Hong Kong / Macau fun

[a-447]

I'm off to Japan next week and will be spending a week in Hong Kong/Macau on the way home.

Are there any massage places where I can get a happy ending in either city?

What about gay bars? Has anyone visited there recently?

I'm not particularly hopeful but, you never know!

 

[BjornAgain]

Take a look at GayHK.Com

[a-447]

Thanks. I did take a look there, but I was hoping someone had been to some of those places recently and could report back.

But I guess not.

[ChristianPFC]

My experiences in Hong Kong in 2019 were so poor, both saunas and online, that I gave up and didn't even look for saunas or online when I went again in Apr2024. Considering I'm coming from or going to Thailand, I save my time and money for Thailand.

[BjornAgain]

Sorry, was there last week, however business and associated social engagements meant I had no time to go a wandering.

[hojacat]

On 9/18/2024 at 6:58 PM, a-447 said:

Thanks. I did take a look there, but I was hoping someone had been to some of those places recently and could report back.

But I guess not.

As I have said in some other posts under this category HK has actually a good number of gay saunas but the biggest and the most gay-friendly of them remains Hutong. They don't do any filtering anymore at the entrance like around 5-10 years ago, so everyone is accepted. I've seen white daddies every time I go, though not sure about their success rate. (I'm in my mid 30s and slim). The facilities are still great. The best days to go are Monday (young people get a big discount), Friday and Saturday. Pretty empty on Sundays, though my HK friend said that it start offering a discount now to attract more people on that day. Peak hours are 6-9PM as most customers are actually Shenzhen guys who have to catch the subway to head back home as getting a room in HK is quite pricey for them.

It also get very busy during the two weeks in May and October where the mainland has holidays. I witnessed it myself this year. Went there on May 1st and by 4:30pm all the lockers were taken and guys coming in had to put their stuff in a plastic bag. There were around 200-250 guys at any given moment in there. I had a real blast. Started getting serviced by this cute twink from Shenzhen even while I was still taking a shower. Went to the cabin with him and after being done as I go out of the cabin, this other twink grabs my hand, takes me back in there , closes the door and starts going down, so I have to restart right away. After staying around 3.5 hours and having played with at least 8 guys went back to my hotel happy but totally exhausted. Lots of guys also like to play with their cabin doors opened, so you get to see a show even if you get no action.

Judging by when you posted your question, you certainly already been to HK. Let us know if you got the chance to go to any place.

[a-447]

No action, as I spent most of my time in Macau.

[ChristianPFC]

On 11/26/2024 at 3:09 AM, hojacat said:

It also get very busy during the two weeks in May and October where the mainland has holidays.

That's a time I would absolutely avoid going anywhere in China. I have seen pictures of tourist attractions covered in people. I wouldn't want to deal with booked out trains and buses and hotels and restaurants closed for holiday.

[a-447]

12 hours ago, ChristianPFC said:

That's a time I would absolutely avoid going anywhere in China. I have seen pictures of tourist attractions covered in people. I wouldn't want to deal with booked out trains and buses and hotels and restaurants closed for holiday.

Those tourist attractions are now in Japan, not China!

Can you imagine what is like to walk around Tokyo or Kyoto and never hear Japanese being spoken? 

So maybe it's a good idea to visit China afterall!

[Lucky]

I used to travel to Hong Kong a lot and loved it. But this year I was there for Chinese New year and found it drab and dull. Such a disappointment. I am guessing that western businessmen are making fewer trips to the island.

[vaughn]

I've spent a lot of time in HK many years ago and went back a couple of times in the last 2 years, it's definitely changed a lot, for the worse imo.

FLM is one of the more popular gay bars, it's near Shueng Wan.

Pottinger St is not as busy as it used to be, but there are a couple of gay venues still.

Hutong Club in Mong Kok mentioned above is a gay sauna I haven't been to yet, but i've heard its still one of the better options remaining in HK https://maps.app.goo.gl/x5zHfM1cmxTs37ND9

I have always found HK guys to be pretty interested in foreign guys and open to meeting up from Grindr and Blued

[hojacat]

On 2/10/2025 at 11:28 AM, Lucky said:

But this year I was there for Chinese New year and found it drab and dull. Such a disappointment. I am guessing that western businessmen are making fewer trips to the island.

Well, Lunar New Year is not really a great time to visit any city as a tourist in Greater China or even Vietnam as most of the places are closed and people like to hang out with family.

 

On 2/10/2025 at 2:07 PM, vaughn said:

FLM is one of the more popular gay bars, it's near Shueng Wan.

 

FLM is probably the most foreign friendly bar in HK. Usually that's where local guys take their foreign "date" to or go there to find one. There is an entrance fee after a certain hour. The bars around Causeway Bay are much more sticky rice. If one really wants to go though, I would suggest a place called Vibranium. It offers free cocktails on Wednesday from 9-11PM.

On 2/10/2025 at 2:07 PM, vaughn said:

Hutong Club in Mong Kok mentioned above is a gay sauna I haven't been to yet, but i've heard its still one of the better options remaining in HK https://maps.app.goo.gl/x5zHfM1cmxTs37ND9

Even though has the priciest entrance fee in Asia (260HKD which makes it more expensive even to London or Paris) still remains one of the best even after so many years. The facilities are well-kept, pretty clean and the crowd, if you got on the right days and time, is pretty sexy. I have posted a few reviews about that place under this topic.

 

On 2/10/2025 at 2:07 PM, vaughn said:

I have always found HK guys to be pretty interested in foreign guys and open to meeting up from Grindr and Blued

True, it continues to have a sizable and ardent presence of potato queens.

 

On 2/10/2025 at 2:07 PM, vaughn said:

I've spent a lot of time in HK many years ago and went back a couple of times in the last 2 years, it's definitely changed a lot, for the worse imo.

 

I know there are quite a few old-timers in here that have spent part of their life in HK so can give a better historical perspective. I'm younger and my first visit was only in 2014 ( quite the year the with the umbrella "revolution" going on) so maybe it's true that the city has changed for the worse, though I feel it's more the case of other Asian cities getting much better and now competing with HK in a lot of things that made HK unique in the 70s-80s and even 90s. 

Personally I visit at least twice a year for usually a 4-5 days period each time. Between restaurants (it still has an amazing culinary scene and not just for Cantonese cuisine), hiking, M+ exhibitions, cocktail bar with friends, Hutong and guys from apps, it always ends up being a great time.

[Lucky]

No doubt there is still a lot to like in Hong Kong, it's just harder to find. The spirit the city was known for has certainly gone downhill. As for Chinese New Year, it's my understanding that most places close on New Year's Day and for as often as two weeks, but prior to that they are open. Either way, this year lacked a sense of festivity.

[roughjock]

I found Hong Kong locals, despite the reputation, quite friendly and open to meeting foreigners.

I agree there is much to do even without boys, though. I’m a big fan of M+.

[PeterRS]

On 2/26/2025 at 2:26 PM, hojacat said:

Well, Lunar New Year is not really a great time to visit any city as a tourist in Greater China or even Vietnam as most of the places are closed and people like to hang out with family.

It's a lousy time to visit Hong Kong. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong Chinese return to their ancestral homes on the mainland for family gatherings. A large number of expats of all ages also leave the city for short holidays around the region, mainly because Hong Kong is pretty dead at that time.

On 2/26/2025 at 2:26 PM, hojacat said:

I know there are quite a few old-timers in here that have spent part of their life in HK so can give a better historical perspective.

I definitely fall into that category! Moved there in 1979 when Hong Kong still had the mid-1800s colonial anti-sodomy law. Every year the government jailed 2 or 3 guys for a couple of years for homosexual offences. All that did was keep everything under the surface. A lot of men near the top of the government and in major businesses still had their Chinese boyfriends. So it remained a very cruisy city. Provided one took a small degree of care, meeting guys was easy. 

There were a couple of gay bars - Dateline in a small street near Central on the Island and Waltzing Mathilda in Kowloon. But the police anti-gay squad kept a close watch on each. Dateline was accessed by a long staircase to the basement lit by a bright floodlight. At first I thought it was a kind gesture by the bar to ensure no-one slipped and fell. Only later did I realise that the cops had rented the flat opposite and photographed everyone going in and out! Waltzing Mathilda was known as a triad hangout and one of the barmen was a police informer. Soon after my arrival a gayish disco Disco Disco opened in the Lan Kwai Fong area and this became hugely popular. On each side of the harbour was at least one bath house which became known as semi-cruising spots.

Earlier, in the mid-1970s, the government had realised it had a problem with gay men in high places. Allied to excessive corruption often involving top government officials, it set up a totally Independent Commission Against Corruption with its own police and judiciary. This ICAC became very popular with the public at large and a number of top officials decided the time had come to disappear. The gay Chief Justice at the time had the nickname 'Brenda'. A top policeman fled to Britain for having wealth beyond his means. He was extradited and jailed. I won't go into the 1980 death of the police inspector John MacLennan 'suspected' of being gay as I already covered this in an earlier series of posts. This caused an almost volcanic eruption both in government circles and with the public. Many were certain MacLennan had been murdered because he had seen too much in police files that would have incriminated many top people. This was Part 2 of the 5 part series I wrote almost 2 years ago about how this ended up changing Hong Kong for gay people for the better.

The important thing for gay people is that over the 1980s public opinion on scrapping the anti-sodomy law grew very considerably. When it became time for Britain and China to agree on a Hong Kong Bill of Rights in 1990, this finally swept away the ancient law. I can't say the floodgates opened, but I recall going to the first gay sauna the following year. It was located in Paterson Street near Food Street. Eventually the number increased and covered much of Hong Kong island and Kowloon. 

But Hong Kong never became like Bangkok or Pattaya. Gogo bars did not exist. Some bars opened, mostly quite small, and a number of saunas on both sides of the harbour. Anyone who visited around that time will remember arguably the most popular bar/dance club on the Island, Propaganda which changed its name after some years to Works. The biggest sauna on the Island was and remains Gateway in Wanchai (I seem to recall that its first name was GB, but am now not 100% sure). The smallest was and remains CE close to the Central Escalator just off Cochrane Street. Although tiny, it was usually a good place for westerners to meet young Chinese. It was my regular for a few years. I particularly recall one time meeting up with two tall, young, aggressively cute Chinese guys who had come to Hong Kong for a weekend of shopping and sex. We had a ball. Another visit I had a great time with a guy who worked for the Immigration Department and we became friends for a while. But weekdays were mostly hit or miss. Late afternoons at the week-end there were more patrons. On Kowloon, Hutong remains THE sauna to visit.

Re bars, in addition to FLM, there are a couple of other bars in the Sheung Wan district, but I have generally found these to me more Chinese for Chinese. Fun to visit, but hook-ups unlikely. Like many cities, in Hong Kong the apps have taken over with a lot of young Chinese guys happy to hook up with much older westerners.

[numerito]

8 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Like many cities, in Hong Kong the apps have taken over with a lot of young Chinese guys happy to hook up with much older westerners.

Totally agree. As an older western daddy, I attract young HK kids on Romeo like flies go to honey, and those are free hookups. I am a very happy camper in HK. 
 

Thanks for sharing your very informative report, @PeterRS, much appreciated. 

[hojacat]

On 4/5/2025 at 8:01 PM, PeterRS said:

There were a couple of gay bars - Dateline in a small street near Central on the Island and Waltzing Mathilda in Kowloon. But the police anti-gay squad kept a close watch on each. Dateline was accessed by a long staircase to the basement lit by a bright floodlight. At first I thought it was a kind gesture by the bar to ensure no-one slipped and fell. Only later did I realise that the cops had rented the flat opposite and photographed everyone going in and out! Waltzing Mathilda was known as a triad hangout and one of the barmen was a police informer. Soon after my arrival a gayish disco Disco Disco opened in the Lan Kwai Fong area and this became hugely popular. On each side of the harbour was at least one bath house which became known as semi-cruising spots.

I was just reading last week this book called "Out in the World: Gay and Lesbian Life from Buenos Aires to Bangkok" by Neil Miller where he covers different countries in 6 continents.

It's not really a travel guide but each reads more like a magazine report about gay life and community in each country. The book was published in 1992, so is definitely outdated but it contains some interesting historical information and descriptions.

Tbh, his chapter about HK has a bit of gloomy tone. He mentions the two establishments you quote: Disco Disco (who he claims that people just call it "the disco") and Waltzing Matilda (same as you he mentions the bar was of dubious character and that it attracts teenage gangs and their girlfriends). He also mentions another bar called the Dateline (and which is called just "the bar") around the corner of the Disco. According to him, the bar tends to be quite segregated between Chinese and Westerners. Here, he meets Julian Chan who he claims is the most important and probably the only gay activist in HK. He is the founder of the Ten Percent Club, the only gay club in HK. He mentions the same guy again when the author visits Bangkok for the Third Asian Lesbian and Gay Conference. A letter written by Julian informs the participants about the decriminalization of homosexuality in HK. The vote he says was 31-13. The chapter of HK ends with him visiting a public lavatory known as a gay cruise spot where he sees a guy he had a long conversation only 30 minutes before but who pretends not to know him. "If you want to understand gay life in HK, this is where you will find it" the author was told about public lavatories where gay man cruised and had sex.

On 4/5/2025 at 8:01 PM, PeterRS said:

Re bars, in addition to FLM, there are a couple of other bars in the Sheung Wan district, but I have generally found these to me more Chinese for Chinese. Fun to visit, but hook-ups unlikely. Like many cities, in Hong Kong the apps have taken over with a lot of young Chinese guys happy to hook up with much older westerners.

Yes, that's what I mention in my post but some of those bars might be worth checking like the one with free cocktail nights.

 

On 4/5/2025 at 8:01 PM, PeterRS said:

The biggest sauna on the Island was and remains Gateway in Wanchai (I seem to recall that its first name was GB, but am now not 100% sure). The smallest was and remains CE close to the Central Escalator just off Cochrane Street. Although tiny, it was usually a good place for westerners to meet young Chinese. It was my regular for a few years. I particularly recall one time meeting up with two tall, young, aggressively cute Chinese guys who had come to Hong Kong for a weekend of shopping and sex. We had a ball. Another visit I had a great time with a guy who worked for the Immigration Department and we became friends for a while. But weekdays were mostly hit or miss. Late afternoons at the week-end there were more patrons. On Kowloon, Hutong remains THE sauna to visit.

if anyone is interested about recent reviews of gay saunas in HK, they can read my older posts in here. I go in great details on what day and time to go and what's the main crowd on each of them My favorite remains Hutong.

[PeterRS]

5 hours ago, hojacat said:

I was just reading last week this book called "Out in the World: Gay and Lesbian Life from Buenos Aires to Bangkok" by Neil Miller where he covers different countries in 6 continents.

It's not really a travel guide but each reads more like a magazine report about gay life and community in each country. The book was published in 1992, so is definitely outdated but it contains some interesting historical information and descriptions.

Sounds quite an interesting book, but clearly it cannot always be completely accurate given the author's extremely broad canvas. The problems in finding gay activists in each country will also not have been easy, if only because of language difficulties, the lack of the internet, some would only be known to smallish local groups and it would be a monumental task to take into account all the historical issues that led to gay life having emerged as it did by 1992. 

5 hours ago, hojacat said:

Here, he meets Julian Chan who he claims is the most important and probably the only gay activist in HK. He is the founder of the Ten Percent Club, the only gay club in HK . . . "If you want to understand gay life in HK, this is where you will find it" the author was told about public lavatories where gay man cruised and had sex.

As I know from experience, Julian Chan was far from the only gay activist in Hong Kong and the Ten Percent Club was not a club as such. It was a group of gay men who had some form of group newsletter. The fact is there had been several activists both before and after Chan. One of the first was a British man who had arrived to run the small Arts Centre in late 1977. Neil Duncan passed away many years ago and so there is now no need to avoid using his name. Although himself married, he and one of his gay Chinese colleagues were one of the first ones active in openly discussing the anti-sodomy law and calling for gay rights - this at a time when gay activism was almost unknown. It did not make him popular with his establishment Board of Directors.

Soon a Chinese Xiao Ming-xiong, who wrote under the pen name Wu Xiaoming, after studying overseas, returned to Hong Kong and in 1980 wrote "A Chinese Gay's Manifesto". This was followed for some years by an underground newsletter titled the "Pink Triangle". While in the USA, he had read in the Library of Congress a book titled "The Secret History of Homosexuality" about gay life in China published in 1964. He believed the analysis of what made men gay was, as he wrote, "ridiculous". When he returned to Hong Kong he realised that many in the general Chinese community still regarded homosexuality as a foreign vice. He determined to start changing this attitude in his 1984 book in Chinese "A History of Homosexuality".

Before Neil left Hong Kong, the very public scandal over the death of Police Inspector John MacLennan in January 1980 had brought the gay issue on to the front page of all the news media. The fact that this led to major public enquiries kept the issue front and centre for several years, although nothing was done to change the law. What it did gradually do was change the perception of many in the 90+% Chinese community to gay men. From being a foreign vice, there came an understanding that China itself had had a rich gay history long before the arrival of foreigners.

Lastly, I had heard of the existence of some public lavatories as hang outs for gay sex. Yet the thought appals me, as public lavatories in Hong Kong in the 1980s were filthy, rarely cleaned and smelled of . . . I need go no further. Anyone seeking sex there must have been desperate. But then I suspect many were desperate as most younger working men men would be living with their families in tiny flats with nowhere to meet other guys. Thank goodness the times have changed.

[hojacat]

6 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Sounds quite an interesting book, but clearly it cannot always be completely accurate given the author's extremely broad canvas. The problems in finding gay activists in each country will also not have been easy, if only because of language difficulties, the lack of the internet, some would only be known to smallish local groups and it would be a monumental task to take into account all the historical issues that led to gay life having emerged as it did by 1992. 

Yeah, I just discovered it by chance on libgenesis. if anyone is interested reading the book they can message me directly and I can provide the link for downloading the book for free. I'm sure you and others who have lived those years would also find interesting the chapters about Thailand and Japan, the other two Asian countries he covers in that book. Personally I also found amusing his chapter about Montevideo, which is a city I plan to visit this August.

 

6 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Soon a Chinese Xiao Ming-xiong, who wrote under the pen name Wu Xiaoming, after studying overseas, returned to Hong Kong and in 1980 wrote "A Chinese Gay's Manifesto".

Was his English name Sam Sasha by any chance? The author mentions meeting this guy called by that name, who had studied at the University of Texas and in Germany and who had written a book called 25 questions about homosexuality and another one that was a compilation of Chinese historical documents about same-sex love, but never provides the name of the latter book.

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Anyone seeking sex there must have been desperate. But then I suspect many were desperate as most younger working men men would be living with their families in tiny flats with nowhere to meet other guys. Thank goodness the times have changed.

Yes and I think for the better. I belong to another generation so have known only the HK of the last 10 years but reading that book didn't match the impression of some people in here of how good the old times in HK were compared to nowadays. Honestly, I'm quite happy to be able to discover HK and other Asian cities during these times compared to 30-40, or I would say even 20 years ago.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, hojacat said:

Was his English name Sam Sasha by any chance?

I believe it was.

1 hour ago, hojacat said:

I belong to another generation so have known only the HK of the last 10 years but reading that book didn't match the impression of some people in here of how good the old times in HK were compared to nowadays. Honestly, I'm quite happy to be able to discover HK and other Asian cities during these times compared to 30-40, or I would say even 20 years ago.

Perhaps surprisingly, I had a great time in Hong Kong in spite of the law. Although there was not much of a gay scene as such, meeting up with cute Chinese gay guys was actually relatively easy. One of the locations my friends and I loved was one of the small beaches on the south side of the Island, Middle Bay. Apart from difficulties with parking, it was usually packed on weekends with lots of gorgeous guys almost all wearing slim fit trunks and with whom it was not difficult to chat. The large changing room was especially cruisy! Although not especially cruisy in the city areas, as long as your gaydar was working or you had some gay friends, finding other gay friends for hook-ups was not really difficult. But I felt sorry for most gay Chinese in low paying jobs for they really had a tough time.

And of course Hong Kong was a great centre for gay travel then. This was a time when a large number of Tokyo guys really wanted to meet foreigners. My first Asian sauna experience was in Tokyo. As I was entering the steam room, one tall, slim guy coming out was a well known photo book porn star! I loved my Tokyo trips and at one time I was flying for long week-ends every month. PanAm was still flying then and had paticularly cheap tickets. Hotels also were relatively inexpensive. Manila was an extremely popular destination for long sex crazy week-ends, and even cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had their own gay haunts.

In some ways I miss those days. It's like some posters talk about the apps and the bars today. They prefer to see the guys they might off in the flesh rather than rely on apps. In the 'old' days, that was really the only way to meet.

[PeterRS]

I notice the OP mentioned Macao. It's way too late to recommend anywhere, partly because the post was made last year and also because I never went to Macao for massage or sex. But since we've been talking about history, it used to be a perfect evening get-away from Hong Kong. Now the American mega casinos and the huge wealth they have created have spoiled it forever for me.

In the early 1980s it was just like a sleepy Mediterranean town with some lovely Chinese additions. Friends and I would take a jetfoil over around 5:30pm, get a taxi to the old fashioned Bela Vista hotel, enjoy drinks on the balcony while looking over to the island of Taipa before taking an ultra-cheap taxi to the outermost island of Coloanne for dinner, usually in open air restaurants like Fernando's or Pinocchio's. The food was great, inexpensive and Portuguese wine extremely cheap since it attracted no tax. It was the perfect antidote to ever-busy Hong Kong. A walk near the historic centre or along the Praia Grande before a taxi back to the jetfoil terminal ended perfectly lovely evenings.

The Bela Vista Hotel as it was being renovated in the early 1990s to become a Mandarin Oriental Hotel