Running through the heart of Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mongkok, Shanghai Street is an old thoroughfare that has seen brisk development since the mid-19th century, and it remains to be the embodiment of collective memories for many Hong Kongers as it is home to numerous long-standing shops. Dr Elizabeth Sinn, Honorary Associate Professor at the School of Humanities, The University of Hong Kong, talks to us about how this particular street reflects the social and economic development of the Yau Ma Tei district over the years.
Back in the earlier times when Hong Kong was open to trade, Yau Ma Tei was a shallow-water bay where fishermen gathered, and derived its name, in 1875, from the wood oil ('tung yau') and hemp rope ('ma lam') used and sold by the boat repair industry in the area. As an iconic street in Yau Ma Tei back in the days, Shanghai Street was formerly named Station Street, but was renamed by the colonial British government in 1909 to avoid confusion with the other Station Street in Mid-levels, Sheung Wan. An expansion project followed and resulted in a bustling thoroughfare. In case you're wondering why the colonial British government would name the streets of Hong Kong with names of Chinese cities or provinces, here is Dr Sinn's interpretation: "The common practice of naming streets with the names of places exists everywhere in the world, and it isn't all that surprising that the colonial British government named the streets of Hong Kong with the names of Chinese cities or provinces, while it also did with the names of cities or counties in England, such as York Road (Yorkshire County) and Durham Road (County Durham)."
Hundred-year-old Shops
Spanning from Austin Road in Jordan to Lai Chi Kok Road in Mongkok, the thriving scene of Shanghai Street back in the old days was similar to that of Nathan Road today. As the compulsory route for buses to Kowloon and the New Territories, Shanghai Street also has its two ends at the Mong Kok Ferry Pier and Jordan Road Ferry Pier, easily making it a land-sea trade hub and a trade settlement centre. Naturally enough, Shanghai Street was thriving with business since the 1920s, and soon it reached its prime time by the 1950s and 1960s, when it saw continuous traffic of cars and people along the street lined with colourful neon billboards and an overwhelming number of goldsmiths, fabric shops, and incense and religious goods stores. Also dotting the street were rice shops, pawn shops, watches shops, ironsmiths, shops that sell foreign goods imported from Suzhou and Hangzhou, traditional Chinese medicine shops, barbers, and grocery stores. Almost effortlessly, Shanghai Street has shone with an unparalleled personality and liveliness that has influenced the neighbouring Temple Street.
"With over 30 of the half-century-old stores still remaining, and time-honoured brands among them, Shanghai Street is worth a visit for a walk down memory lane." For starters, there is the 122-year-old Wo Shing Goldsmith, which has witnessed the drastic decrease of jewellers from dozens to just four standing today. The neighbouring Fung Moon Kee Embroidery, also one of the handful of hundred-year-old brands, was founded in Singapore over 100 years ago with its Hong Kong outpost opened in the 1930s – the shop has been selling tailored Chinese wedding dress, embroidery products and beddings for more than 80 years now. With over half a century's experience as the general manager of Fung Moon Kee Embroidery since he was 16, Lam Chi-yim is endearingly known as the walking encyclopaedia of Shanghai Street.
The shop called 'Honest Company's Costume Jewellery', meanwhile, used to be where people visited for reasonably priced, fake jewellery since it opened its doors in 1926. While the shop was shuttered as a result of poor business in 2010, its jewellery products are still sold at an electric shop on the same street – Honest Company even has its own Facebook page! And then there is Kang Mind Glass Shop, established by the Chan family in 1927. The shop's 90-year-old Grandma Chan became part of the Chan family's lineage when she was married into the family on the bride's sedan at the age of 20, and she has been bearing witness of the ups and downs of Yau Ma Tei since.
Community Icons
Time-honoured shops aside, Shanghai Street is also home to a myriad of community icons, and among the noteworthy is the Yau Ma Tei Theatre. Built in the 1930s to seat 300, the Yau Ma Tei Theatre is one of the few pre-WWII theatres still standing today. Only silent films were shown in the theatre prior to 1935, until sound film became commercially practical, and by the 1960s the theatre, in its heyday, was showing popular films produced by Shaw Brothers Studio. When the theatre closed in 1998, it was classified by the government as a Grade II historical monument, and together with the adjacent Red Brick Building, received a facelift in 2009 to become a Cantonese Opera venue for appreciation, practice and rehearsal purposes.
While you're at it, remember to stop by the decades-old Chun Wo Tong herbal tea shop for a bowl of cooling, nourishing and thirst-quenching herbal tea as you bask in the nostalgic ambiance of the old herbal tea shop. At sundown, be sure to visit Temple Street, adjacent to Shanghai Street, where you will be thoroughly entertained by the street stalls selling all kinds of things, and the 'poor man's night club', where folk songs are sung throughout the night.
Linger in Nostalgia
When it comes to learning about old Hong Kong through Shanghai Street, Dr Sinn has a few words of advice. "There's no better way to understand a place than talking to the people who work and live in the area, and hear all the tales they have to tell. Alternatively, read up reference books, old literature and old newspaper at the library, or sign up for a guided tour organised by the community." Meanwhile, you may also visit the 'Hong Kong Memory' website (www.hkmemory.hk) and learn from the oral accounts of the city's history to understand and pass on the local Hong Kong culture!