Templo de Pou Chai, Macau - Now and Then

Not far from Lou Lim Ioc Garden is the famous old Pou Chai Temple (Templo de Pou Chai). Also known as Kun Iam Temple, it was the location of the signing of the first Sino-American treaty (Treaty of Mong Ha) in 1844. There used to be a stone table where the signing took place, but on my recent trip I couldn't find it. I believe it was also once the location of a kidnapping attempt on Fu Tak Iam - Macau's first casino tycoon before it was wrestled from his grasp by Stanley Ho and Henry Fok et al via STDM.

For the purpose of this blog, it's connection to the film world comes from Narazumono (aka An Outlaw) where it was used as the Hong Kong location of the drug gang boss.

I've tried to get some comparisons but my reference material was hindered by the extreme amount of sunlight on the day - meaning I couldn't really see properly - but you get the general idea from the comparisons.

The temple remains largely unchanged since 1964, but you will notice that the large tree on the right in the first image below has been replaced by a small annex building. There looks to have been some changes on the temple roof, but this is hardly surprising given that we have had 62 years worth of typhoons to contend with since the film was made. It's not surprising that some of the Shekwan pottery has gone missing/been replaced.

In terms of the alleyway shot, there are actually two alleyways that run either side of the central altar buildings and it's not easy to tell which one they used in the film. They both look exacatly the same to the point where I can't remember which one it is I have used below for my comparison.

The final images show one of the smaller shrine rooms (on the east side of the complex I think) and the film image is largely obscured by the dark patch on the left used for the Japanese screen titles. In reality the room is quite open and behind the darkened bit is the shrine area.

The front gatehouse above has had an annex added on the right

The main temple roof

One of the side alleyways

Lou Lim Ioc Garden, Macau - Now and Then

I recently spent a very brief afternoon in Macau - I was on a 3-day trip to neighbouring Zhuhai and quickly popped in with the family to get some snaps of a few places for these comparison posts. First up is Lou Lim Ioc/Ieoc (last word is pronounced Yeoc, Macau romanises Cantonese "Y" sounds to "I") Garden. I have previously written "Ieoc" on my posts of this place, but I notice the official spelling is "Ioc".

The place is free to enter - as are most of these locations in Macau, and you can either go in through the main vehicle gateway on Estrada de Adolfo Loureiro (see the first images below for Game of Death) or enter through the tea museum (Casa Cultural de Chá de Macau) on Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida. It's worth a look if you have the time and benefits from aircon on a hot day.

This location has been used copious amounts of times for both local and foreign movie productions. Perhaps the most famous local movie is Drunken Master where the venue stands in for Jackie Chan's kung fu school. Sadly, the main building was closed when we were there but I was still able to get this general picture of the area where Dean Shek tortures Chan with some rigid horse-stance training. The building in the background is not the main house, but a smaller annex building within the garden. I couldn't quite recreate the further back/higher angle of the movie because there are plants obscuring the view, so this is the best comparison for the time being. Andi has a more comprehensive Drunken Master post over on his blog.

Drunken Master (1978)

One of the main foreign productions to feature the garden more extensively is China Cry, released in 1990. The garden and its buildings stand in for the pre-war Shanghai home of Julia Nickson's character, Sung Neng Yee. The following moon gate is located on the left side of the building seen in the images above.

Moon gate/arch

This is a view of the rear of the main house

also the rear, but on the other side

The pavilion and bridge is located in the NE of the garden

Perhaps one of the better-known "foreign" movies shot here is the 1978 travesty that goes by the name of Game of Death. A film most Bruce Lee purists would rather was consigned to the bin. The only real change I noticed between 1978 and now, and even since the last time I visited about 10 years ago, is that the lily pond has been completely cleared of the lilies, so now it's just...a pond.

It looks like they still have the same wrought iron gates in place 

This is the same area where the main fight scene takes place

Okay, not the best match for the angle, but you get the idea

For the final comparison I've tried to replicate another view, this time from Tai Pan. The difference here is forty years - Tai Pan was released in 1986. In the film, this is the extravagant home of the main character, Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown). Quite a few scenes were shot here but in parts of the garden that have since been renovated/changed. This shot shows the side rear of the main property.

Percival Street - Now and Then

One more from the Times Square vicinity as I compare Percival Street from 1956 to 2026 - a nice round 70 year difference. The older images are from Flight to Hong Kong and the camera is located on Percival Street looking up Matheson Street (in the initial image) and then moving slightly left to look up Percival Street (lower images).

In the older, top image you can see the relatively empty space to the right of the tram which is where the old tram depot was located. Today's view shows how the Times Square development now occupies it. Although the roads and surrounding buildings occupy the same spaces they did 70 years ago.

Moving the camera slightly to the left and we are now looking south along Percival Street. The buildings that occupy the block between Percival and Matheson Streets are not the same ones from 70 years ago but, as is often the case with buildings in Hong Kong, the footprint remains the same even if the modern buildings are much taller. Actually, the building that currently occupies that angled corner plot in the foreground is called Percival House and it was constructed in 1959, so the earlier building seen in the older image didn't have long to go before it was replaced.

There are two buildings that can be "just about" seen in both images, however, the angle is a bit too acute to make out any great detail. In the upper image, if you go from the left and follow the Lee Theatre building until the vertical signage, the next two blocks belong to buildings that are currently still intact: 87- 89 Percival Street. In my modern comparison snap below they are the two blocks with the red vertical sign in front of them. They were built in 1954 and so weren't that old when Flight to Hong Kong was filmed.

Matheson Street - Now and Then

Following on from my Times Square post, here is a comparison from the back of the development courtesy of Bloodfight (1989). The top two images show a 1989 v 2026 comparison of the view from Matheson Street looking up Sharp Street East (to the east).

I also took a quick picture from the same place that used to be a noodle shop but is now some clothes/fashion store. As you can see, most of the former open space of the tram depot (and the view to Russell Street behind it) is now obscured by the Times Square building.

Times Square - Now and Then

I was in Causeway Bay the other day and took the opportunity to take some comparison snaps at Times Square. For those who don't know the history of the site, it was previously the location of the expansive Sharp Street Tram Depot where the Hong Kong Tramway kept most of its rolling stock. Hong Kong Tramways was taken over by local developer, Wharf Holdings, in 1974 and following the creation of two new depot sites at the other side of the island, Wharf was able to free up the Sharp Street site for redevelopment. It closed permanently in 1989 and Times Square was subsequently constructed and opened in 1994.

The screen shots below are from Lara Croft Tomb raider: Cradle of Life (2003) and Je l'amais (2011). There have been quite a few films shot inside the office part of the development as well, but obviously that's off limits for me.

As you'll see from the more recent images, even since it was built there have been some changes to the place including the addition of mid-atrium escalators and the removal of the external lifts.

The external lifts we see in Je l'amais are no longer there. Initially I thought the whole thing had been removed, but on closer inspection it looks as though the whole wall was simply enclosed in the rather more heavy duty version of boxing. You can see in the modern image that the wall is no longer flush with the corner which suggest to me the lifts, or at least the infrastructure, are still there but just covered up. Perhaps they are still servicable and used by staff? Feel free to comment if you know.

Je l'amais (2009)

View as of June 2026.

Inside, the mall area has changed significalty. The walkways have been remodelled and there are now escalators criss-crossing the atrium.

Looking up towards the roof of the mall area and the film obviously took some artistic license with the view. First, it's not a glass ceiling because above the mall section is the rest of the office tower, and secondly, obviously the 2IFC tower that we can see in the film is a couple of miles away in Central. I was a bit dizzy looking up when I took the modern comparison so I couldn't quite match the same orientation...

I'll finish with a quick shot of the MTR entrance which is probably the least changed part of the whole area.

Tate's Cairn - Now and Then

I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently walked Stage 4 of the Wilson Trail in Hong Kong. Before you get to Temple Hill though you need to walk past Tate's Cairn and I remembered that The Generation Gap film up here back in 1973. Sadly I didn't have time to snap all the angles so I just grabbed this one because it was the easiest to replicate. I'm sure I'll be back there in the future and will endeavour to be a bit more diligent in future.

On the hilltop is the HK Govt Radio transmitter station. Not to be confused with the meteorological station which is to the left of the camera - out of shot.

Bill Lake R.I.P

I was saddened this week to learn of the passing of Bill Lake on 12 June 2026. As most of you will know, Bill was one of the earliest foreign actors in the HK movie industry and had quite an extensive list of roles to his name over the years (HKMDB) including a few TV roles in the early 80s as well.

I first met Bill at a Gwulo dinner circa 2015 and we had fairly regular meet ups in the intervening time, often with David Bellis (Gwulo head honcho) and myself heading over to Sai Kung to sit in Bill's favourite venue (the Duke of York) for a large pint of lemonade. He was definitely a bit of a raconteur and shared lots of stories with us about his time in Hong Kong and the various roles he was involved in during the 1970s and 80s. His later life was dedicated to researching the history of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation and is why Gwulo became a shared point of (historical) interest.

Bill posing at the Duke of York

Back in 2022, smack in the middle of Covid, I persuaded him to partake in an interview about his film career with my good buddy Arnaud (see here) and it was not long after this that he found out he had cancer. Despite this he was fairly stoic about it all and never complained about his predicament. In fact he was very matter-of-fact with me about it in our various updates over the past few years. This also seemed to give him the impetus to get a book written about his life and he was able to send me a copy a few weeks back.

Anyway, rest in peace Bill.

Edinburgh Place - Now and Then

Whilst snapping some images for a City Hall comparison, I also took the opportunity to do the same for some stills from Weiße Fracht für Hongkong (aka The Mystery of the Red Jungle). Also shot in 1963, this movie was filmed in colour and shows the area around the soon-to-be-demolished Star Ferry multi-storey carpark.

Honestly, just looking at the background of the first images below is enough to make me depressed. Apparently it's called "progress".

City Hall high block as seen from Edinburgh Place