Welcome to Part 2 of my self-guided walking tour to Bruce Lee's "the rest of" Kowloon. If you have jumped straight into this one then you can check out my other Bruce Lee walks at the following links.
The Bruce Lee Guide to Yau Ma Tei
The Bruce Lee Guide to the rest of Kowloon (Part 1)
As mentioned elsewhere, this was originally one big, long, and rather daunting walk, so I have tried to split it into an easier-to-tackle 3 sections and added a few extra bits that were missing from the original walk. However, if you're fit and healthy and the weather isn't too oppressive (i.e. it's between October and March) then feel free to do all 3 parts in one go (part 3 to follow).
The start of this walk is in Mongkok on Tung Choi Street and can be reached from either Mongkok MTR station (exit B3 takes you straight to the Mongkok Road pedestrian bridge which you can use to cross over to the start point on Tung Choi Street) or Mongkok East MTR station. Don't confuse the two stations, one is served by the orginal MTR system, the other is served by what was the old KCR line, now known as "East Rail" (hence the East in the station name). At MK East you can use exit C to access the same pedestrian walkway, although it's a bit more walking.
The walking tour will take in the following spots and, as per usual, they are given a better explanation in their own sections below. Most of this stuff is not my own research but cobbled together from a variety of sources and general information. A big thanks to Paul Li, Hong Kong's foremost Bruce historian, who has provided a large portion of this walk from his own investigations and kindly passed to me.
Anyway, if you want to pay proper homage to the man himself, then keep a lookout for my "Bruce Lee Grand Tour of the New Territories" which I will publish sometime in the future. Until then, here is a picture of the building's front entrance and a view from the opposite side of the street.
2. Cheung Ling Building, Sai Yeung Choi Street
Sticking with the Yip Man theme, the next stop is not very far away and it's the Cheung Ling Building on Sai Yeung Choi Street.
The photos below are of Bruce attending the memorial service at the Association and were taken from https://kknews.cc/. The second one shows him donning sneakers for his run home (it's less than a mile to #41 Cumberland Road from this location).
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Anyone who has a passing interest in Bruce's resistance training regimen will probably be familiar with a sheet of a training diary he kept from the Hak Keung Gymnasium. If not, I've included it below. I believe it was first published in John Little's The Art of Expressing the Human Body, but I could be wrong. The date is May 1965 so this was during Bruce's second return trip to Hong Kong following the death of his father in February 1965. I seem to recall Bruce got stuck in Hong Kong in 1965 for longer than anticipated due to delays getting his mum a US visa. Please feel free to correct me in the comments.
The old building at #749 was straddled across four plots - 749, 749a,749b and 749c and it looks as though the gym occupied the top floor of the whole building, straddling all four plots. To help illustrate, I've put a yellowbox on the modern image above to show roughly where the gym would have existed at the time. As you can see the larger building occupies 3 of the former plots and the smaller one fills the space where the north end of the old block (749c) would have been located. So 749, 749a and 749b are all now occupied by the large building, and the old 749c plot is now occupied by the smaller building and has been renumbered to 749a. I hope this makes sense.
Continue walking north to the junction with Prince Edward Road West and use the pedestrian crossing to cross over to the Mongkok Police Station, then turn right.
Keep walking until you get to Sai Yee Street. Turn left and you have three options to get to the next location. You can either continue straight up Sai Yee Street until you hit Boundary Street, and then turn right. Or, you can cross the road and walk along Flower Market Road for a few metres before taking the diagonal Flower Market Path that runs up to Boundary Street alongside Mongkok Stadium. Or you can go the sightseeing route and keep walking to the end of Flower Market Street and then turn left into Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.
I recommend the latter if you are a tourist as it's one of those places that might have something unusual to see, with traditional Chinese-style design and a bunch of exotic bird shops. You might even see a few old fellas with their birds in cages swinging from the specially provided poles. Now that all the old birdcage-friendly tea restaurants have closed down (example from Hard Boiled), these guys have to come here to hang their cages. Walk the length of the street and you will come out on Boundary Street right next to Mongkok Stadium. From here, turn left.
5. Mongkok Stadium
Many Lee fans may have heard, or perhap seen a transcript of, a phone conversation he had with Daniel Lee. One of the first things Lee talks about is a martial arts tournament he had recently spectated at and how appalling the Chinese kung fu guys looked during their fights. Paul Li has told me that this particular competition was held at the, then, Mongkok sports ground.
Of course the venue is a much different beast to the one Bruce would have known. The "sports ground" has grown into a fully-fledged "stadium". If you want an idea of what the ground looked like in the early 1970s then Gwulo has a nice aerial image that shows the stadium (bottom left in the link) and the surrounding area. It had terraced seating at the time but the capacity has been increased significantly and the terraces now have canopies.
Unless you're a football fan and want to buy tickets for a weekend match, this place will be difficult to get into. But that's okay because the next location is a bit more open to the public. Walk along the side of the stadium towards the intersection with Tai Hang Tung Road and cross to the other side at the traffic lights - there's a light-controlled crossing here.
6. Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground
On the other side of Boundary Street, just opposite Mongkok Stadium, is a large open space called Tai Hang Tung Recreation ground. It's not far from Bruce's old house in Kowloon Tong so it's not surprising to know that he used to jog around it. Who knows, maybe he did a couple of laps after his trip to sign the Yip Man memorial? It's public space so feel free to wander around.
Once you've finished here, the next section of the walk gets a bit messy because of the road layouts, so feel free to refer to my google map embedded above. To get to then next location you have to head west along Boundary Street until you get to the junction with Tai Nan Street. Lots of the streets criss-cross at acute angles here, so it's easy to lose your bearings. When you get to Tai Nan Street (it's about the 6th turn on the right), turn to the right and walk to the next junction with Wong Chuk Street. On your left, on the opposite sideof the road is 159 Tai Nan Street.
7. 159 Tai Nan Street
159 Tai Nan Street was the location of the Restaurant Workers Union - the location of Yip Man's very first Wing Chun school. Of course, like most streets in Hong Kong and Kowloon, the pre-war building stock has largely disappeared and swathes of real estate was redeveloped from the 1950s onwards. Sadly, this location was redeveloped in the mid 60s, so the old Restaurant Workers Building is long gone. The current block, occupying #157-159 was constructed in 1965, long after Yip Man had moved to pastures new. But hey, we're passing by so why not include it on the walk.
8. St Francis Xavier's School
Thankfully one site does still remain more or less as Bruce knew it - his alma mater, St Francis Xavier's College (aka SFX). To get there from Tai Nan Street, cross the road and walk past 159 Tai Nan Street. So if you are looking at the image above, you must walk along the street on the right, Wong Chuk Street. Sadly, you are now about to experience one of the great frustrations of being a pedestrian in Hong Kong - car is king here and pedestrians are an after thought.
At the end of Wong Chuk Street you will hit Lai Chi Kok Road. It's a busy thoroughfare and in order to cross you must first cross Wong Chuk Street - the crossing is at the end of the road on your right. Then walk around the corner and use the crossing across Lai Chi Kok Road located there. Once over Lai Chi Kok Road you must then turn left and use a further crossing to get across Boundary Street. It's not so much the route you have to take that causes anguish (getting from A to B via Z), but the fact that you must also wait several minutes for the crossing lights to change. It can be immensely frustrating.
In 1973, Bruce returned to the school as a guest of honour, with Bob Baker in tow, for the school sports day where he gave out prizes and generally clowned around with the students.
The school really hasn't changed a bit and although you might not be able to get inside (certainly not since 2019) you can wander around the back, to Willow Street, and see the open sports ground where the sports day events took place. Please remember though that this is an operating school and they may or may not appreciate you rocking up and taking loads of photos if there are students around.
If you are on Sycamore Street facing the front of the school, you can head to the right hand side and use the alley way there to access Willow Street and a better view of the open central courtyard/sports ground of the school. You have to walk this way anyway to get to the next location.
9. Kowloon Funeral Parlour
If you're on Willow Street facing the rear of SFX, as you should be if you have been looking into the courtyard, turn left and walk to the end of the street. There is a crossing here you can use to cross Tung Chau Street. Use the crossing and it takes you underneath the West Kowloon Corridor flyover. You are now on a corner block facing a building called the Ming Tak Centre. You can head left or right, it doesn't really matter. If you head left then keep walking until you come to Maple Street, then turn right, walk a bit more and at the next junction you will see the funeral parlour on the other side of the road. If you head right at at Ming Tak, then it is just a straight walk down to the front of the funeral parlour and your view will be the same as the one I have captured below
It's quite sad for me to think that just a few weeks after he was visiting SFX, Bruce's body would be literally a block away at the Kowloon Funeral Parlour for his Hong Kong funeral service. The fact that Raymond Chow used footage from the service for Game of Death shows you exactly the sort of person Raymond Chow really was. He was determined to wring every last penny out of the guy, even in death.
The funeral parlour is still very active, so although you can theoretically wander into the building, I really don't recommend going in if there is an active service underway, and don't be surprised if you are challenged if you do. Funnily enough though, the parlour had its very first open day just a few weeks ago as part of the annual Chung Yeung festival (one of two yearly grave sweeping festivals held in Hong Kong) so it might be worth keeping an eye on the calendar in case it holds similar events in the future. I suggest you check the calendar for when Chung Yeung (and Ching Ming for that matter) falls.
Feel fee to walk a circuit around the building. You may see lots of large, old ISUZU trucks. For some reason these are the de facto hearses in Hong Kong because they are big and meaty enough to transport the rather large traditional wooden Chinese coffins. They transport the coffin between the funeral parlour and the crematorium/cemetery. I don't know the details of Bruce's service, but it's likely he was transported to the airport in something similar back in the day. If you've had enough of a look then it's time to move on.
10. Sam Tai Tsz Temple, Yu Chau Street
I've heard two Yip Man-related stories about the Sam Tai Tsz temple. The first one is from this website and mentions that the temple was another of Yip Man's early training grounds before he established his school at Lee Tat Street in Yaumatei (I did cover that location in my Yaumatei walk). The other story was told to me by Paul Li but I'm not clear on the timeline. Paul told me that in Yip Man's early days in Hong Kong he was involved in a fracas with another gentleman and the police were called. This is in the days when the Hong Kong police was utterly corrupt but Yip Man didn't realise that if he had slipped the cops a bit of money they would have let him go. Anyway, he was arrested for assault (or something probably made up, given the era) and later sentenced to community service. He served his community service at Sam Tai Tsz temple where he was required to sweep the floors and keep the place generally tidy.
Now, I'm don't know if Yip Man found out about the temple because of his community service or that he chose to serve it at the temple because he was already teaching there. Either way, he spent a siginificant time here teaching...and sweeping floors. Sadly, no fence painting or waxing cars was involved (if you get that joke then we are the same age).
Temples in Hong Kong are quite easy to visit, but some of them are bit funny about you taking photos. Usually, if you're not allowed there will be a sign saying so, but in my experience if you take a quick picture and feign ignorance you may get a bit of a scowl from someone but nothing more. You can make up for it by putting some money in the joss box (a wooden box meant to receive payment for the temple's incense sticks you burn).
Anyway, once finished here we have one last place to visit. Again it's a bit of a traipse, but you can always break up the tour by having a wander around the Sham Shui Po street markets and getting a bite to eat or drink. You may even see me wandering around as this is basically my local neighbourhood.
Head out of the temple and turn right. In the distance you will see the Dragon Centre on Yen Chow Street. You need to head towards there and once on Yen Chow Street, cross the road and turn right towards Cheung Sha Wan Road. Once on Cheung Sha Wan Road, you need to turn left and follow the road for around a kilometer until you get to the Hing Wah Street Cheung Sha Wan bus stop. Cross to the other side of the road here. Once over, continue walking along Cheung Sha Wan Road and then turn right along Kwong Cheung Street, followed by a left onto Castle Peak Road and another right onto Yu Chau West Street...and then second right onto Wing Ming Street. Wing Ming Street is a gently sloped street that leads up to the main entrance to the St Raphael Cemetery. There's an access road under the highway here that leads directly into the cemetery grounds.
11. Lee Hoi Chuen's grave at St Raphael's cemetery
I did a fairly detailed post on Lee's father's grave a while ago, so for more details see here. That post will also give you more specific instructions on how to find the grave. Sadly I don't have a copy, but a Bruce Lee fanatic friend who often visits Hong Kong (and is a mutual friend with myself and Paul) showed me a picture the last time I met him, of Bruce, Linda and the kids standing for a photo at the cemetery. I do need to return and get somemore recent images because I believe the bush next to Lee Sr's grave has been removed.
Anyway, that's all for this one.Keep an eye out for my final Kowloon walk which will be published soon. I will provide a link here when it's finished.
The start of this walk is in Mongkok on Tung Choi Street and can be reached from either Mongkok MTR station (exit B3 takes you straight to the Mongkok Road pedestrian bridge which you can use to cross over to the start point on Tung Choi Street) or Mongkok East MTR station. Don't confuse the two stations, one is served by the orginal MTR system, the other is served by what was the old KCR line, now known as "East Rail" (hence the East in the station name). At MK East you can use exit C to access the same pedestrian walkway, although it's a bit more walking.
The walking tour will take in the following spots and, as per usual, they are given a better explanation in their own sections below. Most of this stuff is not my own research but cobbled together from a variety of sources and general information. A big thanks to Paul Li, Hong Kong's foremost Bruce historian, who has provided a large portion of this walk from his own investigations and kindly passed to me.
1. Yee Fai Building, Tung Choi Street
2. Cheung Ling Building - home of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association
3. Former site of Hak Keung Gymnasium
4. Bijou Court
5. Mongkok stadium
6. Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground
7. 159 Tai Nan Street
8. St Francis Xavier's School (SFX).
9. Kowloon Funeral Parlour.
10. Sam Tai Tsz Temple
11. Lei Hoi Chuen's Grave at St Raphael's Catholic Cemetery
1. Yee Fai Building, Tung Choi Street
We kick start this part of the "Rest of Kowloon" self-guided walking tour at the location where Yip Man lived in his later life: the "Yee Fai Building" (怡輝大樓) on Tung Choi Street. The building was constructed in 1963 and I believe he lived on the 9th floor - most likely the 8th if, like me, you are used to counting the lowest floor as the ground floor. The 9th floor contains six apartments, so it's really not clear which one he occupied. His address was officially quoted as #149 Tung Choi Street, but this building actually occupies the whole plot from #141 - #151, which leads me to believe he most likley occupied an apartment on the right (north) side of the block (see my image of the building below for some context).
This was the location where he lived in the last few years of his life before passing away here from cancer in 1972, and where he was filmed doing a variety of Wing Chun forms for posterity. This is something Bruce had unsuccessfully tried to convince his old teacher to do previously at this very location.
This was the location where he lived in the last few years of his life before passing away here from cancer in 1972, and where he was filmed doing a variety of Wing Chun forms for posterity. This is something Bruce had unsuccessfully tried to convince his old teacher to do previously at this very location.
This is the part of Tung Choi Street often referred to as "Goldfish Street' because it is lined with shops selling marine life and associated paraphernalia. These days many of the old goldfish shops have been usurped by the far more cutesy kitten/puppy/rabbit/guinea pig/other small bundle-of-fur type pet stores. I do remember on one of my early trips back in the mid/late-90s noticing that most of the fish that hadn't sold during the day (and subsequently died from asphyxiation, no doubt) were unceremoniously dumped in the local rubbish bins. I'm not sure if it still happens, I rarely come here at night.
Anyway, if you want to pay proper homage to the man himself, then keep a lookout for my "Bruce Lee Grand Tour of the New Territories" which I will publish sometime in the future. Until then, here is a picture of the building's front entrance and a view from the opposite side of the street.
Yee Fai Building - two sections either side of a lightwell/staircase
2. Cheung Ling Building, Sai Yeung Choi Street
Sticking with the Yip Man theme, the next stop is not very far away and it's the Cheung Ling Building on Sai Yeung Choi Street.
Facing Yip Man's former apartment block, turn right and walk north up Tung Choi Street until you arrive at the junction with Nullah Road. The Cheung Ling Building is on the opposite side of the road. You can't miss it now because it has recently undergone a new paint job involving what appears to be a colourful tree theme. This is quite novel for Hong Kong where "owners associations" (the companies responsible for the upkeep of residential buildings) usually opt for the cheapest and nastiest colour paint job they can.
You can walk around to the western facade to see the "Ving Tsun Athletic Association" sign on the outside a couple of floors up. This was the place Bruce visited to pay respects to Yip Man after missing his funeral. The generally accepted story behind this is that there were several students of Yip Man who disapproved of Bruce and decided to not inform him of Yip Man's death and funeral arrangements. As a result, Bruce missed the funeral and was understandably gutted about this. He turned up to the memorial service held at the association HQ, here in the Cheung Ling Building, to sign a book of remembrance and pay his respects and then promptly put his running shoes on and jogged home.
You can walk around to the western facade to see the "Ving Tsun Athletic Association" sign on the outside a couple of floors up. This was the place Bruce visited to pay respects to Yip Man after missing his funeral. The generally accepted story behind this is that there were several students of Yip Man who disapproved of Bruce and decided to not inform him of Yip Man's death and funeral arrangements. As a result, Bruce missed the funeral and was understandably gutted about this. He turned up to the memorial service held at the association HQ, here in the Cheung Ling Building, to sign a book of remembrance and pay his respects and then promptly put his running shoes on and jogged home.
The recently repainted Cheung Ling Building
The Ving Tsun Athletic Association
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3. Former site of the Hak Keung Gymnasium, 749 Nathan Road
Walk down Nullah Road and turn right along Nathan Road. Close to the junction with Prince Edward Road West, on the opposite side of the street, is this building.
749 Nathan Road, Mongkok
It's the "European Asian Bank Building" at 749 Nathan Road. The smaller building on the right is the "I Do Centre" at 749a. Of course they are not directly related to Bruce, but they do mark the spot where the Hak Keung Gymnasium was once located.
Anyone who has a passing interest in Bruce's resistance training regimen will probably be familiar with a sheet of a training diary he kept from the Hak Keung Gymnasium. If not, I've included it below. I believe it was first published in John Little's The Art of Expressing the Human Body, but I could be wrong. The date is May 1965 so this was during Bruce's second return trip to Hong Kong following the death of his father in February 1965. I seem to recall Bruce got stuck in Hong Kong in 1965 for longer than anticipated due to delays getting his mum a US visa. Please feel free to correct me in the comments.
The old building at #749 was straddled across four plots - 749, 749a,749b and 749c and it looks as though the gym occupied the top floor of the whole building, straddling all four plots. To help illustrate, I've put a yellowbox on the modern image above to show roughly where the gym would have existed at the time. As you can see the larger building occupies 3 of the former plots and the smaller one fills the space where the north end of the old block (749c) would have been located. So 749, 749a and 749b are all now occupied by the large building, and the old 749c plot is now occupied by the smaller building and has been renumbered to 749a. I hope this makes sense.
Although I was originally helped tracking down the address by my good buddies on Gwulo, it was Paul Li who supplied me with the image below showing how the general area looked like in Bruce's time. You can see the gym's red/white signage on the top floor above the policeman's head. This shows the view looking south from the junction of Prince Edward Road West/Nathan Road, and the old building with the blue columns was located where Edward Mansion now stands. None of this exists anymore sadly.
Image supplied by Paul Li
Continue walking north to the junction with Prince Edward Road West and use the pedestrian crossing to cross over to the Mongkok Police Station, then turn right.
4. Bijou Court, Prince Edward Road West
As you walk east along Prince Edward Road West in front of the police station, look across the road and you can see a building called Bijou Court. It's not really of any significance, especially since the original building has gone, but on the ground floor of the old building here was a shop called Blue & White. This was the location where Bruce bought his famous tiger-skin rug. Grrrr. I won't include a photo of the current building as it's a bit pointless, and I don't have an old image unfortunately. Instead, here is a picture of Bruce with his prized possession. A savage hairy beast, and a tiger skin...
As you walk east along Prince Edward Road West in front of the police station, look across the road and you can see a building called Bijou Court. It's not really of any significance, especially since the original building has gone, but on the ground floor of the old building here was a shop called Blue & White. This was the location where Bruce bought his famous tiger-skin rug. Grrrr. I won't include a photo of the current building as it's a bit pointless, and I don't have an old image unfortunately. Instead, here is a picture of Bruce with his prized possession. A savage hairy beast, and a tiger skin...
Keep walking until you get to Sai Yee Street. Turn left and you have three options to get to the next location. You can either continue straight up Sai Yee Street until you hit Boundary Street, and then turn right. Or, you can cross the road and walk along Flower Market Road for a few metres before taking the diagonal Flower Market Path that runs up to Boundary Street alongside Mongkok Stadium. Or you can go the sightseeing route and keep walking to the end of Flower Market Street and then turn left into Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.
I recommend the latter if you are a tourist as it's one of those places that might have something unusual to see, with traditional Chinese-style design and a bunch of exotic bird shops. You might even see a few old fellas with their birds in cages swinging from the specially provided poles. Now that all the old birdcage-friendly tea restaurants have closed down (example from Hard Boiled), these guys have to come here to hang their cages. Walk the length of the street and you will come out on Boundary Street right next to Mongkok Stadium. From here, turn left.
5. Mongkok Stadium
Many Lee fans may have heard, or perhap seen a transcript of, a phone conversation he had with Daniel Lee. One of the first things Lee talks about is a martial arts tournament he had recently spectated at and how appalling the Chinese kung fu guys looked during their fights. Paul Li has told me that this particular competition was held at the, then, Mongkok sports ground.
Of course the venue is a much different beast to the one Bruce would have known. The "sports ground" has grown into a fully-fledged "stadium". If you want an idea of what the ground looked like in the early 1970s then Gwulo has a nice aerial image that shows the stadium (bottom left in the link) and the surrounding area. It had terraced seating at the time but the capacity has been increased significantly and the terraces now have canopies.
Unless you're a football fan and want to buy tickets for a weekend match, this place will be difficult to get into. But that's okay because the next location is a bit more open to the public. Walk along the side of the stadium towards the intersection with Tai Hang Tung Road and cross to the other side at the traffic lights - there's a light-controlled crossing here.
6. Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground
On the other side of Boundary Street, just opposite Mongkok Stadium, is a large open space called Tai Hang Tung Recreation ground. It's not far from Bruce's old house in Kowloon Tong so it's not surprising to know that he used to jog around it. Who knows, maybe he did a couple of laps after his trip to sign the Yip Man memorial? It's public space so feel free to wander around.
Once you've finished here, the next section of the walk gets a bit messy because of the road layouts, so feel free to refer to my google map embedded above. To get to then next location you have to head west along Boundary Street until you get to the junction with Tai Nan Street. Lots of the streets criss-cross at acute angles here, so it's easy to lose your bearings. When you get to Tai Nan Street (it's about the 6th turn on the right), turn to the right and walk to the next junction with Wong Chuk Street. On your left, on the opposite sideof the road is 159 Tai Nan Street.
7. 159 Tai Nan Street
159 Tai Nan Street was the location of the Restaurant Workers Union - the location of Yip Man's very first Wing Chun school. Of course, like most streets in Hong Kong and Kowloon, the pre-war building stock has largely disappeared and swathes of real estate was redeveloped from the 1950s onwards. Sadly, this location was redeveloped in the mid 60s, so the old Restaurant Workers Building is long gone. The current block, occupying #157-159 was constructed in 1965, long after Yip Man had moved to pastures new. But hey, we're passing by so why not include it on the walk.
157/159 Tai Nan Street
8. St Francis Xavier's School
Thankfully one site does still remain more or less as Bruce knew it - his alma mater, St Francis Xavier's College (aka SFX). To get there from Tai Nan Street, cross the road and walk past 159 Tai Nan Street. So if you are looking at the image above, you must walk along the street on the right, Wong Chuk Street. Sadly, you are now about to experience one of the great frustrations of being a pedestrian in Hong Kong - car is king here and pedestrians are an after thought.
At the end of Wong Chuk Street you will hit Lai Chi Kok Road. It's a busy thoroughfare and in order to cross you must first cross Wong Chuk Street - the crossing is at the end of the road on your right. Then walk around the corner and use the crossing across Lai Chi Kok Road located there. Once over Lai Chi Kok Road you must then turn left and use a further crossing to get across Boundary Street. It's not so much the route you have to take that causes anguish (getting from A to B via Z), but the fact that you must also wait several minutes for the crossing lights to change. It can be immensely frustrating.
Anyway, once over Boundary Street, the crossing puts you in direct sight of the school. It's the green/white building at the end of the pathway in front of you. Here's a Google Streetview image which is the view you will see after crossing Boundary Street. The red circle shows you your next stop. Just head straight down the path to bring you out opposite the school on Sycamore Street.
Just to recap, Bruce was attending La Salle College at its temporary site on Perth Street (see my other walk) but was asked to leave/was expelled because of a rather disturbing bullying incident (read all about it in Matthew Polly's book). Bruce enrolled at SFX and spent the rest of his school days here until he left for the US. It was for SFX that he fought, and won against Gary Elms, in a boxing tournament.
In 1973, Bruce returned to the school as a guest of honour, with Bob Baker in tow, for the school sports day where he gave out prizes and generally clowned around with the students.
The school really hasn't changed a bit and although you might not be able to get inside (certainly not since 2019) you can wander around the back, to Willow Street, and see the open sports ground where the sports day events took place. Please remember though that this is an operating school and they may or may not appreciate you rocking up and taking loads of photos if there are students around.
SFX seen from Sycamore Street
If you are on Sycamore Street facing the front of the school, you can head to the right hand side and use the alley way there to access Willow Street and a better view of the open central courtyard/sports ground of the school. You have to walk this way anyway to get to the next location.
9. Kowloon Funeral Parlour
If you're on Willow Street facing the rear of SFX, as you should be if you have been looking into the courtyard, turn left and walk to the end of the street. There is a crossing here you can use to cross Tung Chau Street. Use the crossing and it takes you underneath the West Kowloon Corridor flyover. You are now on a corner block facing a building called the Ming Tak Centre. You can head left or right, it doesn't really matter. If you head left then keep walking until you come to Maple Street, then turn right, walk a bit more and at the next junction you will see the funeral parlour on the other side of the road. If you head right at at Ming Tak, then it is just a straight walk down to the front of the funeral parlour and your view will be the same as the one I have captured below
It's quite sad for me to think that just a few weeks after he was visiting SFX, Bruce's body would be literally a block away at the Kowloon Funeral Parlour for his Hong Kong funeral service. The fact that Raymond Chow used footage from the service for Game of Death shows you exactly the sort of person Raymond Chow really was. He was determined to wring every last penny out of the guy, even in death.
The funeral parlour is still very active, so although you can theoretically wander into the building, I really don't recommend going in if there is an active service underway, and don't be surprised if you are challenged if you do. Funnily enough though, the parlour had its very first open day just a few weeks ago as part of the annual Chung Yeung festival (one of two yearly grave sweeping festivals held in Hong Kong) so it might be worth keeping an eye on the calendar in case it holds similar events in the future. I suggest you check the calendar for when Chung Yeung (and Ching Ming for that matter) falls.
Feel fee to walk a circuit around the building. You may see lots of large, old ISUZU trucks. For some reason these are the de facto hearses in Hong Kong because they are big and meaty enough to transport the rather large traditional wooden Chinese coffins. They transport the coffin between the funeral parlour and the crematorium/cemetery. I don't know the details of Bruce's service, but it's likely he was transported to the airport in something similar back in the day. If you've had enough of a look then it's time to move on.
The next stop is a bit of a traipse, so bear with me. From the funeral parlour retrace your steps back to Ming Tak Building but this time, after crossing back over Tung Chau Street, continue straight along Tai Kok Tsui Street until you reach Boundary Street. Cross Boundary Street next to Sycamore Rest Garden and bear right to Yee Kuk Street. You can turn left here and walk up to Nam Cheong Street, or cross the road and walk through Shek Kip Mei Street to Tai Nan Street and then turn left, but either way the ultimate goal is to get to Nam Cheong Street.
Once on Nam Cheong Street turn right and keep going until you come to Yu Chau Street. There is a crossing here that will take you to the other side of Nam Cheong Street and the continuation of Yu Chau Street. Our next location is just a few doors down.
Once on Nam Cheong Street turn right and keep going until you come to Yu Chau Street. There is a crossing here that will take you to the other side of Nam Cheong Street and the continuation of Yu Chau Street. Our next location is just a few doors down.
10. Sam Tai Tsz Temple, Yu Chau Street
I've heard two Yip Man-related stories about the Sam Tai Tsz temple. The first one is from this website and mentions that the temple was another of Yip Man's early training grounds before he established his school at Lee Tat Street in Yaumatei (I did cover that location in my Yaumatei walk). The other story was told to me by Paul Li but I'm not clear on the timeline. Paul told me that in Yip Man's early days in Hong Kong he was involved in a fracas with another gentleman and the police were called. This is in the days when the Hong Kong police was utterly corrupt but Yip Man didn't realise that if he had slipped the cops a bit of money they would have let him go. Anyway, he was arrested for assault (or something probably made up, given the era) and later sentenced to community service. He served his community service at Sam Tai Tsz temple where he was required to sweep the floors and keep the place generally tidy.
Now, I'm don't know if Yip Man found out about the temple because of his community service or that he chose to serve it at the temple because he was already teaching there. Either way, he spent a siginificant time here teaching...and sweeping floors. Sadly, no fence painting or waxing cars was involved (if you get that joke then we are the same age).
Temples in Hong Kong are quite easy to visit, but some of them are bit funny about you taking photos. Usually, if you're not allowed there will be a sign saying so, but in my experience if you take a quick picture and feign ignorance you may get a bit of a scowl from someone but nothing more. You can make up for it by putting some money in the joss box (a wooden box meant to receive payment for the temple's incense sticks you burn).
Anyway, once finished here we have one last place to visit. Again it's a bit of a traipse, but you can always break up the tour by having a wander around the Sham Shui Po street markets and getting a bite to eat or drink. You may even see me wandering around as this is basically my local neighbourhood.
Head out of the temple and turn right. In the distance you will see the Dragon Centre on Yen Chow Street. You need to head towards there and once on Yen Chow Street, cross the road and turn right towards Cheung Sha Wan Road. Once on Cheung Sha Wan Road, you need to turn left and follow the road for around a kilometer until you get to the Hing Wah Street Cheung Sha Wan bus stop. Cross to the other side of the road here. Once over, continue walking along Cheung Sha Wan Road and then turn right along Kwong Cheung Street, followed by a left onto Castle Peak Road and another right onto Yu Chau West Street...and then second right onto Wing Ming Street. Wing Ming Street is a gently sloped street that leads up to the main entrance to the St Raphael Cemetery. There's an access road under the highway here that leads directly into the cemetery grounds.
11. Lee Hoi Chuen's grave at St Raphael's cemetery
I did a fairly detailed post on Lee's father's grave a while ago, so for more details see here. That post will also give you more specific instructions on how to find the grave. Sadly I don't have a copy, but a Bruce Lee fanatic friend who often visits Hong Kong (and is a mutual friend with myself and Paul) showed me a picture the last time I met him, of Bruce, Linda and the kids standing for a photo at the cemetery. I do need to return and get somemore recent images because I believe the bush next to Lee Sr's grave has been removed.
Anyway, that's all for this one.Keep an eye out for my final Kowloon walk which will be published soon. I will provide a link here when it's finished.
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