In September, Hong Kong also welcomed a pair of 5-year-old pandas that were sent by Beijing, giving it the largest population of giant pandas outside mainland China.

Since 2017, William Sargent, a police-approved snake expert, has been running nocturnal so-called “Snake Safaris” through the verdant, biodiverse terrains of Hong Kong.

Another piece was jointly commissioned by M+, Hong Kong’s contemporary art museum, and Art Basel Hong Kong. That work, a new black-and-white film by the Chinese artist and filmmaker Yang Fudong ...