Over the past two decades, Hong Kong has quietly transformed itself into the world’s third-largest art market. In 2025, it trailed only New York and London in terms of auction sales. This new identity expands its traditional reputation as a financial hub into one of a cultural powerhouse as well.
Art is everywhere in Asia’s World City, from the streets to the malls and even inside its airplanes. The city’s strategic investment in the arts and the launch of Cathay Pacific’s nonstop service from Seattle break down barriers, allowing anyone to experience Hong Kong’s east-meets-west art culture.
The rise of an art hub
Collectors moved 22,247 lots in 2025’s auction sales, reaching a decade high. For those without the deep pockets to take a piece home, Hong Kong offers world-class museums and art festivals. Art Basel leads the calendar every March, acting as the main event of Hong Kong Art Week.
Art Central, Fine Art Asia and Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong round out the major art events in Hong Kong each year, drawing collectors, tourists and artists. Partnerships with the local government and a long-term investment in arts and culture look to make such fairs a lasting community event.
Even the hotels get involved. For Art Basel 2026, Rosewood Hong Kong, named the World’s Best Hotel, commissioned a piece by Dutch street artist Frankey. The interactive piece, titled “Lucky Dragon,” entertained visitors in the Rosewood Hong Kong lobby, provided they could look away from the guest rooms’ stunning views of Hong Kong Island.
Year-round, art enthusiasts find culture in two of Hong Kong’s most notable museums, opened in 2021 and 2022 as part of the West Kowloon Cultural District. This mixed-use neighborhood, with parks, performing arts centers and museums, is Hong Kong’s flagship cultural infrastructure investment.
In “WestK,” as it calls itself, visit M+ for modern art and the Hong Kong Palace Museum for antiquities. Located a short walk from each other, visitors marvel at 2,400-year-old silk relics and contemporary art confronting consumerism in modern society, all in the same day.
The airline at the center of it all
Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, meets the moment by bringing art where it is rarely seen. The airline’s new Aria Suite Business class product, on retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, debuted in late 2024 with a curated art selection on board. The art is thoughtfully sourced from artists who have a personal connection to Hong Kong.
Travelers can find the Aria Suite on select flights from Vancouver and San Francisco, but Cathay Pacific connects a total of nine North American cities to Hong Kong. Nonstop flights from Seattle restarted on March 30 after a pandemic-induced pause. The airline now links the Pacific Northwest with Asia five times a week, joining daily nonstop service from Dallas-Fort Worth launched in 2025.
Cathay Pacific also flies from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. On these flights, Hong Kong culture is still available to everyone, even if you’re not flying the Aria Suite with original art.
Culinary collaborations with Michelin-starred restaurants Louise, Duddell’s and Yat Tung Heen mean that everyone from economy to first class can enjoy fine dining onboard long-haul flights from Hong Kong. First class lounge visitors are in even greater luck: Mott 32, one of the world’s most-awarded Chinese restaurants, curates tasting menus.
Once on the ground, head straight for the New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel. Sagano, the hotel’s Japanese restaurant, transports diners to the eponymous Kyoto suburb with expertly crafted dishes and seamless substitutions for those traveling with food allergies. Support for eating gluten free in Hong Kong is strong from the Cathay Pacific lounges all the way through the city’s many celebrated restaurants.
Elsewhere in the hotel, Wine Spectator granted the wine program at The Lounge a Best of Award of Excellence for an impressive and approachable collection of nearly 6,000 bottles. The award comes after a smart renovation that turned an underutilized space into a focal point.
The art of tea
If fine dining isn’t how you want to experience the culture, Hong Kong has another world-famous option: its passionate and ubiquitous tea scene. Here, tea is a ritual art form in its own right.
At BASAO, a tea sommelier patiently explains the correct way to brew oolong. First, you warm the glass and the teapot with water, then dump it out and add your tea leaves. Add boiling water, but don’t drink this first brew. Pour out the first steep, which is used only to rehydrate the leaves. Drink the second and third steeps, which should be as short as one minute.
In BASAO, tea is prepared with precision. A scale weighs the correct grams of tea while a stopwatch prevents oversteeping. The result is good enough to make even a tea skeptic into a convert, with a delicate, layered flavor and not a hint of bitterness.
The strict process contrasts with the serene interiors, as well as the meandering path to the shop’s front door. Pass a banyan tree incongruously clinging to a rock wall, scale a steep staircase, turn down an unmarked alley and land at the doorstep of the Scandi-inspired teahouse. It is as indicative of the melange of Hong Kong as anything can be.
If you’re looking for something with fewer frills and more tradition, tea enthusiasts recommend a stop at Fukien Tea Co. The nondescript front belies 60 years of heritage and a deep knowledge of tieguanyin, an oolong tea notoriously difficult to roast properly. Be aware that shop hours do not always conform to the Google listing. One recent visit left this traveler empty-handed.
Closer than ever before
In Hong Kong, art is everywhere, from the streets to the skies. A modern, vibrant city welcomes visitors to experience history, dining, art and tea, all wrapped up in Asia’s signature luxury package. Start the journey with a nonstop flight on Cathay Pacific from Seattle and learn the proper way to brew oolong in as little as 14 hours.
Ashley Wali is a Seattle-based travel journalist and owner of Wanderlux, writing about luxury family travel, culinary travel and wellness travel. Her work has appeared in The Seattle Times, Boston Herald, The Philadelphia Tribune, Sun Sentinel and more. Recent assignments have had her making ceviche in Mexico and learning to ski in Mammoth.
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