BY ROGER WATSON
I finally made it. After more than twenty years of regular visits to Hong Kong: work trips; conferences; airport dashes; and copious social events, I crossed a threshold that had somehow eluded me all this time: the doors of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
That it took so long says less about any lack of curiosity and more about a persistent assumption that such places are reserved for other people: real journalists; war correspondents; and men and women who have dodged bullets but met their deadlines. Nevertheless, this month I found myself inside, slightly overawed and instantly smitten.
The Club sits quietly on Lower Albert Road, occupying a building that manages the rare trick of feeling both solidly colonial and entirely alive. From the moment you step in, the noise and humidity of Central – the area of Hong Kong where the club is located – seem to fall away, replaced by cool stone, polished wood, and a sense that history has been allowed to accumulate rather than be scrubbed off.
It is not grand in a flashy way; it is confident, settled, and faintly conspiratorial, as if the walls themselves have learned to keep their counsel. My visit, with a colleague, was in Advent so the foyer was richly decorated and, while not a member, the man behind the front desk helpfully provided me with the wireless internet code so that I could message my friend to announce our arrival.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, founded in 1943, began life during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, when a small group of journalists gathered to share information, drink what could be found, and remind one another that civilisation had not entirely collapsed. After the war, the Club re-emerged as a hub for foreign reporters covering China, Asia, and the wider region, sometimes at considerable personal risk. Over the decades it became a place where stories were swapped before they were filed, sources quietly introduced, and rumours tested before going to print.
The purpose of the club has always been straightforward and quietly noble: to support journalism, protect press freedom, and provide a space where those engaged in the lonely business of reporting could talk freely. That purpose still lingers in the air. You sense it in the photographs on the walls, in the names on plaques, and in the gentle hum of conversation that never quite tips into shouting.
This is not a club that needs to impress; it already knows what it is. The impressive photojournalism displayed on the walls of the bar is changed regularly and updated. For example, there were pictures from the riots in 2019 alongside some more recent events.
There is, of course, plenty to find once inside. The Club houses bars, dining rooms, and event spaces, each with its own character. There are talks and debates along with book launches, film screenings. It always has been and remains, as the friend who invited me was at pains to tell me, a working club, not a museum. That is precisely its charm.
My own visit was for a dinner was taken in civilised surroundings, with an impressive and reassuring menu. The wine, chosen with more confidence than expertise on my part, was excellent, and refreshingly unobtrusive service. Plates arrived, glasses were replenished, and nobody asked whether everything was ‘okay’ at a critical moment in the conversation.
What impressed me most, however, was the atmosphere: a sense of shared understanding without any hint of exclusivity being wielded as a weapon. I felt like a welcome guest, albeit one who had arrived rather late to a long-running party.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club deserves its reputation not just as an institution, but as a dynamic part of Hong Kong’s intellectual and cultural life. My mind almost immediately turned to if I would return and how I could do that. It is a members’ club, designed for accredited journalists and correspondents living in Hong Kong. Monthly fees, in any case, are higher than the annual fee for my club, the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh.
Other membership categories exist for Hong Kong residents and former Hong Kong residents. But there is a category of membership, not advertised on the webpage, for occasional visitors to Hong Kong: guest membership. We were lucky to be joined at dinner by a full member who has signed the necessary forms for me. I am back in Hong Kong in March; you’ll find me propping up the bar at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
Roger Watson is a Registered Nurse and Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.