Hong Kong à la Française

Why are there so many French in Hong Kong?

The présence française has become a phénomène or at least a curiosité, reported by leading newspapers from several countries. The French community has grown quickly in the past decade, while the German community has remained more or less stable and American and British numbers are rising only slowly. According to the French Consulate-General, there are around 17,000 French now living in Hong Kong; one suspects this understates the true number. French residents of Hong Kong in fact form the largest French community in Asia. Their presence is manifested and made palpable through food and wine stores, restaurants, bistrots, cafés, macarons, art galleries, a dedicated arts festival (Le French May), a French lycée but also an increasing amount of French companies offering employment. The effect can be experienced, heard and felt and has, it seems, begun to affect the Hong Kong lifestyle, in small and often good ways.