by Christopher Shay
The Exec
Shane Knowler has completed six seven-day, 250-kilometer desert races in some of the world’s most remote areas.
On his first race, through the Gobi Desert, he lost the trail, suddenly realizing that there were no footprints in the dirt in front of him. Then while scrambling up Namibia’s Fish River Canyon, the world’s second-largest canyon, on another race, he ran out of water (he refilled later that night).
“It’s uncomfortable, dirty. You’re wearing the same clothes for a week. There are no showers, no toilets,” says 46-year-old Mr. Knowler, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers’s consulting group. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
When Central Market opened in 1939, the prewar Bauhaus-style structure housed one of the largest and most modern indoor food marts in Asia. These days, some 70 years later, the largely empty building sits decrepit at the foot of Hong Kong’s Central district escalator system. Only a newly renovated walkway hides the decaying interior from pedestrians. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
Jackie Chan knows how to make a commotion. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
The Exec
Ant Haynes was the youngest player on Hong Kong’s rugby sevens team when he joined at age 16. Five years later, he’s still the youngest player — and a veteran star. After scoring winning tries at last year’s Hong Kong Sevens tournament, along with the winner against China at the 2010 Asian Games, he was named captain of the squad ahead of this weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens competition. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
A crowd of shoppers gathered, eagerly snapping photos with their cell phones and cameras at the Hong Kong Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. But it wasn’t a celebrity they were trying capture.
Over the weekend, Mercedes-Benz parked in the middle of the pier a cherry-red and white 1934 500K Special Roadster, one of only 29 models ever built. Sports Car Market, an automobile-collecting magazine, described the classic car as “sexy, slinky, the Jean Harlow of 1930s motor cars.” In 2001, a 500K Special Roadster sold at auction in Florida for nearly $3 million. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
As Starbucks and Pacific Coffee Company continue to make their move into the Hong Kong market, dozens of small, independently owned coffee shops lie hidden on the upper floors of the city’s buildings, hoping to sneak by rising rents and increased competition. Read the rest of this entry »
Check out a Wall St. Journal slideshow from the Victoria Park flower market during the Chinese New Year.
by Christopher Shay
Hong Kong had its worst-ever year in terms of roadside pollution in 2010, according to government data. It also hosts the world’s highest traffic density, says the Clear the Air, a local antipollution organization. But despite rising concern over roadside pollution levels and a government campaign to get consumers and companies to adopt zero-emissions vehicles, electric cars aren’t yet creating much spark. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
Three years ago, Lysanne Tusar walked into a sea of wine. Her new company, the 8th Estate Winery, had purchased 50 tons of premium flash-frozen grapes from Washington’s Columbia River valley to make the first-ever vintage produced in Hong Kong. But while the grapes were thawing over night, a seam in one of the crates burst, flooding Ms. Tusar’s third-floor winery with Merlot. Read the rest of this entry »
by Christopher Shay
A note to Hong Kongers for the new year: Watch your waistlines.
Obesity rates among men and children in Hong Kong are on the rise, and researchers say it’s related to the usual suspects: lack of exercise, poor diet and stress. Read the rest of this entry »
