Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - I Feng Mansion, To Kwa Wan

Another discovery from looking again at Yellowthread Street has revealed this location from the sixth episode, Fan Tan Man. It's I Feng Mansion in To Kwa Wan and by the looks at it we are looking through the gap between Blocks C and D towards the front of Mei King Mansion facing Lok Shan Road

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Macpherson Playground, Mongkok

The last scene from this episode shows a football game going on at a large outdoor (and typical HK-style concrete) pitch. The location is in Mongkok and it's Macpherson Playground. We've seen it before on this blog, back in 1975 for Bud Spencer's Flatfoot in Hong Kong, but from a different angle.

The block straight ahead has changed immensely because it now has two buildings affiliated to the CUHK (the Chinese University in Shatin) and at their base is an oddly placed temple - all of which front onto Shantung Street. The visible remnants from the modern Streetview appear to be the corner building (behind the person with the red T-shirt) and the taller building on the other end of the block.

Looking at Streetview you can just about see the two buildings I have just mentioned and sitting in between them are the two slim tall high rises that belong to CUHK. They look to have replaced the two low rise buildings that can be seen in the frame capture above.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Stanley Bay, Hong Kong

The finale of the Fan Tan Man episode takes place on a yacht moored off the coast somewhere. I've put Stanley Bay in the title of this post but actually the location of the beach where the final gun battle takes place is actually St Stephen's Beach around where the concrete jetty stands. The beach is probably the least changed part of Stanley bay compared to the main area where the promenade now is and of course the view opposite (as seen in the top photo) has been heavily developed since the series was filmed.

The bottom picture shows the aforementioned Outdoor Activities Centre. It's had a paint job since then but other than that still looks the same. Here is the jetty.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Aberdeen Marina Club, Aberdeen

An easy one here in the form of the Aberdeen Marina Club located in the Sham Wan area of Aberdeen. This episode - Fan Tan Man - actually visits the place twice, the first trip we see the interior of what looks to be the 2nd floor restaurant (of course it's a lot different now) and one of the circular balconies that are a feature of that floor.

The second time we go back to the AMC, we get to see the tropical pool at the back of the complex. You can see the aforementioned circular balconies at the top of the first picture. I have actually been here quite a few times and can confirm it looks pretty much the same as it did back then. The pool hasn't changed other than having a small water slide added at the back. Look carefully on the lower picture and you can see part of the Jumbo restaurant in the background.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Shatin Racecourse, Shatin

Well, we just saw a road leading up to the racecourse in Shatin, so now how about some footage taken inside the place itself. If anyone is interested in a crash course in Cantonese swear words, then this is the place to seek enlightenment.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Tolo Highway Elevated Road, Shatin

The Fan Tan Man (aka fat bald man) also gets followed to Shatin Racecourse and we catch a brief glimpse of the elevated road that leads down into the racecourse area. It's a nameless road but crosses the highway and is fed from either the northbound Tolo Highway or the Tsun King Road on the opposite side of the highway.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Man Cheong Street, Kowloon

Once upon a time, before the west Kowloon reclamation came along and filled everything in, yau ma Tei Typhoons shelter came right up to the north side of the Ferry Point Estate - a cluster of eight 1960's built tenements that sit just north of the where the old Jordan Road vehicular ferry terminal was located.

The estate is still around and we get to see the northern side of the Man Wai Building when Marenta (Robert Taylor) and co drive their car along what was once the waterfront of Man Cheong Street.

The angle above has us looking west along Man Cheong Street towards Yau Ma Tei and the building behind the Rolls Royce is the Man Wai Building. Here is the current Streetview.

You will spot a few familiar sites if you compare the middle screen grab with the Streetview, but of course the most striking difference is that Man Cheong Street is no longer along the waterfront. In fact the old line of demarcation between land and sea looks to coincide with the double white line on the modern view. Everything to the right of that double white line used to be water, and now carries a huge road network, the Olympian City development, Olympic Rail station and much much more.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Marriot Hotel, Queensway

Here's a surprise I wasn't expecting because I hadn't realised it had already been completed and opened for business. I'm talking about the J.W Marriot Hotel attached to Pacific Place. We get a brief glimpse of the entrance as the baldy bad guy heads off on one of his excursions. It's a brief glimpse but still recognisable today.

Unfortunately we can't get very close using Streetview so will have to settle with a long view taken from the public road outside. You can vaguely see that it looks the same although Marriot seems to have undergone a re-branding at some point and changed the style of their logo.

So, why was the Marriot featured in Yellowthread Street when other nearby hotels such as the Conrad and Shangri-La were still under construction. It appears that the Marriot was built in the very first construction phase of Pacific Place and so was ready by 1988 - a year or so before the series was made. The neighbouring hotels were part of a later phase completed in 1990. Also we have a scene filmed inside the hotel.

The distinctive metal pillars in the background can also be seen on this shot taken by a traveller and uploaded to the Tripadvisor website (link: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/ed/0d/ec/jw-marriott-hotel-hong.jpg)

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Tin Hau Temple, To Kwa Wan

Temples in Hong Kong can, usually, be relied upon to be around year after year. It's not true of all religious/spiritual buildings, but it's a brave developer indeed who risks the wrath of some make-believe deity for the sake of building a high-rise. So, it didn't take too long to track down the following place seen at the beginning of Fan Tan Man when our bald-headed bad guy goes there to pray for some good luck at the gambling table.

Unfortunately, Streetview doesn't have a great angle on this place due to the amount of traffic blocking the view - a common problem for me - so here is the same place taken from slightly to the right and forward of where the cameras would have been standing for the filming.

On the left side of the Streetview picture you can see a flyover which is the East Kowloon Corridor. We get to see the same road a few seconds later in the show when the cop car pulls out to follow their suspects along Lok Shan Road.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Various aerial pictures of Central, Hong Kong

No specific locations here but some nice aerial views taken from the opening section of Episode 6: Fan Tan Man. The quality isn't great (remember, these are screen grabs from a DVD that was made from a VHS copy that was done when the original series was shown in the UK back in 1990/91 (can't remember when it was exactly - I just wish ITV would release a proper restored DVD...)

The first two pictures give us a nice view across the Central harbourfront. The little bit of harbour water seen on the lower right on the bottom picture has now all been reclaimed and those piers you can see have completely gone.

The above picture shows the area around the (now named) Lippo Centre. We can see Hong Kong Park being created from the old Victoria Barracks and the tall building on the left is the Queensway Govt Offices. Just to the left of that is the shell of what was to become the Island Shangri-La (2 Pacific Place). Eagle-eyed readers may also spot the Hongkong Hilton just behind the B.O.C tower.

Again, another shot that is now be water-less courtesy of the reclamation that the IFC sits on top of. Of course we can see the old (and better located) Star Ferry piers and to the right of there is the last incarnation of Blake Pier. Actually, until I saw this I wasn't too sure where it was but now I can see it started right next to the GPO in front of Jardine House. I guess Man Yiu Street occupies some of that now.

The last few shots show the old helicopter landing pad that used to sit on the waterfront in front of Caine House (that's the low-rise building we can see at various distances on all three snaps, but is at the background on the lower picture) - it's better known as being the Central Police HQ. The are where the landing was is now partly occupied by the intersection of Lung Wui and Lung Wo roads. The site is largely empty still but slowly being redeveloped (into what?). The basin on the right in the top picture was originally part of HMS Tamar and now has the new Central Govt Offices on it.