Abstract: In video games which are set in Hong Kong, you may come across a few similar commercial street scenes again and again: a myriad of neon signs, a night market, a circular footbridge, a tram running through a wet market. They are all from the commercial streets in the real city: Nathan Road 彌敦道, Temple Street 廟街, Yee Wo Street 怡和街 and Chun Yeung Street 春秧街. This article tells you where you could find these commercial street scenes, and unveils the stories behind the scenes.
Games covered:
- Street Fighter series (Capcom. Arcade and various console platforms: since 1987)
- Super Buster Bros. (Capcom. Arcade: 1990)
- Hong Kong Mahjong (Nine Dragon. DOS: 1991, Microsoft Windows: 1996)
- Illusion City: Gen'ei Toshi (Micro Cabin Corp. FM Towns, MSX, PC-98, Sega CD, Sharp X68000, 1991)
- Art of Fighting 2 (SNK. Neo Geo: 1994)
- WanChai Connection (Sega. Saturn: 1994)
- 3x3 eyes Kyuusei Koushu (Nihon Create, Windows/PlayStation: 1995, Sega Saturn: 1996)
- Real Bout Fatal Fury Special (SNK. Arcade et. al.: 1997)
- Maken series (Atlus, Dreamcast: 1999, PlayStation 2: 2001)
- Shenmue II (Sega, Dreamcast: 2001, Xbox: 2002)
- Wreckless: The Yazuka Missions (Activision. Xbox/Gamecube/PlayStation 2: 2002)
- Kowloon Magic (Bun Fun Factory. Microsoft Windows: 2003)
- Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment, PlayStation 2: 2004)
- Tourist Trophy (Sony Computer Entertainment, PlayStation2: 2006)
- Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2012)
- Resident Evil 6 (Capcom. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2012, Microsoft Windows: 2013)
- 正牌龍虎門 (Gameone. Android/iOS: 2019)
- Jump Force (Bandai Namco Games. PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Microsoft Windows: 2019)
Nathan Road 彌敦道
In
Super Buster Brothers,
Wreckless: The Yazuka Missions,
Kowloon Magic,
Gran Turismo 4 and
Tourist Trophy, you have a chance to go through a main road going south-north in its virtual Kowloon. As you move along the road, Neon advertising signs of shops approach your eyes one after another, demonstrating the number and variety of stores along the road. Such a stunning commercial street is the main thoroughfare of Kowloon called Nathan Road.
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| The first stage of Super Pang featuring lots of Neon advertising signs on Nathan Road |
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| A photo used in Hong Kong Mahjong featuring lots of Neon advertising signs on Nathan Road |
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| Driving along Nathan Road in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions |
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| The 6-lane Nathan Road in Kowloon Magic |
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| Shops and their advertising signs along Nathan Road in Kowloon Magic |
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| Driving along Nathan Road in Gran Turismo 4 |
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| A section of Nathan Road with lots of advertising neon signs in Gran Turismo 4 |
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| The real Nathan Road with lots of Neon advertising signs. Source: inzumi.com |
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| "Nathan Road" in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions which goes from point A to point D on this map |
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| Part of Nathan Road on the Hong Kong track of Gran Turismo 4 |
Nathan Road is the first road on the peninsula, built one year after Kowloon was ceded to the United Kingdom. The road was originally named Robinson Road, after the 5th Governor of Hong Kong Sir Hercules Robinson who ordered the construction. When Sir Matthew Nathan became the governor between 1904 and 1907, he ordered an expansion to 6 lanes and an extension to double its original length. When the expansion was completed in 1909, the road was renamed to the current name. Another extension was then issued in 1926 to get the road to cover the current length.
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| Nathan Road at different times |
A few years after expansion, Nathan Road remained under-occupied mainly because Kowloon Peninsula was still sparsely populated. Some people thus teased the expansion as Nathan's Fool. However, time showed that Sir Nathan had excellent foresight. Nowadays, lots of stores are on the two sides of the road, attracting tens of thousands of shoppers for international and local apparel, accessories, jewelry, sporting goods, shoes, cosmetics, electronics and gadgets every day. The road is often heavily trafficked during peak hours.
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| Sparsely used Nathan Road in the 1920s. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Congested Nathan Road in 2007. Source: Wikipedia |
Some game developers have probably been attracted as well. A few real advertising signs, including those from Tse Sui Luen (謝瑞麟), Yua Hwa Chinese Product Emporium (裕華), and Chinese Arts and Crafts (中藝), could be found across multiple video games. Unfortunately, all these signs can no longer be found, due to brand renovation and historical events.
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| A screenshot of WanChai Connection featuring the Yua Hwa advertising sign in Nathan Road (top middle of the screen) |
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| The Yua Hwa advertising sign in real Hong Kong, 1995. Source: 3x3 eyes Kyuusei Koushu S special disc |
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| The first stage of Super Buster Bros. featuring the Neon advertising sign of Chinese Arts & Crafts (rightmost) and Tse Sui Luen (middle left) |
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| Chinese Arts & Crafts advertising sign in Test Drive 6 |
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| Model of Garley Building featuring the Chinese Arts & Crafts store. Source: e123.hk |
The hustle and bustle has also extended to its underground. A section of Hong Kong subway (called Mass Transit Railway or shorthand MTR) runs underneath the road. That is why you see subway stations along the virtual Nathan Road of
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions,
Gran Turismo 4 and
Tourist Trophy. In
Wreckless: The Yazuka Missions, you can even drive into the subway station. Just like the neon signs above the ground, subway facilities including the stations, platforms and trains keep on renovating. What remains is the crowd during peak hours. In 2015, even though the subway trains have already run every 2 minutes, each passenger can just take 0.25 square meter of compartment space!
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| MTR station on Nathan Road of Gran Turismo 4 |
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| MTR station entrance in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions |
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| Tsim Sha Tsui A1 Exit, 2009. Note it had already been painted in a color different from the one in 2003. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Tsim Sha Tsui A1 Exit, renovated 2016. Source: Wikipedia |
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| On the MTR station platform of Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions |
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| Yau Ma Tei MTR station platform in 2012. Source: Youtube |
Temple Street 廟街
In
Street Fighter Alpha 2,
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions and
Sleeping Dogs, one can find a pedestrian street with stalls offering fortune telling, food, clothes and accessories. The street being modelled is Temple Street which spans from Yau Ma Tei to Jordan in Kowloon.
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| Temple Street in Street Fighter Alpha 2. From left to right, there are a fortune telling stall, a butcher shop (back) and produce stall (front), and a number of clothing stalls. |
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| Clothes stalls displaying their stocks in Temple Street. Credit: NekaPeral |
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| A street food stall in the night market of Sleeping Dogs |
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Driving into the food stalls of the night market in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
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| Outdoor food stalls in the Temple Street night market. Credit:Brian Jeffery Beggerly via flickr |
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The gate of the flea market in Sleeping Dogs |
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| Temple Street with the gate in 正牌龍虎門 |
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| The Temple Street gate in Jump Force |
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| The Temple Street gate, at the intersection with Jordan Road. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Inside the night market in Sleeping Dogs |
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| Inside the night market at Temple Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| A clothes stall in the night market of Sleeping Dogs |
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| An accessory store in the night market of Sleeping Dogs |
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| An electronic store in the night market of Sleeping Dogs |
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| The map of Temple Street |
The street is named after the Tin Hau Temple Complex located in the center of the main drag. After visiting the temples, people won't mind spending a little extra to listen to advice on how to improve their luck, thus giving rise to fortune telling stalls around that part of the street.
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| The Tin Hau Temple Complex located in the center of the main drag of Temple Street. Source: Wikipedia |
The street has grown to a night market due to climate and social habits. Hong Kong has humid subtropical climate featuring hot humid summers. With no air-conditioning in the old days, the best time to go out was in the evenings. Temples were major social meeting points in the past. All these factors contribute to crowds around the temple in evenings. In fact, the crossing street where the temple is located, Public Square Street, is named after this phenomenon. To cater for the crowd's possible need to get small items and snacks during that time, hawkers and food vendors set up stalls there every evening, gradually transforming the street to a night market with entertainment, goods and food in 1920s.
The section of the street north of the temple has a variety of food stalls. Some stalls are similar to what you see in
Sleeping Dogs, offering you street food that you can take away and eat as you walk along the street. Some other stalls set up tables and seats on the street just as what you see in
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions. You pick a seat, sit down, and then make orders. In the real street you can even order claypot hot pot rice and seafood dishes.
The section south of the temple is a flea market. The market opens from afternoon till midnight, selling cheap merchandise, such as trinkets, teaware, electronics, watches, clothes, jade and antique, just like what you see in
Sleeping Dogs. A pair of gates, which looks similar to the one in front of the North Point Night market of
Sleeping Dogs, has been set up at both ends of this section since 2010.
Yee Wo Street 怡和街
In
Sleeping Dogs and
Resident Evil 6, one can find a pink pedestrian footbridge running semi-arcs on it. That is the circular pedestrian bridge running over Yee Wo Street on Hong Kong Island. Besides video games, the bridge is occasionally featured in TV dramas and even art photos, probably because of its characteristics circular structure and appearance. While the bridge is the target of artworks, the bridge itself also displays artworks -- all over the bridge hanged photos of old Hong Kong.
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| The Yee Wo Street circular pedestrian footbridge in Sleeping Dogs |
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| Part of the Yee Wo Street circular pedestrian footbridge together with a tram station and neon signs in Resident Evil 6 Mercenaries mode Urban Chaos stage |
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| The characteristic circular pedestrian bridge on Yee Wo Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Interior of the circular pedestrian bridge in Sleeping Dogs |
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| Interior of the circular pedestrian bridge on Yee Wo Street. Note the oval-shape hanging artworks all over the bridge. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Photos of old Hong Kong hanging on the circular pedestrian bridge on Yee Wo Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Yee Wo Street circular pedestrian bridge featured in the Hong Kong TV drama 衝線 episode 19 |
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| Yee Wo Street circular pedestrian bridge featured in the Hong Kong TV drama 大眾情性 episode 7 |
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| The map of Yee Wo Street |
Before the bridge was built in the 1970s, the area had already been a busy commercial district with banks and cinemas. Just like many other footbridges, this circular bridge redirect pedestrians who want to cross the street away from the road traffic, providing pedestrians with a safe crossing approach while reducing the need of cars to stop and wait.
The bridge removed the traffic bottleneck at that time, and at the same time allowed the street to take even more traffic. Even more stores settle in the area since then. Along the street you can find book stores, banks, snacks, cafe, fast food, stationery, drugs, tailors, and shops selling luxury watches and jewelry. At the Hennessy Road end of the street, there stands the popular SOGO Japanese Department Store. There is also a huge shopping arcade Hysan Place which has a collection of luxury shops and a famous Taiwan book store chain. At the junction of Yee Wo Street with E Point Road, there is Island Beverly Center with local, Korean and Japanese fashion stores that are popular among the youths. There is also fashion walk with high-end fashion and Japanese and European mid-priced brands.
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| Busy crossing between Yee Wo Street and Great George Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| SOGO department store at the end of Yee Wo Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Inside SOGO department store. Source: Wikipedia |
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| Hysan Place near Yee Wo Street. Source: Wikipedia |
Probably because of the big brands on the streets and nearby, over 1,000,000 people passes it every day, though it is just a short 300m narrow street. The per-square-feet rent of shops on the street (HKD 735) was reported to be second most expensive, after 5th Avenue in New York (878 HKD).
Chun Yeung Street 春秧街
The Fujianese
Xiamen Meat Co. (廈門肉食公司) and
Shanghai Salon (上海髮廊) have become the two well-known Chinese shops since
Street Fighter II. In
Art of Fighting 2 and
Street Fighter III: 2nd impact, one can find a double-decker tram running on a street with shops and stalls on the two sides, right next to the track. They all come from Chun Yeung Street in North Point of Hong Kong Island.
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| Street Fighter II Chun Li stage with Xiamen Meat Co. (廈門肉食公司) and Shanghai Salon (上海髮廊) |
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| Chun Yeung Street in the 1960s. Note the sign of Xiamen Meat Co. (廈門肉食公司) on the right side of the street. Source: oceandeeop3000.blogspot.com |
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| Chun Yeung Street in the 1980s. Note the sign of Xiamen Meat Co. (廈門肉食公司) on the right side of the street. Source: twpcentre.weshare.hk |
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| Chun Yeung Street in 2011. The Xiamen Meat Co. sign is no longer there. Source: Google Earth |
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| The Chinatown stage of Art of Fighting 2 featuring a tram running in the middle of a food market |
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| The Hong Kong stage of Street Fighter III: 2nd impact featuring a tram running in the middle of a food market |
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| A tram moving inside the market in Chun Yeung Street. Source: Wikipedia |
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| The map of Chun Yeung Street |
Before the Second World War, North Point was at the edge of the urban area of Hong Kong, making it an excellent place for new settlers to stay or even start new developments. The place attracted a lot of businessmen from the neighboring Fujian province and Shanghai of mainland China. In fact, the street was named after the Fujianese sugar merchant Chun-yeung Kwok (郭春秧) who eventually built a row of stores and apartments on the street. Since then, the street became a wet market comprising of stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood. Wet markets are known as such because they sell meat and fish which require frequent floor washing. They have long been a feature of Hong Kong life. In Hong Kong, wet markets are regarded as a place where you get good bargain on fresh meat and produce. The Fujianese and Shanghaiese settlement on the street could also explain why we had Xiamen Meat Co. and Shanghaiese salon catering the needs of these people.
Trams joined the scene after communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, after which year there was an influx of mainland Chinese immigrants to the British-controlled Hong Kong. For those from Fujian province and Shanghai, they tended to settle in North Point where many of their relatives and friends had already moved to, making North Point the highest-density area in the world at that time. To cater for increased ridership in that area, the tram company moved the terminus of one of its local routes to North Point. To allow trams to turn around at that terminus, the company built new tracks that passed through the narrow Chun Yeung Street.
The trams running on the track are all with two levels. Once popular in Europe and British Empire countries in the early half of the 20th century, nowadays these double-deckers can only be found in Hong Kong together with few other cities including Alexandria in Egypt, Dubai in United Arab Emirates and Blackpool in Britain. This makes the scene even more characteristics.
Final Remarks
After reading the stories of the above four streets, you should have realized that commercial streets are more than shopping. Nathan Road is an example of how an once undervalued road eventually becomes a busy, rapidly changing street not only above ground but also underground. The story of Temple Street illustrates how nearby construction, climate and social habits have gradually turned the street to a exciting night market with fortune telling, food and inexpensive products. For Yee Wo Street, it was the shops around the area brought about the construction of the circular footbridge. But the construction of the footbridge then allowed the area possible to carry even more people and get even more crowded. Chun Yeung Street illustrates the interactions of multiple historical events on bringing about trams running in the middle of its Fujianese and Shanghaiese wet market.
Next time when you visit a street, try to work out the stories behind what you see there. You may come up with some interesting findings!
References
- http://www.temple-street-night-market.hk/
- http://www.satellitetoday.com/publications/2013/09/18/exploring-kowloon-hk-during-apscc-2013-2/
- http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/supplement/culture/art/20110407/15144343
- http://www.hongkongnavi.com/miru/6/
- http://www.temple-street-night-market.hk/night-market.html#.V2VuPrgrKhc
- http://www.temple-street-night-market.hk/history.html#.V2Vu97grKhc
- https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9C%BE%E5%9D%8A%E8%A1%97
- http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/shop/where-to-shop/malls-and-department-stores/fashion-walk.jsp
- https://hk.celebrity.yahoo.com/%E6%94%BB%E6%AE%BC-%E9%8A%85%E9%91%BC%E7%81%A3%E5%B0%81%E8%B7%AF%E5%8F%96%E6%99%AF-221913337.html
- http://travel.fanpiece.com/PandaJoice/%E6%A2%AF%E4%B8%8A-%E6%A9%8B%E4%B8%8B-%E7%9C%8B%E9%A2%A8%E6%99%AF-c1101018.htmlhttp://stellachen524.pixnet.net/blog/post/425333450-%E3%80%90%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF-%E9%8A%85%E9%91%BC%E7%81%A3%E3%80%91day3-3.4-%E5%85%A8%E6%B8%AF%E7%8D%A8%E6%9C%89%E7%9A%84%E7%89%B9%E8%89%B2%E7%9A%84%E6%80%A1
- http://kkground.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-post_13.html
- http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/shop/city-essentials/best-wet-markets-563207/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-decker_tram
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Tramways
- http://blog.xuite.net/amu390/CYWBCC/40737982-%E6%B8%AF%E6%BE%B3%E5%8D%B0%E8%B1%A1%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%EF%BC%9A%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%A7%E8%A1%97
- http://www.oldhkphoto.com/?p=3182
- http://oceandeeop3000.blogspot.com/2013/04/blog-post_11.html
- http://elevenstrokes.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-post.html
