The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Tai Po Road, Kowloon

Chen and his girlfriend head out on a date in his taxi. They drive along Lung Cheung Road and join Tai Po Road before using the interchange between Ching Cheung Road/Tai Po Road to head into the New Territories. Unlike the old Tai Wo Ping Interchange (see here) this one is still around and one I used to use quite frequently when I had my motorbike to get into Shatin via Tai Po Road.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

To Fat picks up a dirty old fella and his young girlfriend on Peking Road. The HK Old Mary sign you can see in the first image related to a famous shop. You can read more about it here. The Mary Building, where it was located, is still around though (71-77 Peking Road). Look carefully and you can see an advert for "Club Tasogare" (the white signboard) located in the basement (today's Delaney's).

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road Garden, Kowloon Tong

Chen goes for a picnic with his girlfriend. This was filmed at the Kent Road Garden in Kowloon Tong. The circular pavilion - a popular design in the 1960s and 70s in Hong Kong (they can be found in quite a few places) - is still there although the garden doesn't look quite as nice.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Observatory Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

The bad guy's girlfriend (played by Terry Lau) lives in an apartment on Observatory Road. There are very few roads in Kowloon that are this steep so narrowing down the location was a bit more straightforward (I had no clue where this was 10+ years ago when I first covered the film).

The ornate looking building on the corner was the Luna Building. It has previously been featured, very briefly, in The Peking Medallion.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Shanghai Commercial Bank Building, Mongkok

The main plot of the film follows three rather unpleasant characters who share a room in the same place that Chen rents. They are plotting on robbing a local bank with the help of an insider. The target of their crime is the "Hang King Bank" but the newly built "Shacombank" building on the north east corner of Argyle Street and Nathan Road is the building used for establishing shots in the film. It's another of those not very long lasting buildings because despite being opened in the mid 70s, it had been demolished by 1997. The Shanghai Commercial Bank HQ is still here but in a newer more modern building.

Following the robbery we get a decent glimpse of the road junction with the HSBC building on the opposite corner.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Canton Road, Yau Ma Tei

In other events, Chen is eating noodles when he witnesses a robbery (Tino Wong doing his robber thing again). The building with the columns in the background is the Yaumatei Police Station, back then in its brown colour. The station has recently been decommissioned and I believe has recently held some sort of local film industry exhibition courtesy of the fact that it has been featured in so many movies over the years. To my shame I haven't been yet. The second image shows the view from Kansu Street.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Waterloo Road

Another victim of congestion is an old guy who is stuck in traffic on Waterloo Road as the meters keeps ticking up. This was filmed around the junction with Prince Edward Road West and you can see they have started construction of the north/south flyover that bypasses this junction and the neighbouring one with Boundary Street. The middle image is looking north and you can see the temporary east/west flyover that was put in place to facilitate the construction works at the junction, as well as the tower of St Teresa's.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Tung Kwong Road, San Po Kong

Chen picks up a female passenger who needs to get to hospital because her baby is about to be born, but they get stuck in traffic. Here are a couple of screencaps from that sequence that were filmed on Tung Kwong Road. The old Tung Tau Estate is on the left and the Kai Tak nullah is on the other side of the wall next to the driver. He has to stop his car and look for a doctor to help the woman have her baby. The second image shows the place where the car is stopped. This is where Tung Kwong Road turns west (we are looking south in that image) into the Tung Tau Estate. The shanty town in the background is the famous Nga Tsin Wai Village. We then get a view of Block 13 of the Tung Tau Estate which has ringside seats for the whole spectacle. This is now occupied by the newer Yiu Tung House since the estate was redeveloped and upgraded.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Hyatt Regency Hotel

To Fat's obnoxious foreign passenger is dropped off at the old Hyatt Regency (formerly The President) Hotel on the Lock Road side where the vehicular ramp was located. This has since been replaced by iSore...sorry, I mean iSquare - a vapid, glass mall whose only attraction to me at the moment (until it closes) is a branch of Marugame Seimen. I'll be back to update this post after its inevitable closure (because...Hong Kong) to say that there is no longer anything in the mall worth visiting.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

To Fat is supposed to be parked at the junction with Waterloo Road and Cornwall Street but as you can see, this stationary shot was filmed after they had already turned onto Cornwall Street because that's Hillsea Court at #10 in the background.

This isn't the only time we see Cornwall Street though as there are shots later in the film that were also filmed there. This one below was also shot whilst driving past Hillsea Court. The place stills looks the same, even down to the red trim.

These next few shots were filmed riving back the other direction and show a building on the south side of Cornwall Street. It's #22 Kent Road and at one point in its like was the location for the famous "Take One" nightclub where Anita Mui was slapped by a gangster for not singing. He was then attacked and killed in his hospital bed. It was a very famous story in Hong Kong at the time. It was a private temple for a while but has stood empty for most of the time I have been in Hong Kong, but has recently been sold and is undergoing some renovation right now.