Study Buddy (Challenger): Visitors’ guide to Hong Kong design, art and culture covers attractions big and small
- Design Citywalk HK, produced by the Hong Kong Design Centre, covers things you would expect – museums, galleries, shops, restaurants – and some you might not
- This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills
Shaw Auditorium, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is among the points of interest in Design Citywalk HK, a guide that covers well known places in the city – as well as some unexpected ones. Photo: HandoutContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Hong Kong is changing – and so are the reasons to visit and explore it. There remain plenty of tourists eager to snap photos from The Peak or shop for the latest luxury goods, but more people are interested in the city’s cultural side. Now, there is a guide for them.
[2] Design Citywalk HK is a pocket-sized book produced by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) that covers Hong Kong’s museums, galleries and urban escapes, along with hotels, restaurants, shops and public spaces that might appeal to sightseers with a creative bent.
[3] “There are so many guidebooks to Hong Kong but there are not many for those into design, art and culture,” says HKDC chairman Eric Yim. “Hong Kong is more than just a financial city. It’s not just about high-rise curtain wall buildings, and at the same time, it’s not just about old temples and traditional things. It has a lot of exciting contemporary culture to explore.”
[4] The guide opens with a series of maps charting 101 points of interest across the city, covering an expanse from Tsuen Wan in the west to Sai Kung in the east. There are no preset itineraries – “Explore the city at your own pace,” the guide proclaims – but the attractions are divided into eight thematic categories: Insiders’ Picks, Culture and the City, Creative Landmarks, Design and Lifestyle, Architecture, Accommodation, Food and Beverage and Nightlife.
[5] Among the sites listed are plenty of well-known landmarks, including the M+ museum of visual culture, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre: necessary destinations for anyone interested in art, culture and design. However, Yim says many other attractions in the book were chosen because they are not entirely as well known.
[6] “There are things that may be overlooked even by local Hong Kong people,” he says. Among these is the Shaw Auditorium at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a ringlike structure designed by Danish architecture firm Henning Larsen that opened in 2021. “It’s an example of how Hong Kong is investing in culture all over the city, not just in the West Kowloon Cultural District,” says Yim.
[7] The guide points to other venues that reflect this. They include the Centre for Heritage, Art and Textiles at The Mills in Tsuen Wan, known for exhibitions focused on contemporary textile art as well as design activities related to Hong Kong’s garment manufacturing history.
[8] The guide also includes a host of shops where visitors and residents alike can explore locally designed products and thoughtfully curated objects from around the world. Rounding out the guide is a selection of stylish places where design-oriented people can eat, drink and sleep. Also featured are a handful of well-designed public spaces, such as Salisbury Garden, which reopened in 2018 after being revamped by British landscape architect James Corner and local studio LAAB Architects. Yim says that the city has changed a lot and that even with 101 places to see, Design Citywalk HK is still just a snapshot of design and culture in Hong Kong.
Source: South China Morning Post, April 6
Questions
1. What were the traditional reasons tourists visited Hong Kong according to paragraph 1?______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does the word “pocket-sized” in paragraph 2 suggest about the guidebook?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. According to paragraph 3, one common misconception about Hong Kong is that the
city …
A. is well-known for being densely packed and dominated by high-rise buildings.
B. is globally recognised for its strong and thriving financial sector.
C. is lacking an environment to cultivate contemporary culture.
D. all of the above.
4. Based on your understanding of paragraph 4, which section would someone interested in recommendations for hidden gems from Hong Kong locals likely find information?
___________________________________________________
5. What do the three venues mentioned in paragraph 5 have in common?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Find a phrase in paragraph 5 that refers to “famous and easily recognisable places”.
___________________________________________________
7. Which of the following sections of the guidebook is not likely to have the Shaw
Auditorium mentioned in paragraph 6?
A. Insiders’ Picks
B. Creative Landmarks
C. Architecture
D. Beverage and Nightlife
8. According to paragraph 7, what can one expect to find at the Centre for Heritage, Art and Textiles?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Which of the following best describes the writer’s attitude towards the guidebook?
A. positive and enthusiastic
B. apprehensive and apologetic
C. critical and disapproving
D. resigned and resentful
Answers
1. Tourists traditionally visited Hong Kong for activities like taking pictures from The Peak and shopping for the latest luxury goods.
2. that it is portable and easy to carry around (accept all similar answers)
3. C
4. Insiders’ Picks
5. They are necessary destinations for anyone interested in art, culture and design.
6. well-known landmarks
7. D
8. exhibitions focused on contemporary textile art as well as design activities related to Hong Kong’s garment manufacturing history
9. A