Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

Entrance of the Foreign Correspondents' Club on Lower Albert Road.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) in Hong Kong is a members-only club and meeting place for the media, business and diplomatic community. It is located at 2 Lower Albert Road in Central, next to the Hong Kong Fringe Club, and they both occupy the Old Dairy Farm Depot at the top of Ice House Street, one of the few remaining colonial buildings in the Central district.

History

One of the buildings having historically housed the Foreign Correspondents' Club was located at 41A Conduit Road. It was portrayed as a hospital in the 1955 film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing. The building was demolished in the late 1960s.

The Club was founded in Chongqing in 1943 and moved to Hong Kong (from Shanghai), where it was set up on 23 June or 25 June 1949.[1] The Club has been located in several buildings since its inception in Hong Kong.[2] It has occupied the North Block of the Old Dairy Farm Depot since 1982.[3]

Membership

The FCC has the following membership categories:

The membership of the FCC (which totals over 1800) includes reporters, photographers and radio and television teams, the chief executive of Hong Kong 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 former chief executive Sir Donald Tsang, former Chief Secretary Mrs Anson Chan and last Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Christopher Patten.

Features

Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong.

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, steam room and Jacuzzi.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club turns 60"
  2. ↑ Foreign Correspondents' Club – History
  3. ↑ Brief Information on Proposed Grade 1 Items. Item #68.
  4. ↑ F.C.C Facilities – Main Bar
  5. ↑ "Hong Kong as City/Imaginary in The World of Suzie Wong, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and Chinese Box", by Thomas Y. T. Luk, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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Coordinates: 22°16′49.1″N 114°9′21.5″E / 22.280306°N 114.155972°E / 22.280306; 114.155972

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