Wing Lee Street: Saving Hong Kong’s Historic Tong Lau Architecture

Discover how the award-winning film Echoes of the Rainbow saved Wing Lee Street's 1950s tenements from demolition, preserving a unique piece of Hong Kong's printing history and nostalgic charm.

After being destroyed in World War II, Wing Lee Road was rebuilt in the very early 1950s. The terrace’s elevator-less 4 storey tenements are among the last locations in Hong Kong where an entire row of tong laus still stands intact.

Cinematic Influence on Urban Preservation

The balcony’s unlikely reprieve can be found in the form of a local movie called ‘Mirrors of the Rainbow’. Depicting the lives of a functioning class household in 1960s Hong Kong, Wing Lee Road provided the old background that acted as the film’s primary shooting area.

Launched to important recognition, Echoes of the Rainbow won the Crystal Bear award for finest function movie in the Generation category at the 60th Berlin International Film Celebration. The movie’s post-Berlin buzz and taking place public resistance encouraged the government to abandon the redevelopment strategies, and rather job to recover the tong laus and surrounding location.

From Printing Hub to Nostalgic Landmark

Post-war, the street ended up being known as a hub for letterpress printing. At one point, 11 different printing shops inhabited the balcony’s ground floor shops. The last of these stores shuttered in 2012, by which direct the Wing Lee Street tong laus had actually already been slated for demolition.

With remediation now full, the exteriors of the tong laus look even more sleek, and probably a lot more contemporary than their actual age. Nevertheless, Wing Lee Street still exudes a nostalgic, quaint charm that is coming to be increasingly tougher to find in Hong Kong.