Hong Kong win in Dubai as they look to win the Asia Rugby Championship 2025 and qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia.
Hong Kong v UAE
Asia Rugby Championship 2025
Date: 15 June, 2025
Venue: Dubai
Author: simon
Hong Kong 1-0 India
A 93-minute Stefan Pereira penalty saw the red tide, which had engulfed the new Kai Tak Stadium, erupt in joyous celebration as Hong Kong beat India 1-0 in an AFC Asian Cup qualification game.
A record crowd of over 42,000 packed the stadium, creating an atmosphere quite unlike any previous Hong Kong football international. To celebrate the first football game in the new stadium, the HK Football Association arranged the city’s first-ever massive Tifo – the massive banner, covering three sections, screams “Hong Kong Team Kick Ass”.
Fan representative Chester, who helped coordinate the surprise, revealed on a radio program today that the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) masterminded the project.
“I cried multiple times last night,” Chester admitted. “First, when we raised the Tifo, then again during the players’ entrance video – something we’ve only seen in Premier League or J.League matches before.”
“You could really feel how much preparation went into making Kai Tak feel like home,” Chester added, describing the experience as “goosebump-inducing.”
Hong Kong v India – AFC Asian Cup
Date: 8pm, 10 June, 2025
Venue: Kai Tak Stadium
Tickets: $200, $80
images: HKFA
Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races 2025
Under blue skies and bright sunshine, Victoria Harbour provided a stunning backdrop for the 2025 Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races. Fans packed the shoreline to watch local and international teams compete to be the best of the best.
Click on any photo to see more images
Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races Results
Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races
Date: 31 May 0-8 June, 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: Free
images: HK Tourism Board
Hong Kong Pride!
The fly on the wall in the offices of the Hong Kong Tourist Board and the Chief Executive might be excused for pissing itself while listening to the discussions about the latest Hong Kong prommotional image…
All those tourists coming to Hong Kong looking for big balls and lots of action… finding none and leaving empty, longing and unfulfilled… Hong Kong’s strong ‘tourist satisfaction’ rating will become limp in the eyes of the world. With not even Jia Jia and De De able to raise some excitement.
Never Forget – Tian’anmen Square, 4 June 1989
Today we remember those who died in and around Tian’anmen Square in June 1989.
We light a candle in their memory! Not to make a political statement but because honouring and remembering those who have died is an important and integral part of Hong Kong, Chinese and yes English culture.
That some would threaten violence towards those who wish to remember the dead says far more about them than us… What next? Will the Ching Ming Festival be banned as well?
Images: copyright Simon Durrant, bc magazine
Jia Jia and De De
Hong Kong’s twin panda cubs, born in August 2024, were finally named today, after a public competition which saw over 38,000 entries.
The winning names, Jia Jia (加加) for “Elder Sister”, and De De (得得) for “Little Brother”, were submitted by Lee Yuk Fan, and chosen by the judges who “opined that the names were rich in meaning”.
To quote the press release:
“Elder sister” is named “Jia Jia”, with the Chinese character for “Jia” (加) conveying the message of support. Having the same pronunciation as the Chinese characters for “home” (家) and “auspices” (嘉) in both Cantonese and Putonghua, “Jia” also features an element of family and a sense of auspicious grace, embodying the prosperity of families and the nation as well as the happiness of its people.
“Little brother” is named “De De”. As the Chinese character “De” (得) means “to succeed”, the name has the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. “De” also shares the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for “virtue” in both Cantonese and Putonghua, suggesting that giant pandas, our national treasures, possess the virtues cherished by Chinese people.”
Images: Ocean Park
Cirque Returns to Hong Kong
Cirque du Soleil returns to Hong Kong this week with Kooza, a circus-themed extravaganza that has been extensively reworked since its first appearance here in 2018.
As Duncan Fisher, Chief Show Operations Officer of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, said at the launch, the Central Harbourfront venue is a stunning location: watch the sunset before the show commences, enjoy a night-time Star Ferry ride across the harbour afterwards while marvelling at the beauty of our home under lights.
There is something wonderful about seeing a show under the ‘big top’ – so different from our many bland concrete box venues with terrible acoustics – you feel part of the show. Especially since Kooza 2.0 is a much more engaging experience than the original.
While the underlying story remains the same. There are new acts – I don’t want to give too many spoilers here – and much of the cast has changed, bringing new and different skills to the show. The band is tight and sounds great under the big top.
After having been a Cirque ‘desert’ – 4 shows in thirty years – the future looks far more exciting with Mr Fisher saying that he hopes to bring a different show to the Hong Kong harbourfront every two years and establish Hong Kong as a signature Cirque city on a par with New York and London. Can’t you just ‘see’ senior government and HKTB officials making heart signs with their hands on hearing that!
If there’s one criticism of Kooza, it’s that there’s not an ounce of localisation to the show… How difficult would it be to tweak the clown parts to include a little play on the local stereotypes of each city visited? There is a ‘dog’ in the show which was funny – but I looked at it and thought with Hong Kong’s current panda obsession, how funny it would have been if it had been a panda…
Kooza’s season in Hong Kong has been extended to 13 July.
Images: copyright Simon Durrant
Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza
Date: 21 May – 13 July 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $1,988, $1,698, $1,298, $998, $758, $600, $450
More info:
Wednesdays: 7:30pm
Thursdays: 7:30pm
Fridays: 7:30pm
Saturdays: 1pm, 4:30pm, 8pm
Sundays: 1pm & 4:30pm
2025 Rugby Championship
SANZAAR has today confirmed the match schedule for the 2025 Rugby Championship that will be played from 16 August to 2 October.
The Rugby Championship (TRC) mini-tour format will remain in place, with each team playing six matches comprising three home matches and three away matches. Each team will host a two-match tour, will play an away two-match tour, and play a one-match home and away series against the third remaining team.
This year, South Africa will host Australia for two matches before heading to New Zealand for two away matches. New Zealand will head to Argentina for its away mini-tour prior to hosting South Africa, while Australia will host Argentina for two matches.
The Bledisloe Cup home and away Tests between Australia and New Zealand will take place in Perth and Auckland this year, with South Africa and Argentina meeting in Durban and London. The London fixture will be only the second time a Rugby Championship match has been played outside of the four core territories of Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris stated, “The Rugby Championship is the pinnacle of southern hemisphere rugby and one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments. This year will be no different as some of the best Test teams in the world do battle across 11 cities across the four nations.”
“Anticipation is again high for the 2025 edition of TRC as the top talent from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa do battle for southern hemisphere supremacy. South Africa are the current World Champions and incumbent Rugby Championship champions, while Argentina are now fifth in the world rankings. New Zealand will warm-up with a Test series against France while the Wallabies have a big series against the British & Irish Lions to prepare for the Championship.”
“This year the tournament finishes with a match at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in London when Argentina host the Springboks. This is an exciting opportunity to showcase The Rugby Championship in the UK.”
Additional reporting and images: SANZAAR