Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei - Now and Then

The following screen caps from Ein Sarg aus Hongkong were taken from Shanghai Street looking east over to the old market that once occupied the public square in front of the temple. We can see Heinz Drache and Angela Yu Chien about to cross the road at the corner of Shanghai Street and Public Square Street. The only building still around in this shot (other than the temple which can be just seen through the trees in my photo) is the white building at the back which stands on the corner of Temple Street and Public Square Street. For those who don't know, this is the building that has the Mido Cafe in it. You can see it in the screen cap just above the two actors' heads.

Earlier in the film is a brief view of the area to the right (south) of this one, although it was obviously filmed at the same time. It's the Market Street side of the square with the old toilet block at the junction  (this same shot was later reused in The Million Eyes of Sumuru). Note the Chinese tenement buiding in the background with the wooden arched apertures.

The old film gives a good idea of where Temple Street once emerged onto Market Street - it's the gap between the toilet block and the Chinese tenement. However, that section of Temple Street disappeared with a significant amount of development and, as you can see by my own image, the area at this end was filled in by what is actually a refuse collection centre. The section of Temple Street between here (Market Street) and Kansu Street (one block down) was shifted approximately 20 metres to the east - running along where the old Chinese tenement once stood. Much of the space where Temple Street used to run was taken over by the construction of the YMT multi-storey carpark (currently being demolished as of 2021). As you can see, the toilet block is still going strong and hasn't changed at all over the last 50 years or so.