Yes, You Should Consider Hong Kong for a Wellness Holiday

How to slow down in Hong Kong.

Just over 7.5 million people live in Hong Kong, packed into an area roughly 11 times smaller than Sydney. Yet I have no concept of this at Asaya, which is less like a hotel spa and more like a wellness department store across two floors of the Rosewood Hong Kong in the Tsim Sha Tsui district.

You can get a massage at plenty of places around the city but what about a little hypnosis? Some singing bowl therapy? A detailed hair analysis and cut by Luca, a disciple of Italian stylist Rossano Ferretti, who insists I’ve never had a haircut like the one he’s about to give me. “We don’t cut, we dance,” he says, scissors at the ready. “You’ll see.”

The diversity of Asaya’s offerings speaks to how seriously Hong Kong is taking itself as a wellness destination. I’m disappointed when my expressive arts therapy session – 90 minutes of drawing, moving and even singing as part of your healing journey – can’t go ahead due to therapist availability. The hotel’s director of wellness, Steve Desobeau, says it’s one of the most popular options, with a “very high” return rate.

Instead of drawing my feelings, I head to a room lined with mirrors along one side and windows onto Victoria Harbour on the other, where the contemplative Bernard comes to teach Qigong meditation once a week. I’m joined by two regulars, Hong Kong locals with Asaya memberships, one of whom rushes in 15 minutes late, sheds a pair of spiky heels and seamlessly joins in.

Qigong meditation, explains Bernard, combines gentle movement with deep breathing to tap into our body’s natural energy flow. As I move through each stretch – rotating hands around an invisible ball; pushing my arms up before dragging them down like a piston – I recognise the principles of Tai Chi, the martial art my Chinese grandparents have practised every morning in the park for as long as I can remember. “People blindly chase Western trends,” says Bernard. “Yoga and Pilates are cool but we have our own indigenous Chinese practices.”

There’s reflexology, the pressure technique that relieves foot tension, which you can enjoy in all the retro glory of Tai Pan Reflexology Parlour, also in Tsim Sha Tsui. At The Peninsula hotel on Salisbury Road in Kowloon, massages include 20 minutes of Gua Sha, in which a jade tool is worked over areas of the body to stimulate energy flow. For those looking for salvation, Hong Kong has temples aplenty. I like the Tin Hau temple in Fong Ma Po village with its Lam Tsuen wishing trees best. I’ve spent Lunar New Years here, lobbing oranges wrapped in a wish – a baby brother, university honours, a Chanel bag – hoping they’ll lodge in its branches and make my dreams come true.

“When you discuss Hong Kong with your friends, wellness is not the first thing that would come to mind,” says Desobeau, adding “everyone wants wellness”. Look closely and you’ll find it in this bustling harbour city.

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