Eccentric Artist Wong Ping Opened a Shop – And Now He’s Closing It
We visited Bok Bok Bok, the treasure trove of vintage objects that is neither a real business nor an art project...
Industrial History
Hong Kong’s Maritime Trade, Part VI: What Happened to the Historic Dockyards?
The story of how shipbuilding became a major Hong Kong industry before providing land for something entirely different...
The Steiner Series: Dairy Farm – Communicating Without Words
It turns out the Dairy Farm logo reveals multitudes about Henry Steiner’s approach to design...
Hong Kong Patterns, Part III: Africa, Europe and the Cosmopolitan City
An exhibition at CHAT explores Hong Kong’s links to Africa, reflecting the city’s emergence as a global hub...
Hong Kong Patterns, Part II: Silk City
The arrival of Japanese department stores led to a boom in silk manufacturing – and some strange cultural blends...
Hong Kong’s Vintage Treasures Are Overseas
The fruits of Hong Kong’s industrial history can be found in second-hand shops around the world...
Hong Kong Patterns, Part I: Daimaru’s Distinct Style
When the Japanese department store opened a flagship branch in Hong Kong, its gift wrap became a local icon...
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part X: How Plastic Flowers Built a Global Metropolis
Hong Kong once made plastic products that were shipped around the world. What's left of that history?...
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part IX: Locally-Brewed Beer
Hong Kong has been awash in beer since its very beginnings as a British colony. ...
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VIII: The Ill Fate of Rennie’s Mill, AKA Little Taiwan
The story of an unlucky Canadian who opened a flour mill – and how it eventually became a bastion of support for the Kuomintang...
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VII: The Rise and Fall of Local Milk
Hong Kong's dairy industry launched a multinational business empire – but don't try finding any local milk in the supermarket....
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VI: Indigo
Indigo dyeing is making a comeback decades after the artisanal industry died out....
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part V: Incense
The trees that gave Hong Kong its name fuelled local industry for centuries – but they are now at risk of disappearing....
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part IV: The Rock That Built Hong Kong
How generations of Hakka quarry workers and stonemasons provided the granite that built the city as we know it....
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part III: Squatter Factories
Hong Kong became an industrial powerhouse thanks in part to informal factories run out of shantytowns and residential flats....
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part II: Mining
Hong Kong was once home to dozens of mines. What happened to this overlooked part of its industrial history?...
Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part I: A City That Made Things
A group of amateur historians is investigating Hong Kong's long and diverse industrial past....