The Insider's Guide to Hong Kong

Architect JJ Acuna reveals his favourite places as featured in our downloadable Wallpaper* City Guide

As the art world readies itself for Art Basel Hong Kong, which begins this Sunday (March 17, 2015), we catch up with Manila native JJ Acuna who has lived in the city since 2005; an architect and designer, his cultural leanings also find a voice via his blog, theWanderlister+.

"There’s a real buzz around at the moment, due to the formation of the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Police Married Quarters and the Central Police Station arts and leisure complex," he says. "People are working together to make Hong Kong a creative city from zero."

Acuna has breakfast the traditional way, with dim sum at Lin Heung Tea House (160-164 Wellington Street), where diners still choose dumplings from moving carts. "I always end the meal with lai wong bao – hot buns with a sugary egg goodness inside," he says. Afterwards, it’s a quick stroll to the revitalised Noho, chock-a-block with independent boutiques; he suggests Opera Opera (14 Gough Street) for its vintage Italian fashion.

Afternoons are often spent in Acuna’s base, the calmer Tai Hang – highlights include Unar Coffee Company (4 Second Lane), whose baristas double as graphic designers, and, in the same building, furniture store Feelsogood, which specialises in teakwood pieces. To seek inspiration, Acuna heads to big exhibition space Osage Kwun Tong (Fifth floor, Kian Dai Industrial Building, 73-75 Hung To Road), the likes of which "one rarely gets to see in the centre, where room is tight".

If you're headed to Hong Kong for Art Basel Hong Kong this week you can download our Wallpaper* City Guide here. If you're going later in the year, maybe you'd prefer the print version which you can find here.