Santa and his little melters

We may never see real snow in Hong Kong, but the white stuff holds a strong grip on the popular imagination. The Kowloon Shangri-La's pastry chef, Wins Hung, made his reputation with white and dark chocolate chessboards and intricate castles, with optional snowflakes, but this year is creating works of art such as this snowman (left), based on bubbles. The chef will use 53kg of chocolate to make 200 Christmas-themed masterpieces.

Hung says his daughter is the source of his inspiration. This year he has created 10 different pieces - including teddy bears (far left) - using 12 different coloured powders and dark, white and milk chocolate.

Pastry chef Billy Yuen from the Conrad Hong Kong is revered for his '3-D cakes', sugar paste sculptures on a sponge base. Yuen has made a cake to appeal to children's love of trains. 'They usually take train rides when they visit theme parks and they always love the experience,' he says. The steam engine (above) rests on a snowy backdrop because we all know Santa calls the Arctic Circle home. Over the festive period, chef Yuen will use as much as 40-50kg of chocolate a day.