Hong Kong Stories – Amusing Moment

Old Hong Kong

STORIES ABOUT HONG KONG

Old Theatres

老劇院

From the 1960s to early 1980s, Hong Kong’s cinemas faced its splendor age making the movie industry formerly prominent in Hong Kong. Major majestic and grand cinemas such as Palace Disco, Lee Theatre, Empire Theatre (formerly called State Theatre) and Tai Ping Theatre were flourishing.

It is estimated that there were approximately 120 cinemas during the golden age. Cinemas were gigantic with 500 - 600 seats in common. It was also easy to find cinemas with more than a thousand seats classified into front stall, middle stall, back stall while superior and premier class were mostly located on the second or third floor. Standard tickets ranged from 50 cents to 2 dollars. Nevertheless, grassroots citizens’ wages were around 200-300 dollars.

Old Theatres

Standard tickets ranged from 50 cents to 2 dollars. Nevertheless, grassroots citizens’ wages were around 200-300 dollars.

A weighing scale was featured at each cinema foyer of the past. Charged for 1 to 2 cents, the machine imprinted your weight with a pop star’s photo or bilingual idioms onto a card. Furthermore, major cinemas usually separated ticketing of low-cost seats (front and middle stalls) to outside of cinema foyer and high-cost seats (back stall and superior class) to avoid crowded queuing.

&nbsp從70年代末開始，香港電影院開始了午夜放映和黎明放映。午夜放映通常在凌晨 12:00 開始，而黎明放映則在凌晨 1:30 開始。雖然兩場演出都在深夜進行，但性質和目的不同。午夜放映不限，多用於開播前“試水”觀眾反響，而黎明放映則作為聖誕節、農曆新年等節日的“專場”。

A weighing scale was featured at each cinema foyer of the past. Charged for 1 to 2 cents, the machine imprinted your weight with a pop star’s photo or bilingual idioms onto a card.

Furthermore, major cinemas usually separated ticketing of low-cost seats (front and middle stalls) to outside of cinema foyer and high-cost seats (back stall and superior class) to avoid crowded queuing.

From the late 1970s, Hong Kong cinemas started midnight screening and dawn screening. Midnight screening often commenced at 12:00 am while dawn screening at 1:30 am. Although both shows were at late nights, their natures and purposes were different. The midnight screening, no limitation, was mostly used to “test the water” for audiences’ response before launch while the dawn screening served as “special shows“ during festivals of Christmas and Lunar New Year.

Watching movies was a remarkable entertainment for HongKongers in the past. Whenever big films were on show, there was a full house in each cinema.

Ticket sales in cinemas were processed manually. Audiences selected seats on paper through a window while staff marked the seats by a color marker with seating numbers.

Hong Kong Tram

Hong Kong Tram commenced its services in 1904 and has had a history of nearly two centuries. What’s more, Hong Kong Tram was certified by Guinness World Record as “The Largest Serving Double-deck Tram Team”.

In the early 20th century, contemporary transportation was horse-drawn carriages and rickshaws only. When the tram arised, it alleviated the traffic demand due to the growth of Hong Kong population.

The first batch of its bodywork was made in England. Once its body components arrived in Hong Kong, they would be assembled in a local factory. All these first-generation trams were in single-deck design. To cope with increasing patronage, Hong Kong Tramways decided to introduce double-deck trams with uncovered upper deck and park benches. First Class was divided by upper deck and one-third of lower deck, the remaining seats would be Third Class.

There were difficulties during the initial operation of the trams. First, pedestrians did not realize that the trams were only along the track. Therefore, it has not been allowed to bypass the trams. Some pedestrians, who were curious about the trams, flocked into the tram stop and visited the tram once it stopped and caused disturbance to the passengers.

Besides, coolies found it easier to move a handcart with a large amount of cargo along the track than an uneven pavement. It caused a serious burden to trams. Consequently, the Government legislated to prohibit illegal use of tram tracks in 1911. Offenders were liable to a fine of $20 or imprisonment of one month.

After the Second World War, trams had not only been regarded as obsolete transportation, but also considered inconveniencing other vehicles and using up road areas. As a result, all countries removed tram railways and abandoned trams after the war.

This trend forced numerous tram manufacturers to be closed, acquired or transformed. Eventually, Hong Kong Tramways could no longer obtain existing components due to the lack of manufacture. However, Hong Kong Tramways did not opt out. Instead, they collaborated with local companies to design and produce discontinued components. Accordingly, both chassis and body were designed and made in Hong Kong for all new trams since the 1960s.

Continuous improvement in over one century made trams sustainable in Hong Kong with its function and security. With the iconic sound of “Ding Ding”, trams witnessed Hong Kong’s transformation with its history. Trams are undoubtedly one of the classics of Hongkongers.

Dai Pai Dong

Dai Pai Dong has been regarded as a street cooked food stall. It was a main catering place for Hongkongers from the 1950s to the 1970s. The rapid economic growth enjoyed by Hong Kong gradually changed the urban livelihood. Hongkongers started to eat out. Dai Pai Dong was renowned for its competitive price and countless food choices. Therefore, customers tended to ignore the lack of air-conditioner and roof. Yet with a number of factors including poor sanitation, inconvenience to vehicular or pedestrian traffic and social development, the Government constantly enforced specifications with Dai Pai Dong. Today, as a part of Hong Kong Culture, very few Dai Pai Dong remain.

During the post-Second World War, the Hong Kong government combined licenses of fixed hawker and cooked food stalls into one. Every successful hawker must locate the license which was a large paper with information of licensee and stall to conspicuous places. As a result, these street cooked food stalls were recognised as “Dai Pai Dong”.

Still, starting from the 1970s, the Government introduced Ten-Year Housing Plan and focused on rationalizing the city. The licenses of operating Dai Pai Dong were either terminated or withdrawn.

Subsequently. Dai Pai Dong moved indoors. The Government further tightened the policies, for instance, the next generation of former licensee and spouse could not be successors for the old licenses. Eventually, street Dai Pai Dong disappeared one by one while a lot of them began to operate as “Cha Chanan Teng” and dominate the market.

Neon Lights

Neon lights originated from Western Culture. From the identity of post-colonial Hong Kong, the public reached and localized this external technique with Hong Kong’s characteristics. In early years, the Government did not deliberately regulate “shophouse” in Hong Kong.

Merchants, from upper floors of tenement buildings, decorated walls with sparkling neon lights of all shapes and sizes and extending to roads. These resulted in the well-known resplendent and spectacular night view in Hong Kong.

As time evolved, community redevelopment and cheaper alternatives such as LED night appeared in the market. Hong Kong neon lights were no longer manufactured by large-scale factory production, but handmade art by a few craftsmen. Juxtaposed with the prosperity from the 1960s to 1980s in Hong Kong, neon lights can no longer be found everywhere. We sincerely hope that visitors to Amusing Moment Selfie Studio can experience the view with neon light of old Hong Kong again.

For more than one century, the flickering neon lights lit up the sky of night view and contributed to the unique streetscape in Hong Kong. Earlier in the 1920s, many businessmen in town began to install types of neon lights and engaged customers with those sparkles. Until the Second World War, neon signs were further glorified with their charm in Hong Kong. Back in the days, lots of factories and shops competed to produce beautiful and delicate glass lamps which also contributed to the Hong Kong resplendent night view.

Ice-cream motor bike

In the 1950s and 1960s, licenses of itinerant hawker made ice-cream motorcycles flourished in Hong Kong. There were up to 300 ice-cream motorcycles in the peak period. Most hawkers departed their ice-cream motorcycles near the exits of schools and parks, therefore they were beloved by children and students.

Ice-cream Motorcycles

Apart from selling frozen confectionery such as ice-cream cups and ice-cream cones, hawkers with ice-cream motorcycles also provided snacks including potato chips, sweets and traditional pickled fruits.

Nevertheless, in the late 1970s, the Government officially stopped issuing the licenses of itinerant hawkers and introduced “Voluntary Surrender Scheme for Itinerant Hawker Licenses” in 2002. Consequently, it is hard to discover ice-cream motorcycles in the street.

Marital Clubs

As a consequence of insecurity, social instability with inadequate material and entertainment, martial clubs became a special scenery of old Hong Kong from the 1960s of the last century. It was easy to take its place regardless of Southern styles such as Hong, Liu, Cai, Li, Mo or Northern styles such as Xing Yi, Ba Ji, Tai Ji. The night scene of masters eating congee has been a collective memory of Hongkongers. Yet, nearly one-third of marital clubs were related to gangs and excluded from the Government and society. In the late 1970s, Hong Kong marital clubs faced a downward trend. Nothing lasts forever. Since the 1980s, sports activities such as football and basketball took priority over martial arts.

Martial Club

Martial clubs were common spaces for Hong Kong masters to earn a living. With both medical and entertaining functions involved, generally apprentices worked during the day while masters took care of healthcare and bone-setting. Located in the residential area of the city, the roofs of martial clubs were a recognized characteristic in early years of Hong Kong. From the 1960s to 1970s, it was the splendor age of Hong Kong Marital Clubs. Over 418 martial clubs aimed to pass on the Chinese martial arts.

The rise of Kung Fu was accompanied by times change and society advances. In the 1970s, Kung Fu films featuring Bruce Lee swept the world and spread its charm to Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan by Hong Kong-produced films. Hundreds of films were on the topic of Huang Fei Hung.

After Bruce Lee (1940-1973) passed away, martial arts became substantially different in Hong Kong. Mr. Zeng Zhao Yu, a master from Cai Li Fo, said the closure of martial clubs would be continued in an interview as of May 1976. According to government statistics, there were 405 martial clubs in Hong Kong as of 1974. Only fourteen of them passed other martial arts on to others.

In the mid-1970s, additional East Asia martial arts including Judo, Karate, Taekwondo and Aikido got familiar with Hongkongers. Traditional martial arts were no longer a must for Hongkonger and subsequently martial clubs declined.

Herbal Tea Shop

After the Second World War, the wages and living standards of the general public were not high in a sluggish economy. Therefore, it was not easy to consume high-value entertainment such as radios and televisions. The public then tended to visit the Chinese herbal tea shops because of its affordability.

Herbal Tea Shops

Chinese Herbal Tea Shops installed radios and televisions for their customers. Customers spent only one or two cents on a bowl of Chinese herbal tea and they could listen to radios or Yuet Kuk in a special radio program. It was also a good way to spend time chatting with their neighbors and friends. Chinese Herbal Tea Shops were once popular entertainment in public. In the most prevailing time, there were three to four Chinese Herbal Tea shops around a street in common.

In 2006, the Chinese herbal tea was the first batch to be listed in National Intangible Cultural Heritage and its development was close to Hong Kong History. Western pharmacies were not publicly available with its high price and traditional factors in the earlier time of Hong Kong. The phenomenon caused Chinese pharmacy to dominate Hong Kong society.

At the moment, the Chinese developed different formulas of the Chinese herbal tea by their basic Chinese medicine knowledge and public wisdoms for the use of the underprivileged healthcare. Lots of Chinese herbal tea shops were family-owned and passed to their next generations. As of its affordable price, the public prioritized the Chinese herbal teas for common illnesses.

After the 1970s, Hongkongers’ living standard has had relatively improved under the rapid economic growth of Hong Kong. Chinese Herbal Tea Shops gradually lost their glamor as a civilian entertainment. The public could watch television and listen to music at home while they were financially capable of consuming in Cha Chanan Teng, restaurants and fast food shops. Eventually, Chinese Herbal Tea Shops were less appealing to Hongkongers.

Moreover, Mr. Murray MacLehose, the Former Governor of Hong Kong, carried out healthcare reform so as to greatly improve the public western pharmaceutical services. Western pharmacies have become pervasive. Generally, people were willing to have the treatment with western medicine while Chinese herbal tea remained as a supplement and faced its decline. Today, only a few reputed herbal tea shops made efforts to conserve the Chinese herbal tea.

Barber Shop

From the 1950s to 1960s, Barbers in Shanghai and Zhejiang relocated southward to Hong Kong. Shanghai barber shops delivered a one-stop hair solution that combined shampoo, haircut, shave and ear pick by one master. Integrated with Hong Kong Culture and Shanghai Hair-dressing, Shanghai barber shops were favored with their meticulous services in Hong Kong.

Regrettably, Shanghai barber shops, with more than half a century of history, were not able to against hair chains and new hair salons. The old time of Shanghai barber shops freely competing with each other faded out.