Percival Street - Now and Then

One more from the Times Square vicinity as I compare Percival Street from 1956 to 2026 - a nice round 70 year difference. The older images are from Flight to Hong Kong and the camera is located on Percival Street looking up Matheson Street (in the initial image) and then moving slightly left to look up Percival Street (lower images).

In the older, top image you can see the relatively empty space to the right of the tram which is where the old tram depot was located. Today's view shows how the Times Square development now occupies it. Although the roads and surrounding buildings occupy the same spaces they did 70 years ago.

Moving the camera slightly to the left and we are now looking south along Percival Street. The buildings that occupy the block between Percival and Matheson Streets are not the same ones from 70 years ago but, as is often the case with buildings in Hong Kong, the footprint remains the same even if the modern buildings are much taller. Actually, the building that currently occupies that angled corner plot in the foreground is called Percival House and it was constructed in 1959, so the earlier building seen in the older image didn't have long to go before it was replaced.

There are two buildings that can be "just about" seen in both images, however, the angle is a bit too acute to make out any great detail. In the upper image, if you go from the left and follow the Lee Theatre building until the vertical signage, the next two blocks belong to buildings that are currently still intact: 87- 89 Percival Street. In my modern comparison snap below they are the two blocks with the red vertical sign in front of them. They were built in 1954 and so weren't that old when Flight to Hong Kong was filmed.

Matheson Street - Now and Then

Following on from my Times Square post, here is a comparison from the back of the development courtesy of Bloodfight (1989). The top two images show a 1989 v 2026 comparison of the view from Matheson Street looking up Sharp Street East (to the east).

I also took a quick picture from the same place that used to be a noodle shop but is now some clothes/fashion store. As you can see, most of the former open space of the tram depot (and the view to Russell Street behind it) is now obscured by the Times Square building.

Times Square - Now and Then

I was in Causeway Bay the other day and took the opportunity to take some comparison snaps at Times Square. For those who don't know the history of the site, it was previously the location of the expansive Sharp Street Tram Depot where the Hong Kong Tramway kept most of its rolling stock. Hong Kong Tramways was taken over by local developer, Wharf Holdings, in 1974 and following the creation of two new depot sites at the other side of the island, Wharf was able to free up the Sharp Street site for redevelopment. It closed permanently in 1989 and Times Square was subsequently constructed and opened in 1994.

The screen shots below are from Lara Croft Tomb raider: Cradle of Life (2003) and Je l'amais (2011). There have been quite a few films shot inside the office part of the development as well, but obviously that's off limits for me.

As you'll see from the more recent images, even since it was built there have been some changes to the place including the addition of mid-atrium escalators and the removal of the external lifts.

The external lifts we see in Je l'amais are no longer there. Initially I thought the whole thing had been removed, but on closer inspection it looks as though the whole wall was simply enclosed in the rather more heavy duty version of boxing. You can see in the modern image that the wall is no longer flush with the corner which suggest to me the lifts, or at least the infrastructure, are still there but just covered up. Perhaps they are still servicable and used by staff? Feel free to comment if you know.

Je l'amais (2009)

View as of June 2026.

Inside, the mall area has changed significalty. The walkways have been remodelled and there are now escalators criss-crossing the atrium.

Looking up towards the roof of the mall area and the film obviously took some artistic license with the view. First, it's not a glass ceiling because above the mall section is the rest of the office tower, and secondly, obviously the 2IFC tower that we can see in the film is a couple of miles away in Central. I was a bit dizzy looking up when I took the modern comparison so I couldn't quite match the same orientation...

I'll finish with a quick shot of the MTR entrance which is probably the least changed part of the whole area.

Tate's Cairn - Now and Then

I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently walked Stage 4 of the Wilson Trail in Hong Kong. Before you get to Temple Hill though you need to walk past Tate's Cairn and I remembered that The Generation Gap film up here back in 1973. Sadly I didn't have time to snap all the angles so I just grabbed this one because it was the easiest to replicate. I'm sure I'll be back there in the future and will endeavour to be a bit more diligent in future.

On the hilltop is the HK Govt Radio transmitter station. Not to be confused with the meteorological station which is to the left of the camera - out of shot.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Kai Tak Airport

The inside man for the bank job tries to fly to Europe with his ill-gotten gains but he is snitched on by the robber and the police head to the airport to arrest him.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - The Hong Kong Macau Ferry Wharf

The head robber and girlfriend make an attempt to flee Hong Kong for Macau via the ferry terminal. So it's all hands on deck as the fleets of taxi drivers descend upon the place to help prove that Chen is innocent.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Kowloon Park

After being accused of being one of the bank robbers, Chen decides to go into hiding an waits for his friend at one of the old barrack buildings in Kowloon Park. This building is still around and now forms part of the Heritage Discovery Centre along with the other block. The area between the two blocks is now a landscaped garden and an additional building has been constructed that joins the two blocks at the other end. It's well worth a visit if you get the chance.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Oi Sen Path, Ho Man Tin

We also saw this same pathway recently in The Young Rebel as it's where Tino Wong Cheung runs after committing some robbery. Coincidentally, this is where our bad guys run after they manage to crawl out of the crashed taxi.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Ho Man Tin Estate, Fat Kwong Street

A couple of the in-car shots of Chen, as he is driving the robbers, were filmed on Fat Kwong Street (driving north) with the old Ho Man Tin Estate in the background. The old estate was demolished circa 2001 and replaced by a newer version on an adjacent site. The old site of the estate is now taken up by a variety of private residential developments such as "Mantin Heights" and "One Homantin". The blocks seen in the images below were on the site where "One Homantin" now stands.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Princess Margaret Road, Ho Man Tin

After the bank robbery, Chen leaps out of the taxi as it is driving along Princess Margaret Road in Ho Man Tin. This causes the car to crash into the central barriers. This was filmed at the same spot along Princess Margaret Road where The Young Rebel filmed the same year. The low building on the right (second image) is the HKSPCA building.