Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

A quick look back at episode 7 - Rummy's Cut - has revealed another location I missed out the first time. I have no idea why because its location is quite obvious as being the pedestrian bridge that spans Canton Road between the Silvercord Centre and what is now the Marco Polo Gateway Hotel. Also, it appears directly before this location which (almost) makes sense. Anyway, here it is. Not much has changed in the intervening time.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Fenwick Pier Street Elevated Road, Hong Kong

A fairly easy one to pinpoint here but the location, much like the rest of the harbour front, is undergoing significant changes as the latest reclamation nears completion. This is the flyover that takes you from Fenwick Pier Street up and over onto Harcourt Road in front of Admiralty Station. Looking at these pictures makes me miss the low-rise version of Kowloon...

The lower picture shows the HK Academy for Performing Arts on the right. Those of you who have read my Noble House posts will know that building was used to portray the Ho Pak Bank a couple of years previously. Here is the same area today - lots more greenery at least.

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

A quick establishing shot (for what I can't remember) that looks to have been taken from the KCR rail bridge that crosses Argyle Street.

I can't get the same angle from Streetview for obvious reasons, but the snap below gives a reasonable impression of how it looks today. Obviously there are a few extra skyscrapers in Mongkok these days, but the older tenements are still around as is the Argyle Street Water Supplies Department building (you can just make out the front face of it on the right hand side of the top screen grab).

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Haiphong Road, Kowloon

Does anyone remember Catch 22? Well for those of you who do here is a brief reminder courtesy of Rummy's Cut as the cops drive from Canton Road down into Haiphong Road and park next to the Silvercord Centre.

The building in the background, in case the partially obscured name wasn't a big enough clue, is the Harbour City development which consists of numerous blocks built over the past 40 years - the oldest probably being the Grand Ocean Theatre which went up in 1969. The building we can see with the curved windows is actually the (currently Marco Polo) Gateway Hotel, built in 1981.

The Silvercord has gone a bit upmarket since this series was filmed and, as with the rest of the territory, the mall is pretty much a luxury goods market aimed at the Mainland walking money machines...ooops, I mean "tourists".

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Kowloon Walled City, Kowloon

One of the scenes from Rummy's Cut involves the gang heading over to the former Walled City in Kowloon to investigate the death of poor old Rummy.

The first scene is a panning shot that tracks from left to right across the outside of the tenements before moving down to focus on the unmarked police car. Rather than stick a bunch of screencaps here I was have managed to stitch a bunch of shots together to make the rather interesting picture below.

Here are a few more shots from inside the Walled City, but it's nothing that we haven't seen before such as in Bloodsport.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Ocean Park, Aberdeen

Until 2001, the Aberdeen-side of Ocean Park (at the bottom of the long escalators) was dedicated to "ancient China". It was part of the park called "Middle Kingdom" (the direct translation of the Chinese term for "China") and consisted of some Imperial looking Chinese buildings around a central square. On my first trip to HK I did actually go here and stayed to watch the so-called kung fu demonstration - basically a bunch of guys doing the standard circus acts of bending rebar in their throats, throwing chopsticks into a target board and walking barefoot across supposedly razor sharp knives.

Anyway, in the next few grabs you can see the buildings I was referring to in the background. The top one shows what looks like a temple at the top left but it was just a cheap imitation that, seemingly, wasn't popular with the burgeoning Mainland masses. You can also see the aforementioned escalators snaking down the mountain.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Convention Avenue, Wanchai

Back to Rummy's Cut and a quick snippet of an area that is changing as we speak. It's the area right next to the old Wanchai Star Ferry Pier.

When I say "changing as we speak", ongoing harbour reclamation works extending all the way from Wanchai to Central have forced the old pier to close and a new one built at the front of the newly reclaimed harbourfront - about 100 metres further north. The old pier, seen partially in the above screen caps, was just closed on the 29th August 2014. Here is a diagram of the area as it currently stands, courtesy of the Star Ferry company (http://www.starferry.com.hk/en/news20140821).

The walkway over the road is still around and hasn't changed much, but the view we see in the lowest screen capture (above) has completely disappeared thanks to the new Convention Centre - built in time for the 1997 Handover ceremony.

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

It wasn't long since we were last inside the club for a moment during Fan Tan Man, but we return to the club grounds , next to the "Tropical" swimming pool (at least that's what the club calls it these days) for this episode: Rummy's Cut.

We get a quick view of the boardwalk in the marina as the cops enter the club via what is really the back door (and only really open to people who have their boats parked out the back).

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Enterprise Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui

This is one of those locations that has been made easy for me thanks to the name of the building appearing on screen. It doesn't happen often but it makes life easy when it does.

Anyway, in this case we are at the Enterprise Centre at 4 Hart Avenue. Looking at it you wouldn't believe it is the same building but I have checked the records and can confirm this is still the same place - built in 1976 and still standing. However, the owner of the building has done what most people wouldn't consider - renovate the building completely rather than demolish and rebuild. As a result the outside makes it look like a brand new building.

What appears to be a vehicular entrance in the second shot above has been converted into the main entrance of the building now. The only thing that seems to be unchanged is the double pole of the road sign.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Percival Street, Causeway Bay

Yellow is the colour of the moment it seems, so it seems only fitting that this post from Yellowthread Street (episode: Rummy's Cut), should also feature something else yellow...in this case a tram.

The scene has no real significance to the plot, but I guess when you spend all that money filming in Hong Kong you may as well showcase some of the sights and sounds. So, here we have a nice yellow tram making the turn from Hennessy Road into Percival Street in Causeway Bay (strictly speaking still part of Wanchai District).

Other than the addition of a pedestrian walkway - because, after all, why should cars be inconvenienced to stop for crossing pedestrians, right? - and the removal of many overhanging signs, the place hasn't changed much physically. Percival Street is still the turnoff/on for trams heading into and away from Happy Valley, but if you were to take a look at shop rents in this area over the past few years you'll find it has become one of the most expensive streets in HK with some utterly crazy prices being paid for prime retail space. Anyway, below is the current Streetview.

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

More Aberdeen Harbour, this time from episode 7 - Rummy's Cut. Actually, this time we go down to the Sham Wan area of the harbour in the eastern portion next to the floating restaurant pontoons and the Aberdeen Marina Club.

The first shot above shows us looking from Sham Wan towards the west with the bridge joining Hong Kong to Ap Lei Chau (the Ap Lei Chau Bridge). All the high rises we can see are on Ap Lei Chau.

The area around the Sham Wan containing all the private slipways. The low section of the AMC can be seen back left and the skinny building on the right is in fact the Marine Police Aberdeen Base.

The final picture shows the AMC and if you look carefully you can see one of the floating restaurants rather ornate pontoons just to the left.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan

Episode 7 of Yellowthread Street is called Rummy's Cut and starts off with what is supposed to be a gold/jewellery heist but turns out to be a set up. So we have some nice shots of the area on Bonham Strand where Mercer and Hillier Street join on to it. In fact the camera gives us a look right up Mercer Street.

Here's a comparison, well, as close as I could get from the confines of my nice comfortable chair.

Actually, I initially thought that perhaps the building on the corner (left of screen) was the same one, but I think that it has been replaced by a newer one that had no choice but occupy the same odd footprint - either that or a major remodeling of the windows has gone on.

Next the camera sweep left so we get a view up Bonham Strand.

Okay, so there has been a lot of redevelopment here. It looks like all the stuff on the right hand side has been redeveloped, and of course in the far distance we can see that we once had an unobstructed view of the Wing Hang Bank Building (located at 161-169 Queen's Road Central), but it is funny to see that the HSBC is still there - albeit with the subsequent rename (from Hongkong Bank to HSBC) and repainting of the building.

Lastly the camera settles on its intended subject - a jewelers close to the junction with Hillier Street.

Now, the Streetview version gives a view from further away, but I can tell you that the buildings in the top picture has been replaced by a single block called the Teda Building, with its entrance around the corner on Hillier Street. However, there are some relics left over (which helped me locate this) and that includes the Kung Kai Hung shop (off screen on the right in the screen cap and behind the taxi, centre picture, in the bottom streetview picture).

Also, look carefully at the top screen cap and you can see an establishment at the back (on Hillier Street) with the words "Cheong Gold" - the rest of the name being obscured. Well, actually this business is still there and its called Lee Cheong Gold Dealers Limited in the same building (Hillier Commercial Building).