Fearless Tiger - Jalal Merhi (1991) - Shanghai Street, Kwun Chung

One of the street scenes involving Lyle walking around trying to find his friend's kung fu school was filmed at the junction of Shanghai Street and Bowring Street in Kwun Chung. Lyle passes by a once popular BBQ/roast meat eatery called 沙記乳豬燒臘 (aka "Sha Kei Roast Suckling Pig"). In the image below we are looking at a previous location at #41 Shanghai Street - it later moved a few doors away to the opposite side of the junction before finally closing down sometime in 2022. The top image is pointing south down Shanghai Street towards Austin Road. with Wing Fat Mansion at the far end.

In the same sequence is another shot, and I believe this was looking northwest from the same junction (previous images above are looking southwest). The key here is a sign for the 官涌集友會 - aka roughly translated as the "Kwun Chung Friends Association". It was located on the section of Shanghai Street just north of Bowring Street.

The Big Game - Brendan Boone (1973) - Shanghai Street, Mongkok

I would have included these pictures with my last Shanghai Street post had I been able to identify them in time, alas no. However, this one is worth including separately anyway because this section of Shanghai Street was a block further north and I believe we are looking south just before the junction with Soy Street. There is a very blurry Pawnshop sign above the shops along the right side of the road, and looking at other photos of this area I believe it to be the 泰和押 - the Tai Wo pawnshop.

I don't believe this pawnshop exists anymore, but someone took the old sign (these signs are supposed to be shaped like bats) and stuck it at the top of a recessed lightwell between the present day 469 and 471 Shanghai Street (see if you can spot it here).

The Big Game - Brendan Boone (1973) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

One of several street scenes shot for this film is along the Yau Ma Tei section of Shanghai Street. I believe this is the junction with Dundas Street, looking south.

Bloodfight - Yasuaki Kurata (1989) - Wan Loi Tea House, Mongkok

Just when you thought Hard Boiled was the only movie to shoot in this now-demolished teahouse in Mongkok, there is a brief scene in Bloodfight where Ryu is partaking in what is known as "Yam Cha" in the local vernacular. Literally meaning to "drink tea", it is the Cantonese term for eating dimsum. The restaurant was demolished quite soon after Hard Boiled filmed there and I recently did a modern day comparison.

The Confidence Man JP: The Movie - Masami Nagasawa (2019) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

Despite being a very quick sequence, the scene was obviously shot over a much longer period as the view point switches between Nathan Road and Shanghai Street in quick succession. Below is looking south along Shanghai Street from the junction with Saigon Street. The sign for the Tak Sang pawnshop can be seen on the left.

Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei - Now and Then

The following screen caps from Ein Sarg aus Hongkong were taken from Shanghai Street looking east over to the old market that once occupied the public square in front of the temple. We can see Heinz Drache and Angela Yu Chien about to cross the road at the corner of Shanghai Street and Public Square Street. The only building still around in this shot (other than the temple which can be just seen through the trees in my photo) is the white building at the back which stands on the corner of Temple Street and Public Square Street. For those who don't know, this is the building that has the Mido Cafe in it. You can see it in the screen cap just above the two actors' heads.

Earlier in the film is a brief view of the area to the right (south) of this one, although it was obviously filmed at the same time. It's the Market Street side of the square with the old toilet block at the junction  (this same shot was later reused in The Million Eyes of Sumuru). Note the Chinese tenement buiding in the background with the wooden arched apertures.

The old film gives a good idea of where Temple Street once emerged onto Market Street - it's the gap between the toilet block and the Chinese tenement. However, that section of Temple Street disappeared with a significant amount of development and, as you can see by my own image, the area at this end was filled in by what is actually a refuse collection centre. The section of Temple Street between here (Market Street) and Kansu Street (one block down) was shifted approximately 20 metres to the east - running along where the old Chinese tenement once stood. Much of the space where Temple Street used to run was taken over by the construction of the YMT multi-storey carpark (currently being demolished as of 2021). As you can see, the toilet block is still going strong and hasn't changed at all over the last 50 years or so.

Wan Loi Tea House (雲來大茶樓) - Now and Then

I was in Mongkok yesterday and took the opportunity to grab a current picture of the block where the Wan Loi Tea House (雲來大茶樓) was located. As mentioned in my original post, the building was demolished immediately after the filming was done and replaced by the Sun Ming Building seen in my current image.

Hard Boiled - Chow Yun Fat (1992) - Wan Loi Tea House, Mongkok

Actually, I'm not sure if this place had an 'official' English name, but the Chinese is 雲來大茶樓. This is the traditional style teahouse (with overhead poles for hanging your pet bird cage) where the shootout takes place at the beginning of the film.

There's a locations feature uploaded onto Youtube (from an old Dragon Dynasty release) which places the restaurant where the Langham Office Tower is today, but this is incorrect (one of several fudges on that short feature). The restaurant was in Mongkok but was located one block to the south, at the junction of Shanghai Street and Soy Street. The Sun Ming Building now stands on the site.

Sun Ming was completed in 1993, and wikipedia notes that the location was chosen because it was about to be demolished. They should have just let John Woo shoot for an extra few days and I am sure most of the demolition work would have already been completed. I would have loved to visit it when it was open because Hong Kong really doesn't have any teahouses like this anymore. Sadly, even on my first trip in 1995, I was already two years late.

If you want to know how to get there, Sean Tierney has put together a rather amusing little video for his (sadly on hiatus) "Silver Spleen" Youtube channel. Link here: https://youtu.be/kSExMu0MDg4

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

Trying to draw out this film as much as I can (because I have nothing in backup after running out of sources) and figured I would give this rather difficult location a stab. After a few minutes (!) I realised this is the rooftop of a building located on the corner of the junction between Saigon Street and Temple Street.

You can't actually see Temple Street in this shot because it is below the frame of the shot but the rooftop the two are talking on has a Temple Street address (#151). The street that is implied by the gap in the buildings behind Gary Lewis is in fact Saigon Street running from bottom right to centre frame. The two buildings on the opposite side facing Saigon Street stand at either side of the junction with Shanghai Street.

In addition to the above rooftop shot, in another part of the film is a shot used as part of a transition sequence that shows what I believe to be the view to the north from this exact same spot. You can just make out the red/orange paint job of the Alhambra Building behind the netted scaffolding on the left, followed by Honour House in the middle (behind the green netting) and finally the stripey exterior of the Hang Shing Building on the right.

Election - Simon Yam (2005) - Shanghai Street, Mongkok

In the scene where we are first introduced to the character of Jimmy (played by Louis Koo), the various characters are eating in cafe/noodle place and have brought money for one of the triad uncles. The latter then proceeds to fetch a prostitute off the street opposite and gets her to jump up and down so he can watch her boobs jiggle before leaving with her. The eatery appears to no longer exist - at least according to Google Earth - and the unit now houses a 7-11 and a "Megaman" lightbulb shop. The establishing shot for the scene is a view looking down Shanghai Street from the junction with Lai Chi Kok Road.

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

Another Yellowthread Street location recently discovered, this time from Episode 5 - Angel Eyes. It's an opening shot of a road filmed as it's getting dark. The shops signs weren't much help this time but the layout of the road ahead made me think of Waterloo Road close to the intersection with Nathan Road. Actually, the opening image turned out to be a little west of Nathan Road at the junction with Shanghai Street. Most of the buildings seen in the images can still be found.

Ghost in the Shell - Scarlett Johansson (2017) - Pak Hoi St, Yau Ma Tei

At the time of filming, the local papers were reporting that there was some taking place on Pak Hoi Street in Yau Ma Tei. The local production company tried to deflect interest by announcing the shooting would take place with doubles and, although doubles were present, lots of shots were done using the main stars.

This particular butchers stall is a real one at the junction with Reclamation Street. and other than the odd stallholder and overlayed blue writing, looks pretty much as it does in real life. This is the shop where Batou buys bones for his adopted dogs.

This scene is immediately preceded by a shot taken at the junction with Shanghai Street with Pak Hoi Street leading away (to the east) behind the actors back towards the butchers stall.

Heisser Hafen Hongkong - Horst Frank (1962) - Junction of Waterloo Road and Shanghai Street, Mongkok

Here is another impressive find by Thomas when you consider this film is 55 years old. The scene is not really important, it's just one of the many establishing shots that was used throughout this film, but it's just nice being able to locate these small snippets and give them a little bit of historical context. In this shot we are looking up Shanghai Street from the junction with Waterloo Road and there are various businesses that can be seen including what looks like a place called the "Mido" (not to be confused with the famous eaterie in Yau Ma Tei) and this place on the corner called "Goldengate". 

Also notice the rather new looking building on the left in the lower photo. This is #3 Waterloo Road and was built in 1962 - the same year this film was made, hence why it is looking so new. It's still there but, like with many other older buildings with balconies, the balconies have since been filled in (illegally!) to make more internal living space. Let's face it, these days the traffic on Waterloo Road is so busy it's not really the sort of place where you would want to sit outside breathing in all that vehicle exhaust!

Anyway, once again a big thanks to Thomas for going above and beyond the call of duty for this one. 

Heisser Hafen Hongkong - Horst Frank (1962) - Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei

This one was a bit cheeky because it is related to the last post. In the scene the actor is standing in the middle of Nathan Road at the junction with Public Square Street and then looks right to see his reporter friend turn up in a yellow taxi. Only the taxi scene below was filmed over at the junction of Public Square Street and Shanghai Street - about 150 metres to the left.

Anyway, the giveaway here is the Yau Hing pawnshop (又興大押) that used to stand on the northwest corner of the aforementioned junction. In fact, it has cropped up on this blog before because Thomas once used the very same pawnshop to identify this location from the I Spy series. Thomas's identifications just keep on giving...thanks Thomas! ;-)

Heisser Hafen Hongkong - Horst Frank (1962) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

Another from-the-car perspective as we drive southbound along Shanghai Street between the junctions it shares with Public Square Street and Market Street. This one is a bit of a blur but it is the Shanghai Street end of the former public market that stood on what is now the open public square in front of the Yau Ma Tei Tin Hau Temple.

The final couple of screenshots show us looking up Market Street towards the temple. Note the considerable lack of taller buildings on the other side of the temple (Nathan Road). A similar view taken the year after shows that the On Cheung Building had already been built at the back.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

A couple of posts ago we saw Market Street on the southern side of the public square in front of Yau Ma Tei Tin Hau Temple. In this post we see the other end of it where Public Square Street joins with Shanghai Street at the northern side of the square.

Look carefully and you can see the building behind and above Heinz Drache's head is the same one today that houses the famous Mido Cafe on the corner of Temple Street.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Market Street, Yau Ma Tei

I had no idea that the latrine block along Market Street in Yau Ma Tei had been around for quite so long but here it is back in 1964 (on the right hand side of the frame). You can see part of the covered hawkers market that used to occupy the square in front of the Tin Hau Temple. This is another scene that was used in Sumuru but I didn't post about it back then because I wasn't sure where it was at the time. The old building in the background would have been on Temple Street where the Kowloon Govt Offices now stand. Actually, I think the Sumuru print has better colour.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong

The Million Eyes of Sumuru

Roaring Fire - Hiroyuki Sanada (1982) - Shanghai Street, Jordan

Here is another one courtesy of the rather keen eye of Thomas Ngan who managed to identify a watch company shop sign on the screen capture leading to the identification of this street scene as a section of Shanghai Street in the Jordan Road area. So once again thanks to Thomas.

One of the things that really threw me off the scent is also the seemingly rather wide nature of the road here. The camera angle is obviously playing some tricks because this part of Shanghai Street is really no wider than any other part as you'll see in the Streetview capture below.

You can see the buildings are pretty much unchanged, but there is much less overhead signage (although I can one sign is still there in the distance) and of course there has been massive high-rise development at the far end. Look carefully and you can also see the black characters can still be discerned on the lower floor wall of the corner building (on the corner of Nanking Street).

Anyway, credit where credit is due and I've pasted Thomas' comments below so you can see where the information came from.

Hi Phil, 

I might have found something. There was another Watch company captured in the foreground called 廣濟表行. I googled it and found someone posted a photo of a Rolex with invoice in discuss.com.hk showing three addresses on the invoice. Two in Kowloon ...http://www.discuss.com.hk/viewthread.php?tid=14690593&page=3
Address one reads #126 Shanghai Street and address 2 reads #224-226 Tai Po Road. I remember there was a Kowloon Watch Co. Store around the location about 20 years ago. Might have to check other older photos of the area for clues. 

T