Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Avenida da Praia, Taipa

On the journey back from the temple, Malt Candy takes Siu Choi along Taipa's own Avenida da Praia - in front of the popular Taipa Houses Museum.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Tam Kung Temple, Coloane

Malt Candy takes Siu Chiu to the Tam Kung Temple in Coloane. He's so infatuated with her that he waits around for her to finish her praying so he can take her back.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Rua Direita Carlos Eugénio, Taipa

I know that Malt Candy starts his journey with a shot of Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto, but the editor sneaks in a quick glimpse of the same road further to the east where it goes by the name of Rua Direita Carlos Eugénio. Regular readers should be able to recognise the location because it's shot from the Calçada do Carmo.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto, Taipa

After knocking Siu Chui off her feet, literally, Malt Candy is already smitten and offers to take her to her destination free of charge. The first road we see them travelling down is Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto on Taipa. On the right hand side of the frame is the outer wall of the Iec Long Firecracker compound.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, Taipa

The scene where Malt Candy (Max Mok) first meets Siu Chui (Fennie Yuen) by knocking her over with his pedicab was filmed in front of the Carmel Church on Taipa. This is a popular spot for period Hong Kong films over the years and has been seen here before several times. It also features a bit later in the movie as Sammo's pedicab is being chased down by the gangster's car (bottom image).

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Rua do Tassara, Coloane

Anyone who has made the effort to visit Coloane and try the delights sold by Lord Stow's Bakery may have passed this next location without even realising it. I know I have, many times. In the scene, Mang Hoi is collecting his fare from a passenger in front of an old Colonial building that is actually the local Coloane Health Centre (Posto de Saúde de Coloane). Lord Stow's is directly opposite by the way. Andi's blog has a recent image here.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Hotel Bela Vista Driveway, Macau

In one scene, Cake (Lowell Lo), takes a passenger up a really steep hill and can barely move his legs to turn the pedals. This scene was filmed on the driveway that leads from Avenida da República up to the former Bela Vista Hotel (now the official residence of the Portuguese Consul). I don't think the drive has a name but it looks pretty much the same today as it did back then, although the aerial google views show that it has a new surface on it - perhaps done prior to the 1999 handover when the hotel became the Consul's residence? (I'm just guessing though).

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Largo do Lilau, Macau

Much of the films story takes place around the Largo do Lilau where several of the main characters appear to live.

Pedicab Driver - Sammo Hung (1989) - Six Nation Restaurant, Macau

Staying in Macau but moving on to the next film, Pedicab Driver. It tells the story of a group of pedicab drivers (pedicabs are the Macau equivalent of rikshaws but involve pedal power rather than straight up running/pulling ability). You can still spot them in Macau much like you used to be able to spot rikshaws in Hong Kong - relegated to photo opportunities at the main tourist haunts (recall this post from January) - but no one rides them in Macau anymore.

The opening scene of the film takes place as two different factions of workers - drivers and labourers - argue over who should get what kind of work and the tense situation is tipped over the edge by a gormless chef (Eric Tsang) as he runs into the room carrying a chopper whilst trying to chase away some vermin.

The location of this scene was areal life restaurant called the 六國飯店 (Luk Kwok Jau Dim - the best translation is "Six Nation Hotel") - not to be confused with the same-name establishment in Hong Kong on which The World of Suzie Wong was supposedly based.

The entrance we see at the beginning of the film was located on Rua de Cinco de Outubro, just off the western end of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and this is the same entrance that Eric Tsang's character falls down as he runs away from the brawlers at the end of the scene.

I'm not sure what happened to the old block, but I suspect it has been torn down. Thankfully GoogleEarth has an image from 2008 which can be seen here (Chrome needed). But it appears that the restaurant closed circa 1990 - this could explain why the film crew were able to use it for filming - perhaps it had already closed by then? The entrance on Rua de Cinco de Outubro was blocked up and the byuilding appears to have sat empty for a long time. It's just another to add to my to-do list for when Macau finally opens up to non-gambling tourists again (who knows when?).

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Lok Fu Park, Kowloon Tsai

It seems like I have been doing this film for ages because I started it when I was still in the UK back in April. 51 location posts makes it the highest number of posts for a single film in all the years I've been doing this blog (and there was a bunch I haven't been able to identify).

Anyway, following the defeat of the bad guys on the boat, the ending of the film sees the two spies meeting near the summit of Checkboard Hill. The intial shot shows the steep hillside of the Chinese Christian Cemetery on the opposite side of Junction Road. In the third image you can see the former radar installation that was located on the hill behind Wang Hsieh's head. It looks like they were filmed a little way down the slope from the circular turnaround (same place seen here) at the top of Fu On Street. The area is now part of Lok Fu park. The final image shows the buildings clustered around the layby next to the unction between Heng Lam Street and Junction Road looking much the same now as it did then. The only difference is the housing blocks between the actors and the background have all been redeveloped when the Lok Fu Estate was rebuilt.

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Port Shelter, Sai Kung

After dealing with most of the gang at the ruins, Wang Yu and co head for the boss man and chase his boat across Port Shelter. There are some shots taken inside Port Shelter with Shelter Island in the background, but there is also a nice shot of the boats in the distance as they pass by Steep Island in Clearwater bay (top image). For that last shot the camera would have been placed in what is now the Tai hang Tun Kite Flying Area (a great place to pick up spare parts for your own kites because in very typical HK fashion, people just dump their kites in and around the bins at the end of the day).

Steep Island

Shelter Island on the left

Basalt Island in the background

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Shaw Brothers Movietown

After Wang Yu runs up the hill he arrives, not at Monte Fort as you would expect but, at the backlot of Movietown in Clearwater Bay where he takes cover behind some (prop) ruins and is about to be gunned down by the gangsters. It wouldn't surpise me if these ruins were quickly knocked up just for this one particular scene given how adept the Shaw bros art department was. This area is largely taken up by the University of Science and Technology (HKUST) which has been slowly taking over the hills around Movietown since the 1990s.

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - St Paul's Church Facade, Macau

The car chase ends next to the ruins of St Pauls as Wang Yu jumps from the car and runs up the nearby hill to escape his pursuers.

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Estrada de Dom Maria II, Macau

The car chase moves onto part of Macau's designated Grand Prix circuit along Estrada de Dom Maria II. The corner you can see in the foreground of image two is the start of turn 19 as the circuit rounds the far end of Dona Maria II Hill.

Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Rua de Silva Mendes, Macau

The next shot is actually a few metres back up the road from the last one, outside the Casa Memorial do Dr. Sun Yat Sen. We don't get to see that particular building in the shot though, only the outer wall at the extreme left of the image. What we can see is the old building that used to stand on the plot between Rua de Silva Mendes, Avenida de Sidónio Pais, and Rua de António Basto. I don't know anything about this building, but I do know that in its place today is a 6-storey mid-rise residential building called "Edifício Hou On".

The development around this area is marked and you can contrast the currrent view by looking at the current Streetview version here. The building in the right background of the lower two images is the "Jardim de Infância D. José da Costa Nunes". However, the view of the old buildingis now blocked by a new school annex. About the only thing to have remained unchanged over all these years is the external wall of the aforementioned memorial house of Dr Sun Yat Sen. If you look closely in image one (left hand side of the dark car in image 1) you can see some white bricks in the wall that are still there today.