Why east Hong Kong Island’s cosy, creative waterside near city’s heartbeat feels like home

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Why entrepreneur Lindsay Jang visited Chai Wan for an art event – and fell in love

Why entrepreneur Lindsay Jang visited Chai Wan for an art event – and fell in love

Some people have a kind of inbuilt GPS (global positioning system) which guides them unerringly to the coolest spots in any given city – and Lindsay Jang definitely falls into that category.

If you ask her where to eat, meet, shop, work out, re-centre, or just chill for an evening, she will be quick to point you in the right direction. Ask for her views on the best place to live, and she is equally sure.

“Ever since I moved to Chai Wan, I’ve realised there is nowhere else in Hong Kong I would want to live,” says the entrepreneur known for co-founding stylish restaurants and running popular projects that promote wellness and positive lifestyles. “I have two kids, so I needed a bigger space, and finding a flat here in 2016 was perfect; it was serendipitous.”

In 2009, like many newly arrived expats, Jang opted initially for an apartment on Hong Kong Island near the Central-Mid-Levels escalator. Soon, though, she started to discover more of the city, the local neighbourhoods with their own distinctive vibe, and began to weigh up the alternatives.

Ideally, she wanted to be somewhere that was close to the water, combined quiet with convenience, and offered a calming sense of separation from the day-to-day stresses of work meetings and business decisions; she chose Chai Wan, on Hong Kong Island’s eastern coast.

“I remember going to Chai Wan for an art event, and my first impression was that it was really far away,” Jang says. “But I also noticed that everything seemed peaceful and everyone was just minding their own business. I was really drawn to the serenity.”