Welcome to Part 3, the final section of my self-guided Bruce Lee walks/tours around the "rest of Kowloon". In case you didn't know, this is one of several walks that I have put together for the benefit of Bruce Lee fans who come to Hong Kong. There is a dearth of information related to the sites here connected directly (or indirectly) to the great man, so I figured putting them into some sort of structured, self-guided tours would be a good resource for people to use.
As mentioned in the other walks, the further away from the main area of Kowloon we go (the area in which Bruce grew up around, in what is now Yau Tsim Mong District) then the more spread out the locations tend to be, hence why even though this walk takes in only a small number of sites, it covers a large amount of distance. This one even involves a bus ride to get to the last location.
For reference, here are links to all previous walks I have created. Of course, they are just general guides and it doesn't matter which order or direction you want to do these things. If you feel that any of these walks miss out or overlook any locations, then please feel free to let me know about them in their respective comment sections.
The Bruce Lee Guide to Tsim Sha Tsui
The Bruce Lee Guide to Yau Ma Tei
The Bruce Lee Guide to (the rest of ) Kowloon Part 1
The Bruce Lee Guide to (the rest of ) Kowloon Part 2
The Sites for this last part of the Kowloon Walk are:
1. 41 Cumberland Road
2. Former site of St George's School
3. Electricity sub station on Cornwall Street
4. Beverly Heights
5. Baptist Hospital
6. Junction Road
7. Former site of ATV studios on Broadcast Drive
8. Former site of TVB studios on Broadcast Drive
9. Former site of Golden Harvest Studios (optional...via bus)
For ease of access, this walk starts at Kowloon Tong MTR Station. Head to the station by either the green Kwun Tong Line, or by the sky blue East Rail Line and find exit G or F. This is your start point and both exits open out onto where Kent Road meets To Fuk Road. Turn right and walk down To Fuk Road. The road branches at the junction between Suffolk Road and Rutland Quadrant, so keep bearing right and stay along Rutland Quadrant.
As you walk down Rutland Quadrant it curves around to the left and Cumberland Road is the first road you will encounter on the right hand side. You can't miss it because the China Coast Community is located on the corner here - although currently undergoing what looks to be a massive rebuild. On an interesting side note, Ted Thomas, famous for a radio interview of Bruce and for his varied dubbing career, was living in this community a few years before he passed away in 2022. Sadly, Ted tarnished his reputation when he seemingly "lost" the life savings of famed reporter, Clare Hollingworth. She sued him for it in 2006 and he promised to repay it but I don't think he ever paid back all that was missing. Rutland Quadrant itself appeared in Bruce Lee: True Story (aka The Man, The Myth) for those interested in more tenuous links to Bruce. See here.
1. 41 Cumberland Road
Walk down Cumberland Road and, of course, the first stop on this walk is the location of Bruce's old house at #41 Cumberland Road. I did do a deep dive on this place for John Overall's Bruce Lee Review 'zine a few years back, but things have moved on since then and the most recent developments (quite literally) are that the house was knocked down and replaced by a similarly sized property. Part of this is down to what is known as a plot ratio, where the area on a plot reserved for physical property can't exceed a certain Govt set size limit. It was one of the many sticking points encountered when there were talks to turn the old house into a museum. Yu Panglin wanted to add underground levels but the plot ratio restriction meant he couldn't add extra floors above or below.
You can read an archived SCMP article about it here. The original plan of turning the property into a 'Chinese Studies Centre' appears to have been some sort of ruse to confuse Lee fans who were worried what would happen. Instead, the house was demolished, a new one built and it is now some sort of private members club. Fans used to complain about it being a Love Motel, but at least back then you had the opportuntiy to go in and rent a room (trust me, I know fans who have done this).
Why was it demolished? The owners had wanted to do this since the matter was first raised back in 2008 but the uproar from fans made them realise it was unpopular. Eventually, they pulled the old "too far gone to be fixed" trick that many Hong Kong developers do in order to justify ripping down an important or historic building. Supposedly the structural beams were beyond repair. I'm no engineer but I'm sure that for these could have been shored up and then replaced. The fact is there are still quite a few of these original Kowloon Tong houses standing with no issues, despite their 90+ year age. It seems that the Yu Panglin foundation really had no intention of keeping this old house and were just looking for a face-saving way to get rid of it.
I have picked up the most recent set of Land Registry records and it appears the property is still owned by Wimborne - Yu Panglin's original company - but has been leased to a company called "Amazing Hero" from 2021 - 2027. It's not clear who owns the company but they are obviously the ones who turned it into a clubhouse.
Unfortunately, this new use/ownership means it's most likely impossible to nip inside the garden to see if the promise of keeping the Romanesque mosaic was also broken. I do remember a newspaper article during the renovations that showed some of the old tiles, from Bruce's time, on the perimeter wall being revealed when some of the stucco came loose. So Bruce's old garden wall was still under there somewhere, for a time at least. Other than that, there is nothing to see. Visiting fans may want to go to the alleyway at the back of the house. You can find it by walking down to Surrey Lane and turning towards the train tracks. Each property wall has a rear door that opens onto it and Bruce used to use that door to sneak out when he didn't want to attract the attention of photographers stationed outside the front e.g when he was meeting with Betty. Here's how the property currently looks.
41 Cumberland Road in 2025
For those wanting to know what the building was like prior to demolition then I recommend checking out the album of HK Urbex on Facebook.
Trivia: Chow Yuen Fat lives next door at #39.
2. (former site of) St George's School
The area bordered by Suffolk Road, To Fuk Avenue, Norfolk Road and Waterloo Road is now occupied by a cluster of schools as well as a Govt administration office. However, this plot of land was once part of the British Hong Kong Garrison and originally held the Ordnance Depot. Later in its existence a school, St George's, was constructed (1955) on the site for the local military children to attend. The black and white aerial image below is from 1963. I've outlined the school in red below to show you where it stood on the military plot of land. I believe that later, a primary school, St Andrew's, was also built on the northwest section of the site.
The next image shows you exactly the same section of land today, so you can see whereabouts the school was located in relation to today. The road that runs from top to bottom is Tim Fuk Road, connecting Suffolk Rad (north) to Norfolk Road (south). Tim Fuk Road road runs right through the middle of where the main St George's school buildings were located.
So what is the connection to Bruce? The school was the venue for Bruce's much talked about boxing match against Gary Elms at the Third Annual Inter-School Boxing Championships. The championship included boxers from St George's, King George V, LaSalle College and St Francis Xavier. I've included a newspaper clipping below (courtesy of Paul Li) but am not sure which paper it came from because a variety of publications have deliberately made it very hard to view their archives over the last few years.
As you can see from the article, contrary to Lee lore, Bruce was by no means the best fighter of the day, but he was the only member of SFX to win that day. The last paragraph is interesting though as it makes a point about the fighting styles of the Chinese students, Bruce being one of the five mentioned.
So, walking up through Tim Fuk Road is about as close as you'll get to the site of this famous boxing tournament. It's a public road so feel free to walk this way. We need to keep heading that way anyway. Here's what it looks like viewed from Norfolk Road.
3. Electricity Sub Station on Cornwall Street
Retrace your steps back up past Kowloon Tong MTR station. You'll soon be on Kent Road and walking towards Cornwall Street. When you reach Cornwall Street, turn right and continue along the road. Just after crossing Devon Road you may notice a rather innocuous looking building on the opposite side of the road. It's the Cornwall Street electricity sub station. Big deal, right? Well, not really, but Enter the Dragon fans may want to know that it's one of the locations for the never-used motorcycle courier intro involving the yellow jump-suited dispatch rider. The only reason I know this is because I was sent (thanks AP) a picture from Dave Friedman's photo book asking me where it was. The confusion is caused by the fact that back in 1973 the substation had the incorrect name of "Cornwall Road" above the door. There is no Cornwall Road in Hong Kong (though there used to be an "Avenue" in TST), only a "Street". This one. Some more street/road confusion will be discussed in a bit.
4. Beverly Heights
Facing the substation, keep walking right and cross Cornwall Street at the nearby crossing. Ede Road starts at this spot and we need to walk up here to get to the next destination. Continue along Ede Road as it bends uphill to the left and passes the Beacon Hill School (Factoid: Michael Hutchence from INXS attended here as a youngster). Just past the school, turn right onto Beacon Hill Road.
At the top of the road is a small park and right next to it is Beverly Heights. The infamous location of Bruce's demise on that fateful night of 20 July 1973.
I keep hearing different versions of which floor/unit Betty lived at so I shall just leave open until someone can give me a definitive answer. Betty was only renting it and moved out soon after. During the inquest (held at Tsuen Wan Magistrate Court) she was living in Mongkok at 211 Prince Edward Road West.
One of the things that will stick in your mind at this location is how close it is to the Baptist Hospital down the road. In fact it's around 700 metres between the two sites and takes around 5 minutes to walk. Can you imagine what might have happened if certain people had got their act together on the night of the 20th July 1973 and driven Bruce down to the same hospital that had managed to save his life just a few months previously?
I've seen a lot of cringeworthy videos on Youtube of people trying to get into Beverly Heights but you have to remember that it is a private residential building and no security guard worth his/her salt is going to let you in no matter how many times you ask. They value their jobs much more than they value your Lee fandom, so, don't be a dick.
5. Baptist Hospital
So, now you actually get to measure the distance to the hospital yourself. Feel free to report back in the comments how long it took to walk down to the hospital - and bear in mind that both Betty and Raymond had cars the night Bruce died.
Retrace your steps down the hill but this time stay left and hop over onto Waterloo Road by the thin pavement/bus stop area in front of Moonbeam Terrace. Cross at the pedestrian lights. The Baptist Hospital is right across the road.
The original hospital building is now very different to how it was in 1973. It was originally a single block and can be seen in the screen capture below taken from a 1967 Shaw movie called Inter-Pol. This was where Bruce was taken in May 1973 when he collapsed during the dubbing session.
This original block, still there but now referred to as Block A, was later incorporated into a much bigger site as more blocks were added. Unfortunately for Lee fans, the hospital announced last year that it would be demolishing the original block A along with its two adjacent blocks (B and C) in a massive redevelopment project over the next few years. Block A will be the first one to go and as I write this (October 2025), the project is underway. Luckily I managed to grab a photo just a couple of weeks ago before the demolition netting went up. But, if you hadn't seen the original block prior to now, then your chance has now gone to see it first hand. Another direct link to Bruce succumbs to redevelopment.
Unfortunately, this was the best view I could get given the presence of the flyover and the general busyness of Waterloo Road. Back in Bruce's day it was a much more sedate road, now it's a highway.
The main entrance to the hospital used to be on this side, facing Waterloo Road. In fact I have a picture of it from Karate from Shaolin Temple here. But this entrance was removed when the site expanded and the main entrance is now accessed via Junction Road around the corner.
6. Junction RoadSpeaking of which, continue past the hospital and take the next left onto Junction Road (聯合道 - luen4 hap6 do6)- perhaps another familiar name to anyone who knows anything about Bruce's Hong Kong childhood. Bruce Thomas mistakenly calls it Junction "Street" in his (otherwise decent) Fighting Spirit biography when he references Bruce's supposed "gang" the "Junction Street Tigers". The road is a long one and soon curves south past Lok Fu (in Bruce's time it was called Lo Fu Ngam) towards Kowloon City, and I suspect it was the other, less salubrious, end of the road that the young Bruce was more familiar with.
Keep walking and next to the Baptist church take the pathway that leads to the left of a small playground. At the end is Broadcast Drive. Turn left, then cross the road and take your immediate next right. We have two places to see here and they are fairly close together. The road gets its name from the many TV and radio companies that were once (and some still are) based here. If you walk around you'll notice that RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) and Commercial Radio are the only ones left. Our first point of interest relates to one of the former residents: Asia Television (ATV).
7. Meridian Hill - former site of ATV Studios
Meridian Hill is a rather swanky, relatively new development that sits on the site of the former ATV studios. ATV went bust in 2015 and ended broadcasting the following year, but back in the 70's it was the studio that played host to Bruce on a couple of occasions including interviews filmed in April 1970 and September 1971. As with most former sites, there isn't much left to see. So continue along the road and you will then arrive at "Peninsula Heights".
8. Peninsula Heights - the former site of TVB Studios
This is the residential development that now sits on the site once occupied by the TVB studios.
I think Bruce is better remembered for appearing on the TVB shows such as Enjoy Yourself Tonight and, of course, the 1972 Typhoon fundraiser (hmmm, where is that footage?). These were all shot at the TVB television studios at 63 Broadcast Drive and the building was still in use up to 1984. In 1984, Sir Run Run Shaw made the decision to quit film and concentrate on TV only. As a result, this site was closed and TVB was moved to Movietown in Clearwater Bay.
Right next to Peninsual Heights is a circular flyover that some may recognise from the final scenes of the godawful Betty Ting-pei Brucesploitation film Bruce Lee & I. It's the raised exit lane from Lion Rock Road for Lung Cheung Road and Betty walks up it (see below).
Here begins the final and optional part of the tour. The old site of Golden STudios off Hammer Hill Road. The reason it's optional is because it is quite a distance from here. It is walkable (in about 45 minutes if you can stand the heat) but there isn't really anything to see anymore. If you do want to head over there then I recommend walking back down to Junction Road to the green minbus stop for the #72 minibus outside the Baptist Hospital. It leaves about every 10 minutes from Festival Walk and costs (as of writing) $7.5 for the trip all the way to the terminus at Grand View Garden. The benefit here is that you save your time and energy, and because you need to ride to the last stop you don't need to worry about asking the driver to let you off mid-journey. Just wave the bus down as it approaches.
Doot your Octopus card when you board and sit back and enjoy the ride (wear your seatbelt). The ride takes about 15 minutes and takes you via the back of Wong Tai Sin and Chuk Yuen. You'll know when you are there because the bus stop is inside the Grand View Garden and the bus has to go under a traffic barrier to get there.
After disembarking, walk down to the main road (Hammer Hill Road) and take a left. You need to use the pedestrian bridge to cross over to King Tung Street. You can't miss it as it's right next to the bridge. Right here is also a place called Sun Lai Garden which was where the Asia Film Studios were located - separate to Golden Harvest and, I believe, owned by Salon Films in their later life before they were redeveloped.
Anyway, you don't have to walk far up King Tung Street before you get to Kingsford Terrace. The problem is that this whole are has been completely changed. The famous old archway of the studios - the physical front entrance - was at the end of King Tung Street, but the road has been remodelled and looking at old maps the old gate way was located more or less where the end of the minibus terminus is.
Kingsford Terrace
You can read a bit more about what happened to this place in my post, republished last year, that discusses some of the changes in more detail. The image below is the best now/then representaion that I can do. I stole the gate image from Andi's Hong Kong Movie Tours, so please click through and give him some love. Believe it or not, that is pretty much the same view in both images.
The main entrance Now/Then
You can't go inside the estate, unfortunately, because it's private. However, there is a walk you can do around the outside which will eventually take you back down onto Ping Ting Road next to the East Kowloon Polyclinic. To start you need to walk up the stepped alley on the left of the estate, at the top - on Fung Shing Street - turn right and there is a path that leads onto the hill side. Sadly, much of the view (not that there is anything to see) is obscured by tree and bamboo growth, but follow the signs to the polyclinic and it will take you back down to cvilisation after about 15/20 minutes.
That's it. All you need to do now is head home. There are green minibuses to Wong Tai Sin outside Kingsford Terrace (in case you didn't do the walk around the outside) or you can catch the 72 all the way back to Kowloon Tong MTR. Or, you can walk 5 minutes down the road to Chi Lin Nunnery and Diamond Hill MTR. It's up to you.
Thanks for reading. I hope somebody finds this useful and if so feel free to comment on ways it can be improved. I haven't finished with the Bruce tours yet and am currently planning a big tour of the NT. Watch this space.
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