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Bright future for Hong Kong’s signboard culture as businesses replace old neon designs with smaller legal ones

  • Businesses ordered to remove ageing neon signs choose to keep a slice of city’s heritage alive
  • About 3,300 signboards have been ‘removed or replaced’ every year between 2018 and last year

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The Nam Cheong Pawnshop was ordered to remove its signboard in December after it was said to have violated the Buildings Ordinance. Photo: Sam Tsang

When Andrew Chui Shek-on was ordered to remove the 42-year-old neon signboard hanging over the Tai Ping Koon Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, he could have taken it down and left the storefront barren.

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Instead, the fifth-generation owner of the chain of four Chinese eateries famous for its Swiss chicken wings and giant souffles replaced it with a new one.

For him, the neon sign was an important part of the 163-year-old restaurant’s history.

“It’s not just a sign,” Chui said. “It represents the culture of Hong Kong.”

Tai Ping Koon Restaurant’s neon sign being removed from their branch in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Handout
Tai Ping Koon Restaurant’s neon sign being removed from their branch in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Handout

Like Tai Ping Koon, businesses such as Nam Cheong Pawn Shop in Sham Shui Po and Hong Zhou Restaurant in Wan Chai have put up new neon signs this year that meet current rules.

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Ken Fung Tat-wai, co-founder of signboard preservation group @streetsignhk, said: “Over the past few years we’ve seen more shops choosing to rebuild their signs.”

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