STATION PICTURES SHOWCASE LIVELY
HONG KONG NEIGHBOURHOOD
Underground
Culture
COLIN SIMPSON
ONE of the simple pleasures of travelling is coming across something you wouldn’t make a special trip to see, but which is nevertheless a delight. The painted bas-relief panels at Exit B of the Sai Ying Pun underground station in Hong Kong are an example. They capture perfectly the traditional character of the surrounding district with its lively shops, market and small businesses.
It’s good to see these elements of local life, and the people who frequent them, being honoured in this way. For some years Sai Ying Pun – on the Western side of Hong Kong Island – has been changing. The arrival of the MTR railway in 2015 and the ascent of gleaming residential towers have attracted increasing numbers of expats as well as investors from the Chinese mainland. Smart new restaurants and trendy bars such as a branch of Bali’s Potato Head and the Ping Pong 129 gin joint have opened. But all this has failed to sweep away the area’s messy, grubby charm, something Hong Kong does so well.
There are more conventional ventures such as car repair operations squeezed into shop units, plus tea shops and hairdressers. The large market sells meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Sai Ying Pun, originally a British Army camp, stretches up a steep slope – a series of escalators makes this easier to ascend. It has a number of parallel roads named, in strict military manner, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Eastern Street, Western Street etc.
The elevators on Central Street can be seen in this panel, alongside a view of De Voeux Road West. The panels were painted at different times of year – the elevator one at Christmas, and the tram one in the run-up to Chinese New Year, when homes and businesses are decorated with potted orange trees.
Another panel (top left) shows the clearup operation after a typhoon strike.
Most morning commuters barely notice the panels as they rush past on their way to their offices in Central District, just two stops and a few minutes away on the metro. Yet it’s worth stopping and looking at them closely.
You notice engaging details – a lady grimacing in the mirror as a hairdresser stretches her long hair, an old woman eating noodles, a tourist taking a photo from the top deck of a tram. Children are often intrigued by the colourful panels, reaching out to touch items on one that depicts a fruit stall.
There are also sleeping dogs – always best left alone – and a pair of Hong Kong shop cats.
The round objects in the shop are leaves of tea, you break a bit off to make a brew.
Sue and I lived in Sai Ying Pun for three years, and often passed this shoe stall in a narrow lane opposite our building. When we used the metro we never failed to stop for a moment and admire the reliefs.
Other examples of Chan’s work can be seen in the station – large collages of black-and-white sketches showing further street scenes.
There are also floor-to-ceiling collages of monochrome photos by 30 young people led by photographer and artist Tse Ming-chong. This project, titled “Street Scenes of Sai Ying Pun”, was intended to document the changes taking place and create an “archive of memories” for the community.
The station art continues as you travel up in the escalators that take you to the street. A project called “Tribute to Traditional Shops” features some of the unusual stores in the neighbourhood. One of them is the Tuck Chong Sum Kee Bamboo Steamer Co. Bamboo steamers used to cook dim sum dumplings are hand-made here.
There used to be many workshops like this in Hong Kong, but this is the only one remaining in the city that hand crafts steamers and other cookware. Most of the ones you sea in Cantonese restaurants are mass produced in China.
Leave the elevator, make your way out of the station to the street and you’re immediately plunged into the scenes depicted so vividly in the panels and collages.
A funerary goods store. Items on sale include paper shoes, ghetto blasters, spectacles, mobile phones, handbags, guns, vitamin bottles, iPads, model cars, seafood, and even a replica of a 7-Eleven convenience store, as seen all over Hong Kong.
MORE INFO
THE Sai Ying Pun works are part of an initiative called “Art in MTR”, which involves the installation of pieces on station concourses and platforms across Hong Kong – READ MORE. Chan’s Sai Ying Pun panels are featured in a poster campaign (above) promoting the project. Sai Ying Pun Station is on the MTR’s Island Line, which crosses Hong Kong Island from east to west.
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THE MUCH-LOVED HONG KONG MUSEUM OF ART has finally reopened after a massive four-year refurbishment – and it’s a triumph. READ MORE
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Disclosure: Afaranwide is an affiliate of leading travel operators such as Booking.com and Japan Rail Pass. If you purchase through our site we receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission. We only work with companies we have used and recommend.
LET'S KEEP IN TOUCH!
STATION PICTURES SHOWCASE LIVELY
HONG KONG NEIGHBOURHOOD
Underground
Culture
COLIN SIMPSON
ONE of the simple pleasures of travelling is coming across something you wouldn’t make a special trip to see, but which is nevertheless a delight. The painted bas-relief panels at Exit B of the Sai Ying Pun underground station in Hong Kong are an example. They capture perfectly the traditional character of the surrounding district with its lively shops, market and small businesses.
It’s good to see these elements of local life, and the people who frequent them, being honoured in this way. For some years Sai Ying Pun – on the Western side of Hong Kong Island – has been changing. The arrival of the MTR railway in 2015 and the ascent of gleaming residential towers have attracted increasing numbers of expats as well as investors from the Chinese mainland. Smart new restaurants and trendy bars such as a branch of Bali’s Potato Head and the Ping Pong 129 gin joint have opened. But all this has failed to sweep away the area’s messy, grubby charm, something Hong Kong does so well.
There are more conventional ventures such as car repair operations squeezed into shop units, plus tea shops and hairdressers. The large market sells meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Sai Ying Pun, originally a British Army camp, stretches up a steep slope – a series of escalators makes this easier to ascend. It has a number of parallel roads named, in strict military manner, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Eastern Street, Western Street etc.
The elevators on Central Street can be seen in this panel, alongside a view of De Voeux Road West. The panels were painted at different times of year – the elevator one at Christmas, and the tram one in the run-up to Chinese New Year, when homes and businesses are decorated with potted orange trees.
Another panel (top left) shows the clearup operation after a typhoon strike.
Most morning commuters barely notice the panels as they rush past on their way to their offices in Central District, just two stops and a few minutes away on the metro. Yet it’s worth stopping and looking at them closely.
You notice engaging details – a lady grimacing in the mirror as a hairdresser stretches her long hair, an old woman eating noodles, a tourist taking a photo from the top deck of a tram. Children are often intrigued by the colourful panels, reaching out to touch items on one that depicts a fruit stall.
The round objects in the shop are leaves of tea, you break a bit off to make a brew. Sue and I lived in Sai Ying Pun for three years, and often passed this shoe stall in a narrow lane opposite our building. When we used the metro we never failed to stop for a moment and admire the reliefs.
Other examples of Chan’s work can be seen in the station – large collages of black-and-white sketches showing further street scenes.
There are also floor-to-ceiling collages of monochrome photos by 30 young people led by photographer and artist Tse Ming-chong. This project, titled “Street Scenes of Sai Ying Pun”, was intended to document the changes taking place and create an “archive of memories” for the community.
The station art continues as you travel up in the escalators that take you to the street. A project called “Tribute to Traditional Shops” features some of the unusual stores in the neighbourhood. One of them is the Tuck Chong Sum Kee Bamboo Steamer Co. Bamboo steamers used to cook dim sum dumplings are hand-made here.
There used to be many workshops like this in Hong Kong, but this is the only one remaining in the city that hand crafts steamers and other cookware. Most of the ones you sea in Cantonese restaurants are mass produced in China.
Leave the elevator, make your way out of the station to the street and you’re immediately plunged into the scenes depicted so vividly in the panels and collages.
A funerary goods store. Items on sale include paper shoes, ghetto blasters, spectacles, mobile phones, handbags, guns, vitamin bottles, iPads, model cars, seafood, and even a replica of a 7-Eleven convenience store, as seen all over Hong Kong.
There are said to be around 200 dried seafood shops in the area, selling a vast range of items.
October 2020
MORE INFO
THE Sai Ying Pun works are part of an initiative called “Art in MTR”, which involves the installation of pieces on station concourses and platforms across Hong Kong – READ MORE. Chan’s Sai Ying Pun panels are featured in a poster campaign (above) promoting the project. Sai Ying Pun Station is on the MTR’s Island Line, which crosses Hong Kong Island from east to west.
RELATED
TIM HO WAN CUT-PRICE MICHELIN MEAL: Michelin-starred eating often ends with an eye-watering bill – but not at this Hong Kong chain. READ MORE
THE MUCH-LOVED HONG KONG MUSEUM OF ART has finally reopened after a massive four-year refurbishment – and it’s a triumph. READ MORE
SCHOOLKIDS’ JOURNEYS: This blog is all about travel, and I was lucky enough to be invited to an exhibition with The Journey: An Exploration of Art as its theme… READ MORE
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TEN THINGS WE LEARNED: Our detailed guide to creating a website, one step at a time. The costs, the mistakes – it’s what we wish we’d known when we started blogging. READ MORE
SHIMLA, QUEEN OF THE HILLS: Government officials once retreated to Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas to escape India’s blazing hot summers. Now tourists make the same journey. READ MORE
TROUBLED TIMES FOR EXPATS: Moving abroad can seem an idyllic prospect, but what happens when sudden upheavals or the inescapable realities of life intrude? READ MORE
Disclosure: Afaranwide is an affiliate of leading travel operators such as Booking.com and Japan Rail Pass. If you purchase through our site we receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission. We only work with companies we have used and recommend.
LET'S KEEP IN TOUCH!
STATION PICTURES SHOWCASE LIVELY
HONG KONG NEIGHBOURHOOD
Underground
Culture
COLIN SIMPSON
ONE of the simple pleasures of travelling is coming across something you wouldn’t make a special trip to see, but which is nevertheless a delight. The painted bas-relief panels at Exit B of the Sai Ying Pun underground station in Hong Kong are an example. They capture perfectly the traditional character of the surrounding district with its lively shops, market and small businesses.
It’s good to see these elements of local life, and the people who frequent them, being honoured in this way. For some years Sai Ying Pun – on the Western side of Hong Kong Island – has been changing. The arrival of the MTR railway in 2015 and the ascent of gleaming residential towers have attracted increasing numbers of expats as well as investors from the Chinese mainland. Smart new restaurants and trendy bars such as a branch of Bali’s Potato Head and the Ping Pong 129 gin joint have opened. But all this has failed to sweep away the area’s messy, grubby charm, something Hong Kong does so well.
There are more conventional ventures such as car repair operations squeezed into shop units, plus tea shops and hairdressers. The large market sells meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Sai Ying Pun, originally a British Army camp, stretches up a steep slope – a series of escalators makes this easier to ascend. It has a number of parallel roads named, in strict military manner, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Eastern Street, Western Street etc.
The elevators on Central Street can be seen in this panel, alongside a view of De Voeux Road West. The panels were painted at different times of year – the elevator one at Christmas, and the tram one in the run-up to Chinese New Year, when homes and businesses are decorated with potted orange trees.
Another panel (top left) shows the clearup operation after a typhoon strike.
Most morning commuters barely notice the panels as they rush past on their way to their offices in Central District, just two stops and a few minutes away on the metro. Yet it’s worth stopping and looking at them closely.
You notice engaging details – a lady grimacing in the mirror as a hairdresser stretches her long hair, an old woman eating noodles, a tourist taking a photo from the top deck of a tram. Children are often intrigued by the colourful panels, reaching out to touch items on one that depicts a fruit stall.
The round objects in the shop are leaves of tea, you break a bit off to make a brew. Sue and I lived in Sai Ying Pun for three years, and often passed this shoe stall in a narrow lane opposite our building. When we used the metro we never failed to stop for a moment and admire the reliefs.
Other examples of Chan’s work can be seen in the station – large collages of black-and-white sketches showing further street scenes.
There are also floor-to-ceiling collages of monochrome photos by 30 young people led by photographer and artist Tse Ming-chong. This project, titled “Street Scenes of Sai Ying Pun”, was intended to document the changes taking place and create an “archive of memories” for the community.
The station art continues as you travel up in the escalators that take you to the street. A project called “Tribute to Traditional Shops” features some of the unusual stores in the neighbourhood. One of them is the Tuck Chong Sum Kee Bamboo Steamer Co. Bamboo steamers used to cook dim sum dumplings are hand-made here.
There used to be many workshops like this in Hong Kong, but this is the only one remaining in the city that hand crafts steamers and other cookware. Most of the ones you sea in Cantonese restaurants are mass produced in China.
Leave the elevator, make your way out of the station to the street and you’re immediately plunged into the scenes depicted so vividly in the panels and collages.
A funerary goods store. Items on sale include paper shoes, ghetto blasters, spectacles, mobile phones, handbags, guns, vitamin bottles, iPads, model cars, seafood, and even a replica of a 7-Eleven convenience store, as seen all over Hong Kong.
There are said to be around 200 dried seafood shops in the area, selling a vast range of items.
October 2020
MORE INFO
THE Sai Ying Pun works are part of an initiative called “Art in MTR”, which involves the installation of pieces on station concourses and platforms across Hong Kong – READ MORE. Chan’s Sai Ying Pun panels are featured in a poster campaign (above) promoting the project. Sai Ying Pun Station is on the MTR’s Island Line, which crosses Hong Kong Island from east to west.
RELATED
TIM HO WAN CUT-PRICE MICHELIN MEAL: Michelin-starred eating often ends with an eye-watering bill – but not at this Hong Kong chain. READ MORE
THE MUCH-LOVED HONG KONG MUSEUM OF ART has finally reopened after a massive four-year refurbishment – and it’s a triumph. READ MORE
SCHOOLKIDS’ JOURNEYS: This blog is all about travel, and I was lucky enough to be invited to an exhibition with The Journey: An Exploration of Art as its theme… READ MORE
RECOMMENDED
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD! Afaranwide’s home page – this is where you can find out about our latest posts and other highlights. READ MORE
TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS: Many of the world’s most popular tourists sites are closed because of the coronavirus crisis, but you can still visit them virtually while you’re self-isolating. READ MORE
TEN THINGS WE LEARNED: Our detailed guide to creating a website, one step at a time. The costs, the mistakes – it’s what we wish we’d known when we started blogging. READ MORE
SHIMLA, QUEEN OF THE HILLS: Government officials once retreated to Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas to escape India’s blazing hot summers. Now tourists make the same journey. READ MORE
TROUBLED TIMES FOR EXPATS: Moving abroad can seem an idyllic prospect, but what happens when sudden upheavals or the inescapable realities of life intrude? READ MORE
Disclosure: Afaranwide is an affiliate of leading travel operators such as Booking.com and Japan Rail Pass. If you purchase through our site we receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission. We only work with companies we have used and recommend.
Wow!! Just an amazing post.. Such beautiful street art. Shared with a few friends as well who are into this stuff. Thanks for sharing!
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