World City Guide

Sport

Hong Kong’s favourite sports are few and fervently followed – none more so than horeseracing. For example, the government’s millennium celebrations were staged at the Happy Valley Racecourse, 2 Sports Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island (tel: 2895 1523; website: www.happyvalleyracecourse.com). The other main track is the Sha Tin Racecourse, Sha Tin, New Territories (tel: 2366 3995; website: www.shatinracetrack.com). The privileged status of horseracing reached farcical levels in 2002, when soccer betting was officially banned to protect the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s official gambling monopoly and the charitable and tax revenues therefrom – with predictable rewards for illegal betting syndicates. The policy has since been reviewed.

The Rugby Sevens are the other chief sporting fixture, taking place at the Hong Kong Stadium, 55 Eastern Hospital Road, So Kon Po (tel: 2895 7926; fax: 2895 7962; e-mail: hkstadium@lcsd.gov.hk; website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/stadium/en/index.php). Competition for seats at this three-day carnival is fierce and, as with most major events internationally, corporate hospitality usually scoops the pool. Despite the enthusiasm for the Sevens and China’s performance in the 2002 World Cup, Hong Kong itself does not have any sports teams of note.

Tickets for big global events such as the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens can be booked online or at the Hong Kong Stadium or similar venues. Tickets for races are available for purchase at the racecourses or by telephone. The URBTIX ticketing service for public venues (tel: 2111 5999; website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Entertainment/Ticket) and online booking services Ticketek (website: www.ticketek.com.hk) and Cityline (tel: 2317 6666; website: www.cityline.com.hk) handle many major sporting events and venues.

Fitness Centres: California Fitness Centers (tel: 2960 4988; fax: 2960 4933; website: www.calfitnesscenters.com) is Hong Kong’s most popular chain of clubs, spread across the territory, including branches on 1 Wellington Street, Central (tel: 2522 5229), and 5-15 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (tel: 2366 8666), both open 365 days a year.

Golf: The Asian businessperson’s love of golf is catered for in several clubs, with the Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club, Clearwater Bay, New Territories (tel: 2335 3885; fax: 2719 4102; website: www.cwbgolf.org), and the Hong Kong Golf Club, Fan Ling, New Territories (tel: 2670 1211; fax: 2679 5183), favouring those with the largest expense accounts. Others play at the Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course, Kau Sai Chau, Sai Kung (tel: 2791 3388). Green fees per person are HK$1400 weekdays at Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club and Hong Kong Golf Club and from HK$338 (weekdays, extra at weekends) at the Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course. Non members are welcome at all the clubs mentioned, provided they contact the chosen establishment in advance.

Swimming: Hong Kong has 42 officially listed bathing beaches and 13 public pools, to say nothing of the private pools at sports clubs and hotels. Popular (sometimes too popular) public pools include those at Victoria Park, Causeway Bay (tel: 2570 4682), and Kowloon Park, Tsim Sha Tsui (tel: 2724 3577). The open season for sea bathing starts 1 April and ends 31 October, although the weather may be good enough to allow swimming outside these dates. Pollution and overcrowding plagues the beaches closer to central Hong Kong; the best beaches are in the New Territories and the outlying islands. Summer weekends are predictably busy on the beaches. The Amateur Swimming Association (tel: 2572 8594; website: www.hkasa.org.hk) might be able to provide more detailed information.

Tennis: There are public courts available at Victoria Park, Causeway Bay (tel: 2570 6186), the Tennis Centre, Wong Nai Chung Gap Road, Happy Valley (tel: 2574 9122), and King’s Park, Kowloon (tel: 2388 8154). Numerous private clubs and courts are also available for the rich and well connected and through major hotels.

Watersports: Another popular sporting pastime, sailing and other watersports are mostly based out of Aberdeen, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. The exclusive levels of yachting are in the hands of the Aberdeen Marina Club, 8 Shum Wan Road, Aberdeen (tel: 2555 8321; fax: 2873 5681; website: www.amchk.com.hk), and similar institutions, although windsurfing and wakeboarding are far easier to access.