Storyline
The lights are turning off in Hong Kong. The once spectacular neon hustle and bustle is now much reduced.
Safety and regulations mean many shops and businesses have taken down the brilliant signboards that used to hang right over the heads of the crowds on the streets.
Some local enthusiasts are trying to find ways to preserve this unique part of Hong Kong’s urban heritage.
Cardin Chan, General Manager of Tetra Neon Exchange, a one-person NGO founded in 2020 with private funding, has been collecting some of the city’s abandoned neon signs given up by businesses over the years.
Now it is keeping over 70 signs at its open-air storage space in a rural spot close to the border with mainland China.
According to Tetra Neon Exchange’s survey, there are fewer than 500 outdoor protruding neon signs left across the city. “Neon is not only signboards. It could be art and craft. And then, at the same time, it gives Hong Kong identity and visual identity as well,” says Chan.
Chan has been organizing exhibitions using some of the collected neon signs to help people understand and discover the city’s neon signs’ history and culture.
“Eventually, we hope that we will be able to have, like an area or street space we will be able to […] put back some of these signs so people would know, not to just to have this kind of like nostalgia, but also really having a second chance for them to see the neon streetscapes that we used to have.”
The main reason the neon environment is receding is safety. New safety rules were introduced in the 2010s to prevent old decaying signs from posing a danger to pedestrians. Since then, owners of signboards and neon signs have been obliged to remove old installations, follow the new rules, and renew safety registrations regularly.
Many businesses have chosen to give up the signs, in order to avoid costs and bureaucracy.
The neon environment is now much less than before, but it still retains a few outstanding examples of street art that used to symbolize the heart of Hong Kong’s commercial success.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.
Script
[Neon signs in streets of Hong Kong]
[Abandoned neon signs in storage space]
[Cardin Chan, General Manager of Tetra Neon Exchange]
Cardin Chan (interview): “Neon is not only signboards. It could be art and craft. And then at the same time, it gives Hong Kong identity and visual identity as well.”
[Neon signs layered on top of an old shipping container]
[Cardin Chan with staff unveiling a large old neon sign advertising neon tube service]
Cardin Chan (interview): “Eventually we hope that we will be able to have, like an area or street space we will be able to, one way or the other, to put back some of these signs so people would know, not to just to have this kind of like nostalgia but also, really having a second chance for them to, to see the neon streetscapes that we used to have.”
[Neon sign hanging outside a pawn shop]
[Neon sign of a restaurant]
[Busy street with a neon sign hanging outside a hotel]
[Neon sign of a restaurant]
[Ken Fung (left) and Kevin Mak (right) walking along a street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong]
Ken Fung (interview): “In order to attract customers, they have to build a sign that is going perpendicular to the building facade to really attract the people’s eyeballs when they walk along the street. So which result in a streetscape where we have like signboards coming from the building facade. And when one shop builds one here, the other want to build a bigger one, and then the other one want to build a larger one that attracts more like attention. So with this like layering and competition, we have something very like very diverse.”
[Tramway in Wan Chai]
[Neon sign hanging outside a tea leaf shop “Ki Chan Tea Company”]
[Kevin Mak talking about the neon sign of Ki Chan Tea Company ]
Kevin Mak (interview): “The special thing is, of course, about the shape. It’s very unique, different from many of the more regular geometries. The tea leaf itself stands up, and that’s one of the characters. The main design identity they have been using to create a very unique image for themselves.”
[Neon sign in Chinese reading “Hing Wong Mahjong Entertainment” at entrance to a business, which specializes in popular traditional Chinese table-top game in Mong Kok]
[Neon sign in Chinese reading “Tak Hing Dried Seafood”]
[Street showing people at an outdoor dining eatery with a neon sign in the background]
[Neon sign in Chinese reading “Baat Bo Tong turtle jelly and herbal tea”]
[Neon signs in Chinese reading “Gam Lai Gung Karaoke Night Club”]
[Neon sign hanging “Pat Chun Sauce Company” in front of a footbridge]
[Neon sign in Chinese reading “Sing Tei Yue Lok Karaoke Night Club” hanging over a busy street]
[Neon sign of a pawn shop hanging over a busy street]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.