The Bruce Lee Guide to Yau Ma Tei

The Bruce Lee Guide to Yau Ma Tei

I originally posted this walking guide at the end of 2011 but a fair bit has changed in the past decade or so, so I felt an update was due.

As with the Tsim Sha Tsui walk, it’s mainly Bruce Lee-related places with some local interest thrown in for good measure. Some of the links are direct, some are a bit tenuousand most have loosened over the years as redevelopment has taken over many sites. This walk involves a lot of crossing of roads so make sure wait for the lights and don't get caught jaywalking.

There's not quite as many places to visit compared to the TST walk, but these ones are more spread out and cover a wider area. The walk is about 5km overall but you will find you waste a lot of time waiting for crossing lights to change.

We can start this walk at the junction of Austin Rd and Chatham Road South – not so far from where the Tsim Sha Tsui walk dropped us off, and easily reached from East TST or Hung Hom train stations – and we shall take in the following locations:

1. St Mary’s Canossian College, Austin Road

2. Kowloon Bowling Green Club, Austin Road

3. Tak Shun Primary school, Austin Road

4. Shamrock Hotel, Nathan Road

5. 218 Nathan Road

6. Cox’s Road playground

7. 9 Cox’s Road

8. Mau Lam St

9. Eaton Hotel

10. Queen Elizabeth Hospital

11. Pui Ching Carpark and Kowloon Methodist School

12. Tin Hau Temple square

13. Kansu Street

14. Prosperous Garden and Broadway Cinematique

15. Wholesale Fruit Market

16. YMCA Cityview

17. King’s Park



1. St Mary’s Canossian College

This walk starts here, at what is supposedly Bruce's very first school. Sitting on the corner of Austin Road and Chatham Road South, the Canossian College was built circa 1900 andhas been a girls schools of some repute for a fair amount of time. The school was run by Italian Catholic nuns and, by virtue of Italy being a member of the Axis, the school remained in operation throughout the Japanese occupation and was open to a wide variety of co-educational nationalities at the time. Immediately following the war, the school was used temporarily as an elderly home before reverting back to a school. It possibly in this period, following its post-war re-opening, that Bruce attended when the school was still accepting students of both sexes.

The school is right next door to the Rosary Church, the local Catholic church. Knowing that the Lee family were Catholics (his father is buried in the St Raphael's Catholic Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan), it's not beyond possibility that Bruce also ventured into that church during his childhood for the odd mass.

2. Kowloon Bowling Green Club

Walk west along Austin Road and you will hit several spots of interest. The first is the Gun Club Hill Barracks – originally a British Army barracks established in the early days of the original Kowloon lease (i.e. 1860’s) but now, obviously, is a PLA base with its own hospital. It’s an impressively historic location and some old antique guns are still on display outside the main entrance. It’s not directly related to Bruce of course but is one of the many places in this area that would have formed part of his childhood landscape, so worthy of a mention.

When I first wrote this walking tour back in 2011, there was a really nice curvy building located at 148 Austin Road built circa 1953/54 that Bruce would definitely have walked past in his youth. Unfortunately, this very stylish building was demolished a few years later, despite a recent repaint, and replaced by a high rise hotel called "page 148". I'll leave the before and after pictures below so you can make your own mind as to which one is/was nicer.

Our real point of interest along this part of the road is on the opposite side of the road to #148 and is the Kowloon Bowling Green Club.

Of course, this place is primarily for lawn bowls and Bruce used to (lawn) bowl there with his brother Robert as well as use the club swimming pool. A family anecdote mentions Phoebe (Bruce's older adopted sister) holding his head under water as a prank, and nearly drowning him. The pedestrian entrance of the club is here on Austin Road, but the car entrance is located around the corner on Cox’s Road – a street we will come back to in a short time.

3. Tak Shun Anglo-Primary School

Continue along Austin Road and we come to Bruce's old primary school. Bruce attended Tak Shun after his time at St Mary’s Canossian College. I guess both schools were ideally located for Bruce’s parents because they were both just around the corner from the family home on Nathan Road. He attended up to the age of 10. Unfortunately, the versionon the site is not the one Bruce attended. His school was demolished and replaced by this current version in 1956.

This school was one of the original five locations included in the HK Bruce Lee Club's self-funded "Bruce Lee Way". Each location had a brass plaque explaining Lee's connection to the place. Sadly it appears that souvenir hunters made off with the plaque some time ago - it used to be on the front wall seen above. Then, for a while there was a rather nice mosaic - depicting a young Lee in one of his childhood film roles - attached to the side of the school in an alleyway (see far left of my image above). However, this appears to have now been moved to inside the school driveway on the Austin Road side. Perhaps the school was scared someone might damage it in its old position in the adjoining alleyway?

4. Shamrock Hotel, Nathan Road

Heading towards Nathan Road, on the opposite side is Kowloon's very first "skyscraper" in the form of the former Shamrock Hotel. Built in 1952, this art-deco style hotel was, at the time, Kowloon's tallest building. I say former Shamrock Hotel because just a few years ago (2018) the hotel was put up for auction and I feared it would probably be gone the next time I wandered by. It seems that someone has had a change of heart though and the building is still there, has been renamed "Synloc Tower" and appears to be still operating as a hotel. How much time Bruce spent here is anyone's guess, but I have heard stories that he used to go here as a youngster for family meals. This wouldn't surprise me given the Lee house was located directly opposite. I believe Bruce did take Doug Palmer here during their 1963 trip, but I haven't read Palmer's book so can't confirm (please feel free to comment below).

Simon Leung also told me once that the hotel can be seen in The Orphan. A film which I still haven't seen (I intend to head to the HK Film Archive to rectify that this year).

The Shamrock Hotel, now Synloc Tower

5. 218 Nathan Road

Directly opposite from the Shamrock is the location where the Lee family used to live: 218 Nathan Rd - part of a much larger block called the "Katherine Building". This large 4-storey building consisted of 14 blocks/residences numbering from #216 - #228a Nathan Road. Like many pre-war buildings, the ground floor was dedicated to shops and other non-residential uses whilst the upper floors were private residences. From the first floor up, the building extended over the pavement, supported by columns, creating an arcade for pedestrians to walk under (therefore avoiding the rain, hot sun, or just general stuff being chucked out of windows) and these type of buildings are quite rare in Hong Kong now. A small example can be found not far away on the corner of Nathan and Austin Roads (see below). If you can imagine this building but with another 13 similar blocks side-by-side, then you have a good idea of what the Katherine Building would have looked like. In fact, most of Hong Kong and Kowloon looked like this at one point.

190 Nathan Road

If you go to this page on Gwulo, you can see the old block on the right hand side. Bruce's house was actually the third set of balconies in from the near end. This is because the numbering of the residences started at #216, but then there was #218a before #218. I've marked up the second image below to give you a better understanding of where Bruce's home would have stood at the time.

The Prudential Centre – Mall/Hotel

Bruce's house number was #218

The Katherine Building was torn down in the late 70’s/early 80’s to make way for the current building – The Prudential Centre – completed in 1982. It’s a mid-size shopping mall/hotel complex with very distinctive large red columns on the front facade. It looks a bit dated to be honest and it wouldn't surprise me if it was replaced sometime in the near future.

Moving on past the mall we walk onto Tak Shing Street on the mall’s southern end and walk all the way down it to get on to Cox’s Road. Tak Shing Street is a nice little thoroughfare marred by Hong Kong's proliferation of vehicle traffic. During Bruce's childhood it was a small quiet side street with some rather nice mansions along it.

On the north side of the street is a high rise development called "Fortune Terrace". This was once the location of six large mansions, one of which was owned by famous Hong Kong actor, Leung Sing Poh (梁醒波). I mention this because Leung was good friends with the Lee family. Two other mansions were reportedly owned by Fu Tak Iam, the famous businessman who controlled the Macau gambling monopoly before Stanley Ho & co were able to wrestle it from him in 1962. Anyway, continue walking to Cox's Road and on the opposite side is the Cox's Road Playground.

6. Cox’s Road Playground

At the far end of Tak Shing Street we arrive at Cox’s Road almost directly opposite the previously mentioned vehicular entrance to the bowling club. There are a couple of Lee-related places of interest along here. So we need to cross the street. The innocuous looking children’s playground is the same one that was featured in several pictures of Bruce with his friend Unicorn and also Sylvia Lai.You can see more Lee snaps at the same place at the following link: flutesilencieuse.

The playground in 2023

If you are unlucky enough to visit the playground on a day when there is a cricket game going on at the Kowloon Cricket Club next door, you might find it closed. Just a heads up. You won't be missing much to be honest.

7. 9 Cox’s Road 

Just up the road at #9 is a residential developmented called "Carmen's Garden". In a previous life (between 1954 and 1994 to be precise) it was "Morse House", the HK Boy Scouts Association HQ where Bruce was known to have gone on the odd occasion (there is a family snap of him there with Robert as youngsters).

Former site of Morse House

For how this used to look, or at least the area around it, check out a post I did on the Bruce Li film, The Chinese Stuntman, a while back. It's a brief scene outside the scouts HQ with John Ladalski. Keep walking up towards Jordan Road, and cross over into Chi Wo St.

8. Mau Lam Street

Mau Lam Street is the fourth turn on the left up Chi Wo Street. Not normally a street name associated with Bruce but it was here, at #5, where his mum and dad lived before he was born. In fact, Bruce’s older siblings (Agnes, Peter, Phoebe) were all living here when mum and dad went off on their operatic tour to the US (circa 1939). This was the tour during which Bruce was conceived and born and had his first on-screen film moment. He and his parents returned to HK in the early part of 1941, just in time to settle down before the Japanese invaded. This whole street has been redeveloped so the old Lee home has long since gone. Even today, the road is still undergoing huge changes as the nearby Novotel Hotel building has been demolished leaving a big gap. I mention this gap because this is also where number 5 (in fact 1 thru 17) once stood.

9. Eaton Hotel- former site of the Po Hing Theatre

It's the Eaton Hotel now, but back in Bruce's day this bit of land was occupied by theatres - first the Po Hing Theatre (1928-1955) and then the Astor Theatre (1957-1987) - which, as well as showing films, often provided live Cantonese Opera performances. Bruce's dad, Lee Hoi Chuen, was a famous operatic performer in his day and frequently featured in productions performed at the Po Hing Theatre. There is (or at least used to be) a small signboard with a picture of the old Po Hing Theatre on the wall of the adjacent public area.

In the meantime turn right and follow Gascoigne Road to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Rd for the next stop.

10. Queen Elizabeth Hospital

As all Bruce fans know, Queen Elizabeth Hospital is the hospital that Bruce was taken to, via ambulance, on the night he died. The original buildings are still around but are now obscured by the newly built block you can see centre right below. Given the current political environment in Hong Kong, there is speculation on whether this place will be renamed at somepoint in the future.We shall see.

You may or may not be able to head into the A&E department here - I suspect may not unless you have some sort of injury - where Bruce was originally taken on that night. However, I would recommend leaving the hospital and its staff alone so they can do their jobs and retrace your steps back down to Gascoigne Road and walk back towards Nathan Road.

Walking just past the old Kowloon Magistracy (now the Lands Tribunal building) you will notice avery steep street on the right hand side. This is the small private road that leads up past the Methodist Church and school.

11. Pui Ching Carpark and Kowloon Methodist Church and School

Walk all the way to the top of this narrow steep road to reach the carpark for the Pui Ching Academy. Back in the 1960s it was the Grantham College of Education and there are some photos of Bruce here busting out some moves with Doug Palmer.

Methodist College in the background

The zigzag roofline in the background belongs to the Kowloon Methodist School. The Pui Ching place has got a bit more protective of its carpark of late, so if you go you may or may not find it accessible. The day I went it wasn't and I had to settle for the following photo from the road instead. As you can see, not much has changed here. The section of the wall sticking out onto the pavement is the same bit that can be seen behind Bruce in the photo above. 

As you walk back down the road pay attenton to the left hand side because on the wall of the Kowloon Methodist Church is where a much younger Bruce also once sat to have his photo taken. I don't have a copy but have been assured by a friend that one exists. You'll just have to take their word for it.

Methodist Church on the left

After getting back on to Nathan Road, we need to cross and walk along Public Square Street to the Tin Hau Temple.

12. Tin Hau Temple Square

Walk north along Nathan Road and cross over to Public Square Street at the pedestrian lights. A short walk along Public Square Street will bring you to the open square in front of the temple.

This place has changed significantly since Bruce's time. When he was a youngster this area was known as Yung Shue Tau (榕樹頭) where several large banyan trees had been planted. The reason we are here is due to an unconfirmed (and probably apocryphal) story that it was here where Bruce was given his stage name, Lei Siu Lung (李小龍), by a fortune teller who used to set up his stall by one of the aforementioned banyans.

Anyway, exit the square through the gate on the far side of the square opposite the temple and turn left onto Shanghai Street. Walk down to Kansu Street for the next stop. 

13. Kansu Street

I thought I would include this place on this updated version of the walk because it can be seen at the beginning of Enter the Dragon. The problem is that this place is currently undergoing significant change as the old YMT Public carpark has been torn down to make way for a new Central Kowloon highway that is currently being constructed. The place is a mess right now, so I will no doubt have to update this in a few years to show what it is like once it has all been completed. Anyway, here is the reminder from the film followed by a picture of the same area supplied to me by Simon Leung. In Simon's image, it looks as though the construction of the aforementioned carpark has started on the right side of the frame. The old rickety block was later knocked down (before it fell down I suspect...) and replaced by the temporary Jade Hawker Bazaar. This has in turn now moved to a multi-purpose block on Shanghai Street that also houses the YMT library. It's located opposite the temple's public square we just left. Notice how the cinema lens of the film really compressed the block in the top image.

Courtesy Simon Leung

Same view in 2023 as a new highway overpass is being constructed

You can walk along Kansu Street and then turn up Canton Road, past the old Police Station that is currently unoccupied and being prepared for some other use. At the end of the road is Public Square Street again and we need to cross over into Prosperous Gardens.

13. Prosperous Garden and Broadway Cinematique

If one place was to epitomise the way property development can completely change the landscape in HK, this would be it. Once a tightly-packed low-rise neighbourhood full of Chinese tenements, it’s now a high-rise Govt housing estate. It is also the location of one of HK’s foremost art-house cinemas - the Broadway Cinematique.

The whole site was once a Marine Lot but was redeveloped after the war into several streets: Lee Tat Street and Cheung Shui Street with Canton Road extending beyond Public Square Street and terminating at the wholesale fruit market. Lee Tat Street is known for being one of the locations of Yip Man's Wing Chun school - and supposedly one of the locations where Bruce took lessons.

Old Map of Yau Ma Tei. Lee Tat St marked (courtesy of Paul Li).

When the site was cleared in the late 1980s to make way for Prosperous Gardens, both Lee Tat Street and Cheung Shui Street - and the northern extremity of Canton Road - were essentially eradicated from existance. However, the construction of the new estate left some symbolic gaps in the development where the streets used to be and you can see these gaps in the image below. The central block below stands inbetween where Cheung Shui Street (on the left) and Lee Tat Street (on the right) once stood.

Hong Kong's foremost Bruce Lee historian, Paul Li, also alerted me to another later Lee link for this place. In the early 00's, HK TV presenter and actor, Stephen Au, set up a Lee memorabilia shop/museum at the cinema’s bookshop area. The place has long since gone, but the bookshop (and cafe, called Kubrick's) remain and are a great place to grab a bite to eat and a coffee if you are feeling a bit knackered. The following Chinese newspaper article details Stephen’s venture (again, supplied by Paul). Lee fans should know Stephen as he recently discovered more previously lost footage - although what has happened to it since then (it was several years ago) I don't know.

14. Wholesale Fruit Market

Head out of the north exit of Prosperous Garden and head right before turning north along Reclamation Street, so-called because it marks an area in Yau Ma Tei that used to be the waterfront until succumbing to a previous round of reclamation in years gone by. A short walk north is the Wholesale Fruit Market. It was once a place where you could pick up all manner of stuff including fresh catch from the nearby waterfront, but over the past few decades has restricted its activity to wholesale fruit. This is the same location we see Jim Kelly walking through in the opening credits of Enter The Dragon.

Much of the market remains the same – old buildings lining a central lane where the wholesalers sell their stuff in bulk to whoever wishes to buy – including you if you've got room in your stomach for a bulk purchase.

15. YMCA Cityview

The north side of the fruit market runs along the southern side of Waterloo Rd. We need to go here for our next point of interest but we need to turn right on Waterloo Road and keep going until we cross Nathan Road again. Follow Waterloo Rd along the southern pavement as it curves to the left (and turns north east). On one side you will see an Ambulance Depot & Fire station and on the other is another of the Chinese YMCA’s local hotels . This is where Bruce went to to study English prior to his move to the states. Well okay, once again, unfortunately this is not the original building and has already been replaced twice since Bruce was here. The current building was built in 1995 and the one preceding it went up in 1966, so all traces of Bruce have long been eradicated. Just opposite here is the way to our next location on this walk.

16. King’s Park Garden

There are two ways to get up to our final stop, one slightly less brutal than the other. The brutal, but quicker way is to take the steps up the hill just past the Ambulance station on Waterloo Road. They don't look much in the photo below, but they are steep and long.

The alternative is to walk to Chun Yi Lane and follow the longer more meandering but less steep pathway to the reservoir at the top of the hill. It's up to you. The reservoir here was built in the 1930s and is one of the locations where Bruce would come with his father and his mates to train in Tai Chi. Back then it was less green and more sandy, but also most of King's Park was undeveloped. This location now, due to the presence of the reservoir, is about the only untouched bit of the hill that is left. 

This is also another of the locations used for the previously mentioned Bruce Li film, The Chinese Stuntman.

Anyway, that's your lot for now. The next walk will visit a few sites in and around Mongkok.