The Regent Hong Kong was rated No. 2, the city's Peninsula No. 3, the Oriental in Bangkok No. 4, Hong Kong's Island Shangri-La No. 6 and its sister property in Bangkok No. 8. (The No. 1 spot went to the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans).

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Travel Watch

The Manhattan restaurant serves up Asian-influenced cuisine, but in Hong Kong, Restaurant Petrus at Island Shangri-La specializes in French fare.

FORBES: 10 Top Tables With A View

The better restaurants that are located in the public areas of their respective airports, such as Hong Kong's Hung's Delicacies and La Moraga in Malaga, Spain, have become magnets for non-traveling locals, achieving the hitherto unthinkable by turning the airport into a foodie destination.

CNN: Air fare: The world's best airport restaurants

Nevertheless, the last four pandemics - the Spanish Flu that began in 1918, the Asian Flu of 1957, the Hong Kong Flu of 1958 and the swine flu of 2009 - were all preceded by periods of La Nina conditions.

BBC: La Nina 'linked' to flu pandemics

The screening schedule for February includes the screwball comedy 92 The Legendary la Rose Noire (1992), which offers a farcical look ahead to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain back to China.

BBC: The 100 must-see Hong Kong films