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KOWLOON

Tsim Sha Tsui & Tsim Sha Tsui East

BAHAMA MAMA’S Map Club

9803 6650, 2368 2121; 4-5 Knutsford Tce, Tsim Sha Tsui; 5pm-3am Sun-Thu, 5pm-4am Fri & Sat, happy hour 5-9pm; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui (exit B1)

Bahama Mama’s goes for a ‘Caribbean island’ feel, complete with palm trees and surfboards. It’s a friendly spot and stands apart from most of the other late-night watering holes in this part of town. It’s also the place to come for a foosball (table soccer) showdown. On Friday and Saturday nights there’s a DJ spinning and a young crowd out on the bonsai-sized dance floor.

CLOUDNINE Map Club

2723 6383; 7 Minden Ave; 6pm-3am Mon-Sat; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui (exit G)

If you want to find out what the local kids do of an evening (or at least those with some cash to burn), step through the egg-shaped doorway of this stylish little bar-cum-karaoke joint, take a seat and listen to the Cantopop classics getting murdered.

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MAJOR VENUES

Hong Kong has at last arrived on the big-name concert circuit, and a growing number of internationally celebrated bands and solo acts – including the likes of REM, U2, Robbie Williams, Avril Lavigne, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Sting and k.d. lang – perform in Hong Kong regularly.

Big concerts are usually held at either the 12,500-seat Hong Kong Coliseum ( Map; 2355 7233, 2355 7234; 9 Cheong Wan Rd, Hung Hom; MTR Hung Hom), behind the MTR station, and Queen Elizabeth Stadium ( Map; 2591 1346; www.lcsd.gov.hk/qes; 18 Oi Kwan Rd, Wan Chai; MTR Wan Chai). The sound is abysmal in the former, and you’d get better acoustics in an empty aircraft hanger than at the latter.

Two other venues are the HITEC Rotunda ( Map 2620 2222, 2620 2838; www.hitec.com.hk; 1 Trademart Dr, Kowloon Bay; MTR Kowloon Bay) and the New Wing of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC; Map; 2582 8888, bookings 2582 1111; www.hkcec.com; 1 Expo Dr, Wan Chai; bus 18, MTR Wan Chai). These are not huge venues, so the ticket prices are usually quite high.

Smaller acts are sometimes booked into the Ko Shan Theatre ( Map; 2740 9222; www.lcsd.gov.hk/kst; 77 Ko Shan Rd, Hung Hom; MTR Hung Hom). The sound at this venue isn’t great either, but the back portion of the seating area is open air, and most of the seats offer a good view of the stage.

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HARI’S Map Live Music

2369 3111 ext 1345; Mezzanine, Holiday Inn Golden Mile, 50 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui; 5pm-2am, happy hour 5-9pm Mon-Sat, 5pm-2am Sun; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui (exit G2)

Is it tacky or classy (or neither)? You decide after you’ve had a couple of specialty martinis (there are over a dozen to challenge you). There’s live music from 6.15pm weekdays, 8.45pm Saturday and 7.30pm Sunday.

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THE ARTS

Local orchestras or a foreign ensemble perform classical music weekly, while Hong Kong is well served with cinema screens both mainstream and arthouse. Most show local films (with English subtitles) or Hollywood blockbusters dubbed into Cantonese. Cine-Art House (right) in Wan Chai, the Broadway Cinematheque (Click here) in Yau Ma Tei and the AMC Pacific Place ( Map; 2869 0322; 1st fl, 1 Pacific Pl, Admiralty; MTR Admiralty, exit F) in Admiralty screen more interesting current releases and art-house films.

Tickets cost between $65 and $100, but can be cheaper (around $50) at matinees, the last screening of the day on weekends and on holidays (usually 11.30pm), or on certain days of the week (eg Tuesday at the AMC cinema; Map).

Almost all Hong Kong films screening in Hong Kong have both Chinese and English subtitles. Time Out, HK Magazine and the South China Morning Post have listings for film screenings.

Local theatre groups Click here mostly perform at the Shouson Theatre of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the Academy for the Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Hong Kong City Hall. Performances are usually in Cantonese, though there are often summaries in English available. Smaller troupes occasionally present plays in English at one of the