Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong
Encyclopedia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
is a members-only club and meeting place for the media, business and diplomatic community. It is located at 2 Lower Albert Road
Lower Albert Road
Lower Albert Road is a road on the Government Hill in the Central area of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The south major entrance of Central Government Offices, where major officials work, is located at the Lower Albert Road and another common...
in Central
Central, Hong Kong
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
, next to the Hong Kong Fringe Club
Hong Kong Fringe Club
The Hong Kong Fringe Club is a not-for-profit organisation in Hong Kong. It is located in the "Old Dairy Farm Depot" at 2 Lower Albert Road in Central, next to the Foreign Correspondents' Club...
, and they both occupy the Old Dairy Farm Depot
Old Dairy Farm Depot
The Old Dairy Farm Depot or Old Dairy Farm Building is a building in Central, Hong Kong, which currently houses the Hong Kong Fringe Club and the Foreign Correspondents' Club . It is located at 2 Lower Albert Road...
at the top of Ice House Street
Ice House Street
Ice House Street is a street in Central on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The street starts from Lower Albert Road on a hill slope and runs downhill across Queen's Road Central, Des Voeux Road Central, Chater Road and ends in Connaught Road Central....
, one of the few remaining colonial buildings in core Central.
History
The Club was founded in ChongqingChongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
in 1943 and moved to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(from Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
), where it was set up on June 23 or June 25, 1949. The Club has been located in several buildings since its inception in Hong Kong.
Membership
The FCC has the following membership categories:- Correspondent
- Journalist
- Associate (in this category anyone can join, although there has at times been a waiting list of several months)
- International media-related corporate
- Diplomatic
The membership of the FCC (which totals over 1800) includes reporters, photographers and radio and television teams, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...
and leading figures in the worlds of business and diplomacy.
When prominent international figures from the worlds of commerce, politics or entertainment visit Hong Kong, many choose to address the FCC's speaker lunches as the best means of reaching their desired audience - both directly and through media coverage of the events. Recent speakers include the Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang
Donald Tsang
Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, GBM, KBE is the current Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong....
, former Chief Secretary Mrs Anson Chan
Anson Chan
Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang GBM GCMG CBE JP was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik....
and last Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Christopher Patten.
Features
The heart of the FCC building is The Main Bar (on the ground floor) which maintains its reputation for colourful characters both from the media and other professions. The FCC has two restaurants on the first floor: the Main Dining Room focused primarily on western-style cuisine, and the Chinese Restaurant.In the basement is Bert's Bar, named after the late Bert Okuley, long time FCC member and jazz pianist. Bert's features live jazz several nights each week, often with the house band under the leadership of Musical Director
Allen Youngblood. The pool table in Bert's also hosts annual 8-ball and 9-ball tournaments and is the home table of teams playing in local leagues of both codes.
The basement also contains The Work Room where local and visiting members can use the broadband-connected facilities to prepare their articles, and a small but well-equipped Health Club with sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
, steam room
Steam room
A steam room is an enclosed space with large amounts of high temperature steam, creating a high humidity environment. People sit in this room in a similar way to a sauna , for relaxation and purported benefits to health and well being. They can be commonly found in gyms, sanitariums and health...
and Jacuzzi
Jacuzzi
Jacuzzi is a company that produces whirlpool bathtubs and spas. Its first product was a bath with massaging jets. The term "jacuzzi" is now often used generically to refer to any bathtub with massaging jets.-History:...
.
In popular culture
- The Club is featured in John Le CarreJohn le CarréDavid John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
's 1977 novel The Honourable SchoolboyThe Honourable SchoolboyThe Honourable Schoolboy is a spy novel by John le Carré. George Smiley tries to reconstruct an intelligence service and to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from falling to the "war hawks" in government...
. - The FCC has appeared several times in films:
- Chinese BoxChinese BoxChinese Box is a 1997 movie directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Michael Hui.The movie is set and was made at the time of Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 1997...
(1997), directed by Wayne WangWayne WangWayne Wang is a Chinese American film director.-Biography:Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne...
. Features the Main Bar. - Love Is a Many-Splendored ThingLove Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 American drama-romance film. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter , who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China , only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong...
(1955), directed by Henry KingHenry King (director)Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
. The FCC was located at Conduit RoadConduit RoadConduit Road is a road in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong.-The road and buildings:Conduit Road was constructed in 1910. It is located in Western Mid-Levels. It is named after the aqueduct passing underneath which carries water from the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir to the Central area. It is...
at that time. - an episode of the British television series CrackerCracker (UK TV series)Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
.
- Chinese Box