The best things to do in Hong Kong today

Hailing from Malmö in Sweden, this museum famously gathers over 80 of the world’s most polarising foods for your multi-sensory (dis)pleasure. Expect a real assault on your senses with a combination of real foods, models, photo and video archives, scent installations, and interactive displays. Some of the disgusting foods on display include Surströmming, fermented herring from Sweden that’s long been considered the smelliest canned food on Earth; fermented shark meat from Iceland; cheese with live maggots that’s officially banned by the EU; frog smoothies; and more. Of course, after seeing everything, visitors will also have the opportunity to taste a curated selection of unusual foods. These could range from Australian Vegemite and crunchy crickets, to final bosses like Icelandic fermented shark! Keep your vomit bag handy, but if you manage to complete the challenge, you’ll earn the title of ‘Tastebud Warrior’.

Back by popular demand, the lantern display at Wan Chai’s beloved Blue House returns from now until October 14. Featuring over 700 lanterns hand-painted by residents, neighbours, and local illustrators, the display stretches across Stone Nullah Lane, Kat On Street, Hing Wan Street, King Sing Street, and Queen’s Road East, turning the old tong lau and street corners into a brilliant community showcase. The lanterns light up every evening from 6pm to 9.30pm. 

Hong Kong’s largest gelato market has taken over PMQ, with 20 brand stalls bringing together artisanal gelato crafted by master gelatiers from Hong Kong, Macau, Italy, and Portugal. This edition debuts over 30 event-exclusive and brand-new gelato flavors, so have fun ordering cup after cup. Interesting treats include Kai’s Gourmet caviar gelato, garlic and cilantro flavours from Dino Gelato, and The Frozen Club x Kwan Hong Bakery’s Hong Kong-style French toast gelato. Admission is free but you can also purchase a Gelato Tasting Pass ($188) on-site, which allows you to redeem six mini gelatos at designated stalls. There’s nothing better than licking your way through inventive gelato flavors like foie gras brandy, black truffle, or pineapple bun-crusted crème brûlée in this heat!

Lee Tung Avenue has transformed its 200-metre pedestrian walkway into a sea of light for its Moon Fest Lumiere, hanging more than 800 traditional lanterns overhead. This year’s display combines the art of paper-cutting with modern light design, featuring custom palace lanterns with silhouettes that illustrate timeless folklore tales, family reunions, lantern-making, and more. Beyond the canopy, visitors can explore a pop-up store from Hang Heung Bakery, a weekend market, and enjoy a Mid-Autumn concert on Sept 26 (2pm-6pm). The signature LED Fire Dragon Fiesta will also make its grand return on September 25 at 8.30pm, so mark your calendar!

Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department sets up numerous lantern decorations across the city. This year, the displays will light up from 6.30pm to 11pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza (Sept 6-Oct 11) and Victoria Park (Sept 17-27). Over at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is the ‘Moonlit Bunny Crew’, a colourful, geometric display of Hong Kong’s iconic attractions created by local creative team Stickyline. Alongside the International Lantern Spectacular at Victoria Park, there is also a series of lanterns themed around the city’s unique food culture and everyday life. A Mid-Autumn Creative Market will also take place on Saturdays and Sundays during the event period.

Launching for the first time this year, the Harbourside East Lawn will be taken over by al fresco fun over four consecutive weekends, conveniently spanning the Mid-Autumn Festival, Golden Week, and the Hong Kong Cyclothon. 16 vendors will offer food and drinks, ranging from Lau Kee Boat Noodles, Asian-French from Pano, vegan and vegetarian fare from Play with Years and Yau Veggie Truck, to coffee from Cupping Room. There will also be craft cocktails by The Captain’s Bar x Tankyu Distillery, modern street food staples from Kowloon Walled City, Korean-inspired bites from Dotom, doughnuts from Donut Demo x Being Soda, and craft beer from Mak’s Beer x Fisholic. You won’t even have to bring your own picnic mats if you don’t want to, because WestK-branded picnic essentials will be available for rentals. Foldable chairs for both adults and children, picnic tables, picnic mats, portable fans, and even lanterns can be borrowed at $40 to $50. If you purchase designated food sets, you can even borrow two foldable chairs for free on the same day, so make sure you keep those receipts. Don’t forget to get up from your mat every now and then to check out the themed workshops, live music performances, and wellness leisure activities like farm-to-table experiences, harp therapy, and botanical ceramics.

Discover the history, art, and cultural impact of gaming at CityUHK’s new interactive exhibition, The Power of Play. This hands-on showcase spans 5,000 years of gaming history, tracking the evolution of human play from ancient Egyptian board games and nostalgic 1980s arcades to immersive virtual reality experiences, modern esports, and collaborative robotics. Curated by professor Espen Aarseth, the exhibition offers a fascinating look at how society’s attitude toward gaming has shifted from a casual amusement to a global competitive phenomenon.  The Power of Play runs from July 4 to October 25 at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery (18th floor of the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building at CityUHK). Doors are open from 11am to 7pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Entry won't cost you a penny, though you’ll need to register online before turning up.

Focusing on non-solid media, multi-disciplinary artist Zheng Jing’s first solo show in Hong Kong uses water, sound, air, and light to transform several warehouses into a surreal world that invites viewers to wander through. In Warehouse 1, visitors will feel as though they are submerged beneath Victoria Harbour, with mirrored installations that let you look up at wave movements through the manipulation of light. There’s also a giant vessel featuring a video projection of a human figure endlessly diving, plus a suspended cube from which light beams are projected outward in multiple directions. Stepping out onto the lawn, visitors will also discover five golden sculptures modelled after Taihu stones, placed in an elemental cycle of ‘breathing’ to allow energy and spirits to flow through continuously.

Ocean Park has been transformed into a dark playground of terrifying sensory experiences with scares around each corner that will either send your pulse racing or freeze the blood in your veins. Created in collaboration with Jackson Wang’s original fantasy IP, the Under the Castle Haunted Experience opens with a beautiful masquerade that quickly turns into a labyrinth of warped mirrors where reflections move out of time, a pulsating crystal cavern, a nursery of wide-eyed dolls, and other horrors. Other large-scale haunted experiences include a wrecked theme park distorted by evil in the Voodoo Boo Terror Park, Troublesome Night 8 which is inspired by Hong Kong’s legendary Troublesome Night movie franchise, and the Forbidden Asylum with psychiatric patients and a ghastly secret. See the details here and decide if your heart can take all the horrors!

We all know Disney villains are just as iconic as the heroes, and this Halloween, these bad-ass characters take the spotlight again at Hong Kong Disneyland, as antagonists crash the party to turn the celebrations into the baddest in town. Maleficent sweeps down Main Street, U.S.A. with other villains in a wicked dance party, while iconic hero-villain duos such as The Queen and Snow White, or Loki and Thor, will be roaming the park waiting to be encountered.   Ursula, Mother Gothel, Gaston, Maleficent, and Dr Facilier take the stage in the Let’s Get Wicked musical performance with spectacular vocals on iconic villain numbers. Halloween also means that the character encounters in Disneyland will switch up, so look out for figures like Cruella, Jafar and Jasmine, Gaston and Belle, Lady Tremaine with Anastasia and Drizella, and more popping up across the park. But we have to be honest, we’re most looking forward to finding and taking photos with everyone’s favourite talking trash can, which will be roaming around wearing a white sheet!