Story

Wing Lee Street is a narrow and short dead end. In the past, it was unlikely to see people other than the inhabitants used the street. Dwarf-like 3-storey buildings contrasting with the “toothpicks” inserted onto the slope nearby were built along the street. I remember I saw from the scene of a movie. There was a small but lively society within this little street, where children played hide-and-seek and adults chatted happily when they were sitting on the bench just beneath their flats’ balcony - sometimes families would have meals together as well.

The street was once under “the evil hand” of the H19 Development Project. After chosen as the shooting place of a local renowned movie, Echoes of the Rainbow, the winner of Crystal Bear Award for the Best Film in the Children's Jury category at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, it escaped the destiny. But after all, there was a great change upon the street. It does not only belong to the inhabitants anymore, but also the ones who watched the movie and share the resonance.

The film, which depicts the local way of living during the 50s-60s, has aroused the sympathy against the old buildings on Wing Lee Street, which are now become a piece of meat that did not enter the mouth of the origin inhabitants. And finally it becomes the common memory of us, however, the new headache of some of the owners and tenants. It had been a popular photo-taking spot after the movie was put on screen. But I guess none of the original pleasant appearances of the street have been craved onto visitors’ photos because just after the release of the movie, spaces on walls and windows were covered with protesting banners with forceful slogans on it.




“Rescue Wing Lee Street!”
It was saved in time. But on the day I visited the street, I found that buildings are kept, but memories have been gone. Renovation is done. The outer walls of the buildings are re-coated with light yellow paint. A new exhibition presenting the value of the street is set up inside a flat on the ground floor. Without plenty of ideas and consideration of the future usage, still a few black hollows were left. Though some new residences have intruded, the original inhabitants are moved to public or temporary housing estate with more convenient transport and infrastructure nearby.



Without the Law’s shoe stall, we can’t find any pictures of the past or the shadow of the movie on the street and, even from the nearby. Children now play indoors.

This photo shows another old building (originally the Bridges Street market) which is packaged as an indoor playground designed for children, where a sleepy security guard sits there.Straightly outside the flat, a new born papaya tree grows. 

The story of Wing Lee Street is just an echo of the value of old streets, which are decreasing within Hong Kong. It is still a peaceful street not more than before.

by Narrator - Cheung Sin Man 52587559