Author: simon

HKTB Releases Visitor Arrival Details for February 2021

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has released the visitor arrivals data for February 2021, there were approximately 5,500 (3,799 from the mainland, 1,696 non-mainland) a 97.2% drop year on year.

The HKTB noted that the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in Hong Kong began at about the same time last year, with monthly visitor arrivals dropping from 3.2 million in January 2020 to 200,000 in February 2020.

In the coming months as the visitor arrivals base in the comparable period, last year decreases significantly, the year-on-year decline in monthly visitor arrivals to Hong Kong will appear to narrow.

Virgin Vacation Release Eponymous Debut EP

Virgin Vacation, an instrumental quartet that blend math rock, improvisation jazz, krautrock and electronic beats, have released their eponymous debut EP on cassette, vinyl and digital formats – available from Bandcamp

The EP kicks off with a sound collage of a woman’s voice dispassionately recounting events related to the Hong Kong protests—before being crowded out by multiple copies of itself and a rising drone, reflecting the overwhelming news cycle in the city.

Independent comic book artist Lai Tat Tat Wing illustrates provides the EP’s cover art.

Track listing
Side A
1. Acid Rain
2. 5 Step

Side B
3. Third Eye
4. Voices

All Songs Written & Arranged by 假日貞操 Virgin Vacation

Legoland Opens

Hong Kong’s first indoor Lego playground, Legoland Discovery Centre, opened on 6 March offering an indoor playground for families and young at heart adults.

The 30,000 square foot space features 10 Lego-themed play areas including Kingdom Quest, Miniland, Lego Friends, Master Builder Classroom, Duplo Farm, Magic Bikes, Lego Races: Build & Test, 4D Cinema, as well as a Café and a Lego shop.

Merlin Entertainments’ Asia Pacific New Openings Director Ben Sweet said, “The success of Madame Tussauds Hong Kong has given the company faith in the Hong Kong market. Despite the pandemic, we still decided to bring Legoland Discovery Centre to the city.”

Legoland Discovery Centre
Daily tickets cost $240 with annual passes from $799
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-8pm; Sat-Sun 10am-9pm
Address: Shop B131-133, B1, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Cheung Chau Bun Scramble and Piu Sik Parade 2021 Cancelled

The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to the ‘Covid’.

The festival, which takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, runs from 17-20 May this year.

Legends say that the festival began after Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. To dispel the plague Chiu Chow natives invited Taoist priests to set up a sacrificial altar near the Pak Tai Temple to pray to deities, offer repentance and to comfort departed souls. The residents also paraded deity statues along village lanes.

The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.

Cheung Chau Jiao Festival

Cheung Chau Jiao Festival

Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 17-20 May 2021
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free

Sad Day – UA Cinemas Shuts Down

A sad day, many fine films and good nights out.

“UA Cinemas has always been committed to providing the highest quality of cinematic entertainment to all audiences in Hong Kong since it was founded in 1985 by Mr. Ira Kaye. However, we regret to announce that UA Cinemas will cease business with immediate effect from 8 March 2021 due to unavoidable and devastating pressure faced by our operations since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

We would like to thank our customers, colleagues and business partners for their support with UA Cinemas over the past 36 years. Thank-you everyone for taking the journey with us.”

Remark: To comply with the statute and to protect the interests of all stakeholders, UA Cinemas has commenced winding up proceedings with the Hong Kong court. For any enquiries, please call 3104-1777 or 3104-1779 for assistance.

Rugby World Cup France 2023 Tickets Go On Sale

Tickets for Rugby World Cup 2023 will go on sale from 15 March, 2021 at 12:00 CET after the France 2023 organising committee announced details of the tournament’s ticketing programme. A total of 2.6 million tickets will be available for the 10th edition of the men’s event which kicks off on 8 September, 2023.

Tickets will go on sale through a phased process from 15 March, 2021 at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com  – with an exclusive pre-sale period for fans who have registered to join the 2023 Family by 23:59 CET on 13 March. During the ‘pre-sale period’, which runs until 5 April, fans will be able to purchase Follow my Team and City packs on a first-come, first-served basis, which will enable them to choose to attend a team’s pool phase matches or all the pool phase matches at a match venue.

General sales for Follow My Team and City packs will open on 6 April, 2021 at 18:00 CET with packages starting at 58€ for the Toulouse City Pack (Category 4). Ticket-inclusive Official Travel and Hospitality sales will commence on 18 March, 2021.

The ticket launch follows the announcement last week of the match schedule which features an extended pool phase to allow longer recovery periods for the players. Rugby World Cup 2023 will be played across 10 host cities and nine stadiums.

Tickets by Team or by City?

In the ‘pre-sale’ phase from 15 March, tickets will only be sold in two formats, either by city or by team.

The Follow My Team pack includes all four pool matches from a qualified team, with the possibility to add an optional quarter-final should the team makes it to the knockout phase. Twelve Follow My Team packs will be available, one for each qualified nation.

The City Pack includes either three or all pool matches in each of the nine host cities. In the ‘three matches’ format, fans will need to select two fixtures in addition to one compulsory. Only the opening match won’t be available in this format.

In the comprehensive ‘all matches’ City pack, fans will be able to attend all pool matches in the host city of their choice, except for Saint-Denis (Stade de France).

World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Rugby World Cup France 2023 will showcase the best of rugby and the best of France and we are delighted to launch the tournament’s ticketing programme. Our ambition, in partnership with our friends at the France 2023 organising committee, is to make France 2023 the most accessible tournament to date. This ticketing programme certainly does that. Everyone is invited to join a special celebration of France and 200 years of rugby.”

France 2023 Organising Committee CEO, Claude Atcher added: “With our ticketing programme, we want to make Rugby World Cup 2023 as accessible as possible for everyone and provide the opportunity for French and international fans to attend matches from the best 20 rugby nations in the world. ”

Key Ticket Sales Dates
  • 13 March at 23:59 CET: Registration closes for the 2023 Family
  • 15 March at 12:00 CET: 2023 Family pre-sale opens for City and Team packs
  • 18 March: Launch of Official Travel and Hospitality sales programmes
  • 6 April at 18:00 CET: General sale opens for City and Team Packs
  • 2022: Individual match tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis

Additional reporting and images: World Rugby

World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 Plans Unveiled

World Rugby announced today a condensed World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 schedule which features five women’s and four men’s rounds, with the addition of a further two potential men’s events under discussion.

The 2021 Series kicks off with back-to-back women’s events in Marcoussis, Paris on 15-16 and 22-23 May. The Series will then take a break for the countdown to the Olympic Games and recommence with a men’s event in Singapore on 29-30 October, followed by joint men’s and women’s rounds in Hong Kong on 5-7 November, Dubai on 3-4 December, followed by an exciting climax in Cape Town on 10-12 December.

New Zealand are the reigning champions of both the women’s and men’s Series after being crowned winners of the 2020 edition, which was brought to an early conclusion with five of the eight women’s rounds and six of the 10 men’s rounds successfully completed prior to the onset of the pandemic.

In the men’s Series, Japan will join as a core team following their promotion from the inaugural World Rugby Challenger Series in 2020, while it has been agreed that in this Olympic year, the England, Scotland and Wales teams will combine to compete as ‘GB Sevens’ in both the men’s and women’s Series’ in 2021. This will create two additional invitational places for teams to participate in the men’s 2021 Series events, with invitational teams to be announced in due course.

Olympic Sevens

The Olympic Sevens competition will take place on 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium. To ensure teams are as best prepared as possible for the Tokyo Games a series of high-performance preparation events will take place.

Monaco will host the World Rugby Sevens Repechage, the final qualification event for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, on 19-20 June, 2021. With 21 of the 24 teams already qualified for the Olympic rugby sevens competition, the remaining two women’s and one men’s spots will be determined in Monaco.

World Rugby Interim Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “Today’s announcement of the World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 schedule marks a significant and exciting moment for rugby seven’s re-emergence from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and we thank all Series partners for their unwavering support, and host organisations and participating unions for their hard work, patience and spirit of collaboration.”

“As a key driver of game growth, particularly in emerging markets, the continued success of rugby sevens and the Sevens Series is a strategic priority for World Rugby and our US$4 million funding to support sevens programmes is a clear demonstration of our commitment. This unique Olympic year provides a huge opportunity to reach new audiences around the world and introduce them to the speed, skill and excitement of rugby sevens, encouraging them to become future fans of the Series.

Additional reporting and images: World Rugby

Updated Social Distancing Measures – 18 February, 2021

Today the government updated the gazetted directions and specifications under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) to further tighten social distancing measures.

The updated directions are effective from 00:01, 18 February, 2021

Restaurants

Allowed to open to 10pm and a maximum of 4 persons will be allowed per table. Staff to ensure that customers… 

    • Wear masks 
    • Check their temperature
    • Do not allow more people than permitted 
    • Use hand sanitiser 
    • Make sure people are socially distanced. 
    • ALL patrons may only enter if they have scanned using the Leave Home Safe app or leave with the outlet their last name, mobile phone number and the time that person entered and exited the premises. All records must be kept for 31 days. 
    • Restaurants must also ensure that all working staff members are tested every 14 days. All test records must be kept for 31 days. 

For those restaurants that have not complied with all of the new conditions, these outlets will only be allowed to open till 6pm and a maximum of two people will be allowed on each table. 

Restaurants that fail to comply with these new rules could be fined up to HKD 50,000 or imprisoned for up 6 months. 

Premises That May ReOpen:
    • All sports ground both indoor and Outdoor 
    • Beauty parlours
    • Gyms
    • Massage parlours
    • Cinemas 
    • Amusement parks 
    • Video Game Centers 
    • Ice Skating Rinks
    • Bowling Alleys 
Premises That Remain Closed:
    • Party Rooms
    • Bathhouses 
    • Discos/Night Clubs 
    • Karaokes 
    • Mahjong Parlors
    • Swimming Pools
    • Beaches 
Public Gatherings:

    • No more than 2 persons can gather together at any one time.