At an event in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourist Board, “The World’s 50 Best Bars” this week announced Hong Kong’s Bar Leone as the World’s Best Bar in 2025.
Bar Leone is certainly a good bar – sadly now to be drowned in people wanting to say they’ve ‘drunk in the World’s Best Bar’! – but is it the World’s Best? Sadly, The World’s 50 Best Bars website doesn’t list any criteria to support the award.
What constitutes ‘best’ is apparently left to the judgment of 800 “drinks experts”. Each voter casts eight votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months, with a maximum of five bars in their own country. The list is the result of a simple vote count – no totals are released. No breakdown of where the ‘experts’ are from or how many are based in each country/region.
So congratulations to Bar Leone and the other bars on the list, but take the list with a large pinch of salt and get out and explore different bars to find those you enjoy.
Bar Leone
11-15 Bridges Street
Central
Hong Kong
Open: Tuesday-Sunday 17:00-late
No Reservations
images: The World’s 50 Best Bars
Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival
Date: 23-26 October, 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront Event Space
Tickets: various
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Festival
Date: 5-7 October, 2025
Venue: Tai Hang
Tickets: Free
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
Hot Air Balloon Fest Hong Kong
Date: 4-7 September 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $1,480, $1,080, $880, $680, $200, $150
More info:
Joey 容祖兒 HKlivemusic, HKconcert, Kenny 關智斌, Angela 許靖韻, Ken 洪卓立, Locksmiths 開鎖佬, Aiden 洪助昇, The Lemon Ones, Dark 黃明德, Heize 黃峻熙, ToNick, Endy 周國賢, Hedy 海兒, Andy 黎展峯, Daze in White, VIVA, Arvin 曾傲棐, SULIS, Leo 古巨基, Gin Lee 李幸倪, Vincy 泳兒, Andy 梁釗峰
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.
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
