Ecological Characters of Hong Kong Foodways

Since the 1950s, foodways in Hong Kong became enormously diversified regarding the improvement of living standards with the increase in its economic achievements. Throughout the late 1970s, the increase of overseas tourism heightened the demand for choice by local residents and for increased variety in distinctive modern city lifestyles; likewise, this new wealth increased expectations for more delicate, exotic and refined foods in the local diets; the demand for a higher quality of life can be seen through the emergence of nouvelle Cantonese cuisine, which combines exotic taste, expensive ingredients and Western catering. Since the emergence of nouvelle Cantonese cuisine, different foods, such as American fast food chains, French fine dining, Italian pasta, Japanese sushi, Korean barbeque, Thai spicy food, Vietnamese and other regional cuisines of China, continue to arrive and significantly influence Hong Kong society, cuisine and foodways. Starting from the late 1990s, however, among new developments in local food trends, different versions of “country-style cooking,” with an emphasis on local, domestic and traditional culinary skills, have emerged as the most popular of Hong Kong’s cuisines.