The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road, Kowloon Tong

On the fateful day, Chen is targeted by the gang's girlfriend, and directed to a drop off point where they can hijack his car. On the way there we see him driving down Kent Road.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road Garden, Kowloon Tong

Chen goes for a picnic with his girlfriend. This was filmed at the Kent Road Garden in Kowloon Tong. The circular pavilion - a popular design in the 1960s and 70s in Hong Kong (they can be found in quite a few places) - is still there although the garden doesn't look quite as nice.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - 20 Kent Road, Kowloon Tong

Yet another Kowloon Tong location and this one with a bit of intriguing history behind it. The headquarters of the opposing gang is located at 20 Kent Road in Kowloon Tong. Xiao Rong is sent there by his boss to kill their boss. Failure to comply resulting in the death of his mum and sister. So he heads there on his motorbike. This one took a bit of locating because the property and it surroundings have changed significantly over the years. But there are a couple of clues that have helped lead to the identification. The first is the garden wall in the background of the first shot, behind the bike. This section of the wall doesn't exist anymore but there remains a section of it a little further up, belonging to #27 Kent Road.

The second clue comes from the background in the other direction. As Xiao Rong enters and leaves the property, we catch a glimpse of the roof of a property behind. It's quite a distinctive roof and, thankfully, is still around today. It belongs to the former "Air House" located at 1a Cornwall Street (the same building that was captured on camera in this post).

Sadly the property at #20 has changed significantly over the years and it was just recently demolished and completely rebuilt into a new building. What's interesting about this place, and you may already know this if you ever read my old, now deleted, history blog, is that it was the private house of infamous heroin kingpin, Ng Sik-ho aka "Limpy Ho".

Coincidentally (or not), Ho was convicted for his crimes in 1975, the same year this film was made, so it's quite possible the house was available for filming once it had been examined by the people investigating his crime. I have no idea who owned it at the time. In a later incarnation it was turned into a "Love Motel" (called the Kent Motel, I think?, the Chinese name was 根德小築) much in the same way as Bruce Lee's old house was. The owner basically filled in all the open spaces of the property (that can be seen in the screecaps) and turned it into a big rectangular block with maximum interior space (for max profits/usage) and operated it until around the time that COVID hit. Following its closure the building was demolished and redeveloped.

The house at the rear is 1a Cornwall Street

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road Garden Alleyway, Kowloon Tong

Another Kowloon Tong location as the bike chase continues down the alleyway that connects Kent Road Garden with True Light Lane. In the second image you can see the wall of the Kowloon True Light Middle School. The last image is the view into Kent Road as Gen Lai (Ti Lung) happens to be riding by when Rong is being attacked.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road, Kowloon Tong

There is a large amount of this film shot in and around the streets of Kowloon Tong. In this next scene we are looking up Kent Road towards the junction with Somerset Road. You too can repeat this view today by simply exiting Kowloon Tong MTR at exit G and looking left.

Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - Romantic Hotel, Kowloon Tong

The second recently recognised location to add to the Chinese Box collection is the "love hotel" that Vivian and John go to after getting together at Club BBoss. As they wander into the building you can see the name of the "Romantic Hotel" on the entrance. This was a real love hotel venue on Kent Road in Kowloon Tong that has since closed down.

When I moved to Kowloon in 2012 the hotel was still in business, but over several months in 2013 (see photos below) it was closed and remodelled into a tacky wedding venue called "My Palace". The finished structure (see bottom image courtesy of Google Streetview) reminds me of one of those old churches in the spaghetti westerns.