The sixth edition of the Prestigious Asia Boating Awards will be hosted this year at the Hong Kong Gold Coast Yacht and Country Club.

For the first time ever, the Asia Boating Awards, the top event of the yachting calendar in Asia, will be staged in Hong Kong at the upcoming Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show on May 8, 2010.

Organised by Asia-Pacific Boating and China Boating magazines, the awards recognise the best yachts globally as well as top Asia-based yacht builders, Asia-based regattas, Asian marinas and yacht clubs, best maritime city in Asia and Asia’s top yachting personality.

This is the sixth edition of the Asia Boating Awards, having being staged in Singapore and Bangkok with the last two editions taking place in Shanghai.

China is expected to be the world’s seventh largest wine consumer by 2013 as the nation’s thirst for vintages continues to grow amid an economic boom.

The country will consume around 1.26 billion bottles of wine in 2013, an increase of about 32 percent from 2009, according to findings of Vinexpo, organiser of one of the world’s largest wine and spirits exhibitions.

China was the eighth largest wine consumer last year, behind leader Italy, France and the United States in the top three spots.

Petra Diamonds Limited announced that the 507 carat Cullinan Heritage sold for US $35.3 million, the highest sale price on record for a rough diamond.

The diamond was sold on tender in South Africa and was purchased by Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company .

The Cullinan Heritage was recovered in September 2009 from Petra’s Cullinan mine in South Africa.

At 507.5 carats it is the nineteenth largest gem diamond ever discovered.

A company run by Hong Kong‘s best-known entertainment mogul has paid a record 108 million US dollars for a shop in one of the busiest districts.

The sale of the 1,212 square foot outlet comes as the city’s government tries to contain soaring property costs due to fears they are getting out of control.

The price works out to about $90,000 per square foot, making it the city’s most expensive retail space, the South China Morning Post reported.

A ring with a pink diamond the size of a chickpea was auctioned off for a record HK$83.5 million ($10.8 million) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

“Vivid Pink,” as it’s called, is a five-carat stone flanked by two white diamonds and set in a ring by elite jeweler Graff. It hails from a private collection.

The so-called fancy-vivid stone broke the per-carat record for a diamond established in May.

Michelin has added a cheap restaurant category to its new Hong Kong and Macau guide unveiled Thursday, after critics accused the culinary bible of ignoring the cities’ food-stall culture.

Twenty-nine “simple shop” restaurants received star ratings in the guide’s second edition, with its highest three-star rating awarded to a pair of French restaurants and one Chinese in Hong Kong and another in nearby Macau.