease, make her a poet to watch.

The Le French Festival in Hong Kong is a two and a half month celebration of all things French.  This incredible festival began in 1993.  More than five hundred events have been staged since then, everything from opera, dance, classical and modern music, film, visual arts and culinary feasts.  The entire array of the culture of France is represented.  The year the festival started on April 24, and will run until June 13, with some events running through September.  Many travel to the city for this festival, and this benefits all the businesses of the city, from the cafe to the market to the boutique hotel.  Hong Kong is alive and exciting during these months.

One of the highlights this year, first time outside of France, is the Louis Vuitton.  This is a combination of current works available as well as and informational exhibit that outlines the history of the various artists who have collaborated with the company over the years, including Takashi Murakami and the world renown architect Frank Gehry.  This exhibit began yesterday and will run through the first week of August.  Another fashion oriented exhibition is the history of the ‘golden age’ of fashion in London and Paris, historical accounts from 1947 through 1957.  Collections will be on display from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  This is a visual feast as the history of haute couture will dress more than one hundred mannequins, as well as the designs of Balenciaga and Dior.  More than three hundred different exhibits feature not only clothing, but the accessories and furniture from the time period as well.  This runs from May 30 through the first week of September.

The music of the festival is eclectic.  The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is collaborating with the Hong Kong Opera to present eight different pieces.  The Philharmonic is also presenting works by Hector Berlioz, one of the well known composers of France.  For Contemporary music, The East West Quartet performed.  This is a four piece band that infuses traditional Chinese music with western techniques of improvisation.  Also, Folk N’ Blues Moriarty will play May 27th.  This is a band that blends many styles including country, folk, cabaret and blues.  This is an incredible time to take a trip to Hong Kong, throughout the entire summer this will be one happening city.

An innovative new dance/theater company out of France, The Seven Boards of Skill, directed and choreographed by Aurelien Bory, recently performed at the Les French Arts Festival in Hong Kong.  This is an arts festival that began at the end of April and will continue through June 13, 2009.  Many are traveling throughout the month and staying in the best hotels Hong Kong offers.  Bory is now known as the most innovative new creators and artists out of France.  He uses concepts of mathematics, space being governed by the laws of math and geometry, and of course gravity.  Space is ruled by these laws and Bory is driven to investigate these concepts through theater and dance.  This concept was inspired by a trip Bory had taken to Northern China.  In the city of Dalian he was exposed to an ancient game.  In Dalian, he also found his performers and created the company on that trip.

He discovered a game, Tangram.   This is an ancient game involving puzzle pieces, that are made of of seven pieces of geometric shapes.  He had found the means to express the abstract ideas he had been wanting to express.  What resulted is a delicate and poetic piece that is visually amazing and breath taking.  The stage is set with large blocks, geometric shapes, and the performers push them gracefully around the stage, with other performers dancing around them.  While this sounds abstract, Bory states that he does employ the use of narrative structures, and that these are obvious enough for the audience, while using their own imagination to make connections.  Much of the piece is left open for interpretation for same reason, to allow the creativity of the audience to run.  In this way, he hopes to not only put on one show on stage, but many shows as there are people in the audience.  This is a stunning concept that draws from modern dance, acrobatics, circus techniques and visual art.