Art Walk in Wan Chai

Looking for something to do that's outdoors and socially distanced? What about an art walk? We recently followed a map from HKwalls to find large scale public murals all over Wan Chai.

These are tough days in Hong Kong. More than two years in and things are the worst they've ever been. We continue to do our part to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe and healthy. That said, cabin fever is at an all time high and options to get out as a family are limited. So we decided to get creative with our dog walks.

Art is Everywhere

I'd noticed some large murals around Central last year and wondered if there might be some kind of organized outdoor art walk we could do. Turns out those works and many others were created as part of events organized by HKwalls, a non-profit that creates opportunities for street, graffiti, and mural artists.

They hold an annual street art festival in March. Each year the works are concentrated in a different neighborhood. There have been seven festivals so far, so there's a lot to explore! We opted to check out the pieces in Wan Chai as it's closest to us, but other options include Sai Kung, Central and Western, Sheung Wan, and Stanley Market.

We set out on a sunny Sunday afternoon, armed with the Google map from HKwalls and a spirit of adventure to"find the art!" We were a bit worried that we'd run into a lot of people, but this walk turned out to be the perfect activity when you're trying to avoid crowds of people. We were in an area we'd been in many times before, but the murals were mostly located in back streets and alleyways that were new to us and virtually empty.

No one loves a map more than an eight year-old boy, and ours is no different. He led the way, excited to discover the next mural with his little brother running behind him. Here are a few of our favorites:

The HKwalls site has more information about each piece if you want to learn more about the artists and their works. Sadly, we found that one of the murals had been painted over, but we were able to see some photos of what had been.

After about an hour, the children's enthusiasm for art was fading and Rufus had gotten tired of being taunted by pigeons. We made it to about a third of the pieces on the Wan Chai map, but have plans to go back on another day to see the others. All in all, a lovely afternoon out exploring something new right in our own backyard.