Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Tin Hau Temple, To Kwa Wan

Temples in Hong Kong can, usually, be relied upon to be around year after year. It's not true of all religious/spiritual buildings, but it's a brave developer indeed who risks the wrath of some make-believe deity for the sake of building a high-rise. So, it didn't take too long to track down the following place seen at the beginning of Fan Tan Man when our bald-headed bad guy goes there to pray for some good luck at the gambling table.

Unfortunately, Streetview doesn't have a great angle on this place due to the amount of traffic blocking the view - a common problem for me - so here is the same place taken from slightly to the right and forward of where the cameras would have been standing for the filming.

On the left side of the Streetview picture you can see a flyover which is the East Kowloon Corridor. We get to see the same road a few seconds later in the show when the cop car pulls out to follow their suspects along Lok Shan Road.

Bloodsport - Jean Claude Van Damme (1987) - Tin Hau Temple, Kowloon Walled City, Kowloon

Well, we've seen the outside of the walled city, we've seen a few shots taken inside some of the alleyways inside the walled city, now here we have a picture of the city's Tin Hau Temple.

I scratched my head for a while wondering if this was filmed in a studio or actually done on location and have come to the conclusion that it was on location. Why? Well, because thanks to the Facebook group: Kowloon Walled City 九龍城寨 (九龍城砦), I found a picture of the temple front allowing me confirm its identity.

The above picture was grabbed from the title sequence, but we return to the same location later with ol' Gibbsy and Van Damage as they enter what is supposed to be the venue for the Kumite. I believe the actual fight scenes were filmed at Clearwater Bay Studios on Ying Yip Road.

A nice touch with the pot plant...

So anyway, here is the picture from the above mentioned Facebook group. Incidentally, this Tin Hau temple has been mentioned elsewhere in the arts world and I distinctly remember Martin Booth making a reference to it in his memoir "Gwei Lo/Golden Boy".

What I can't quite determine at the moment, because I lack a decent map, is whereabouts in today's Walled City Park the Tin Hau Temple would have been located. As far as I know it was demolished along with the rest of the place (although some older buildings were preserved e.g the Almshouse), however, it's a while since I ventured there and perhaps it still stands in some corner somewhere. Failing that an approximation of its location would be nice. I will try and find out...

Project A - Jackie Chan (1983) - Ping Kong Walled Village, Sheung Shui

Another one that has taken a while to find but still here we go, it's the Tin Hau Temple that JC stops in front of during the bike chase. I can't confirm whether or not this is the same village where some the other bike sequences takes place (would need to visit in person) but here is the temple from the film as a reminder.

There has been a recent renovation to the temple and the area next to the red door above has been knocked through but the temple is still fairly recognisable. Here is a modern view courtesy of Chong Fat's picture on the Tin Hau Temple wiki page.

Photo: Chong Fat on Wikipedia