Crime Lords - Wayne Crawford (1991) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

No scenes were shot here, sadly, but there is a nice view of King Yin Lei as one of the opening Hong Kong shots just after the Kai Tak sequence. It's a panning shot, so I've stitched it together to create a single image.

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - King Yin Lei, Stubbs Road

No scenes were shot here but there is a brief glimpse of this impressive house as George and co drive by along Stubbs Road. No, I still haven't been inside despite it being in Govt ownership (and with open days) for more than a decade now.

Old readers of my output may remember this place was almost demolished sometime ago (2007) before a public outcry shamed the Govt into taking action. They then tried to blame the previous owner (Stephen Yow) but it turned out he had already offered to sell it to the Government beforehand but was snubbed. 

Vanessa - Olivia Pascal (1977) - King Yin Lei, Stubbs Road

As Vanessa is being taken to her Uncle's house, she is driven up Stubbs Road and past King Yin Lei. It has cropped up in all manner of films over the years so it's nice to see it here as well.

Le Monocle Rit Jaune - Paul Meurisse (1964) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

The same sequence shot above the mid-levels also has a very brief glimpse of King Yin Lei. It's so brief that if you blink you'll miss it, but it's familiar roof and gables are instantly recognisable to geek boys such as myself. We've seen this building many times on this blog, perhaps most significantly in Soldier of Fortune, but I know there are many Bruce Lee fans that read this blog who will be more familiar with it as Mr Han's island mansion in Enter the Dragon.

You can read a bit more about it here, and see how many times it has featured on this blog here. In the meantime here is the single, solitary screen shot from the film.

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Stubbs Road, Wanchai

In a very quick scene when the bad guy picks up his female victim (just prior to her being dumped, unconscious, into Lobster Bay) we see them driving down Stubbs Road in Wanchai. The reason I know this is Stubbs Road is because of the appearance in the background of King Yin Lei at #45.

The building is still there of course, but the roof on it is new due to the previous owner, Cheung Chung-kiu, demolishing it in a display of property developer vandalism (in general, the unwritten rules are if you can do as much damage as possible to render the property beyond salvage then less people will complain when you knock it down - taking out the windows to let the rain in is another commonly used ploy). Luckily members of the public manage to help save it by reporting the damage.

On another note, I see that Streetview has images of this part of Stubbs Road from 2017, which means the camera car must be doing some badly needed rounds.

Day of the Panther - Eddie Stazak (1988) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

My quick foray into Day of the Panther ends with a bit of a surprise - for me at least. Jason Blade (Stazak) is inducted into his secret kung fu society at a temple. The interior is what can only be best described as low-budget, and the building used to portray the temple was none other than King Yin Lei up on Stubbs Road.

The angle is a bit odd because we are looking from the west, so I can only assume the camera was placed further along Stubbs Road where it bends sharply northwards around the hillside. Anyway, this view will soon be gone as the developer responsible for trying to demolish the place several years ago (he's called Cheung Chung-kiu and was just in the news again today) was given the adjacent land in compensation and he's building a massive development right there between the camera position and King Yin Lei.

I Spy (TV Series) - Robert Culp (1965) - King Yin Lei, Hong Kong

Let's kick off the I Spy posts with the beginning of the episode entitled Affair in T'sien Cha. The location should be very familiar to anyone who has read either of my two HK-based blogs. Yes, it's our trusty Chinese-styled house above Wanchai - 8 years before it became the distant lair of the nefarious Han, and ten years after it was the abode of Clark Gable.

For those familiar with the series itself, you will know that the premise is that Robert Culp plays a tennis player who travels the world participating in competitions and Cosby is his coach - but of course the roles are just a cover for their real work as spies.

What I hadn't realised, and which I have to thank AP for making me aware of is that - as you can see - King Yin Lei used to have a (grass, no less) tennis court right at the front of the property, next to Stubbs Road! I had no idea until AP sent me these caps - anyway, sadly the court was buried under a land slip during a typhoon the following year (1966).

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Kau Yi Chau, Outlying Islands

Despite the fact that all of the filming of Han's Island actually took place at a private property in Tai Tam called Palm Villa, there was a real island used for the black and white photo shown to Lee during his mission briefing with Braithewaite (played by Geoffrey Weeks).

The picture was an aerial shot taken - according to Paul Heller's film commentary - from a plane flown by Roy Chiao. Chiao, of course, played the head monk in the film who is seen at the beginning of the film. He was a noted Chinese actor of high repute as well as being a top class pilot.

What we see on film though is actually a composite photo containing three elements: a real island (Kau Yi Chau), Palm Villa's stepped tennis courts and King Yin Lei (used in the film to represent Han's mansion).

Unfortunately I don't have the resources to rent a helicopter and try to reproduce this angle for you. However, courtesy of GoogleEarth we can get a rough approximation - minus the superimposed elements of the tennis courts and mansion - looking almost as it did in 1973. No surprise really because I don't think this island is actually inhabited. The first shot is to give you some context so you can see where the island actually lies within HK waters. For those who aren't familiar with the geography you can see HK Island at the right hand side, the c-shaped island on the left is Peng Chau and the development to the north of there is, believe it or not....Disneyland.

Soldier of Fortune - Clark Gable (1955) - Bowen Road, Wanchai - Hong Kong

Immediately prior to the scene where we see Hank Lee's (Clark Gable) stupendous house in the guise of King Yin Lei, we are treated to a quick car tour which includes a short trip along Bowen Road.

More famous these days as a jogging spot and place to go and get your pet dogs killed by the infamous Bowen Road dog killer, the place is still quite picturesque and provides a great scenic walk that provides nice and cool shade on even the hottest of days.

The top shows nice views over Happy Valley, and look closely on the second pic and you will see the roof of King Yin Lei sticking out above the trees - much as it still does today.

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

As well as being used in Soldier of Fortune in 1955, King Yin Lei was also featured - albeit very briefly - in a long shot (taken from the Muslim Cemetery) in Enter the Dragon. It was used to represent Han's island fortress and is seen for a brief moment as the fighters arrive at the island and make their way up through the tournament grounds.

Edit 2026: Since I originally made this post, I have actually discovered that the building featured in many more productions. See here.

Soldier of Fortune - Clark Gable (1955) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

This location has just recently been back in the news following its 3-year restoration. I'm talking about King Yin Lei (or Lane as some people insist on calling it). In the film it's used to represent the opulent residence of the film's anti-hero, Clark Gable. The scene above shows the main entrance just off Stubbs Road. Those familiar with the place will see that actually, it hasn't changed at all in all the intervening years - a remarkable achievement considering we are talking about Hong Kong.

The next shot is of the bottom of the driveway at the side of the house. Readers of my other blog will know I have yet to make it inside this place so don't have any photos for comparison, but from what I have seen the grounds remain unchanged.

The above shot is from the other side of the house, actually I have no idea if this is counted as the front or the back but either way it's on the side that faces the harbour. Anyway, here are a few shots of the house I took a couple of years ago when the Govt had only just managed to replace the roof (it had been unceremoniously ripped off by the new owner before the Govt stepped in after a public uproar).