In celebration of the 25th Anniversary (25A) of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China this year, HKETO Berlin presented a broad range of celebration activities under the theme of “A New Era – Stability. Prosperity. Opportunity”, displaying Hong Kong’s remarkable achievements over the past quarter century and its aspirations for a better future. HKETO Berlin had the pleasure of organising and supporting a variety of events, including exhibition, gala dinners, receptions, street food festival, dragon boat races and film festivals.

For this occasion, HKETO Berlin created a cross-media campaign with Handelsblatt, the largest German-speaking business and financial newspaper. Establishing an interactive approach through a variety of content pieces, the media campaign was an excellent platform to promote the 25A celebrations and inform the German business community and decision makers about the latest developments and opportunities in Hong Kong under the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”. View the Handelsblatt content hub and find out more here.

Photo exhibition “Making Waves - Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema” tells the story of Hong Kong cinematography

The 25A festivities in Berlin opened with a photo exhibition on Hong Kong films named “Making Waves - Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema” from 2 to 10 June 2022. The exhibition highlighted the works of some of Hong Kong’s most iconic photographers, namely Jupiter Wong, Wong Wai Lun, Quist Tsang and Sharon Salad, telling a remarkable story of Hong Kong cinema in a new artistic dimension and fascination.

Gala dinners and receptions in Central and Eastern Europe

After two years of the pandemic, HKETO Berlin organised its first in-person events in various Central and Eastern European cities, including Vienna (7 June), Zurich (13 June), Berlin (17 June), and Geneva (30 June). The events provided a networking platform for the business community, government officials and friends of Hong Kong to connect and exchange views on the latest developments in Hong Kong.

Street food festival in Berlin

Hong Kong has a rich street food tradition, which plays an integral role in shaping Hong Kong’s cultural identity. With this in mind, HKETO Berlin organised its first Hong Kong Street Food Festival on 7 July, promoting Hong Kong’s unique culinary landscape. Held in a vivid district of Berlin, the festival offered a variety of local gastronomic delights from Hong Kong, ranging from dim sum, spring rolls, egg tarts, mango pomelo sago, to the famous Hong Kong-style milk tea. We were delighted to see our guests leaving the venue with a satisfied tummy from the wonderful aromas and flavours of Hong Kong.

Dragon boat races

While food has an incredible quality to connect people and build bridges between cultures, the same is also true for sports. It was particularly in this spirit that HKETO Berlin supported the 30th Drachenbootrennen Eglisau, the largest dragon boat competition held annually in Switzerland in June, and the 23rd Hongkong-Berlin CityCup at the Olympic Regatta Course in Berlin-Grünau. Sports fans and families enjoyed the annual dragon boat-themed tug of war and culinary highlights alongside the thrilling competition on the water. Dragon boat races have a long history, dating back to over 2000 years in China. However, it was not until 1976 that Hong Kong started revitalising it as a modern international sport and promoting it worldwide. That year, the Hong Kong Government staged the first Hong Kong International Races, an event recognised today as the start of the “modern era” of dragon boat racing.