Featured Neon Signs | NEONSIGNS.HK 探索霓虹

Very Good Tailor
71 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
1963

Overlooking Public Square Street since 1963, the Very Good Tailor neon sign is notable for its use of block Chinese characters, in contrast with the calligraphic scripts that were more commonly used at the time of its design.
Simple and direct, like the name of the shop itself—and combined with fashionable 1960s English lettering—the sign was accidentally damaged in the 1990s and is no longer operable. Nevertheless, it has been retained as a signature of the shop.

One-Eyed Man’s Herbal Tea
151 Temple Street, Jordan
1972

Originally named Chun Wo Tong, One-Eyed Man’s Herbal Tea has operated its main shop on Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei since the 1950s. During its peak years of the 1960s, the tea house had three other branches: on Shanghai Street and Nathan Road in Mongkok, and in Shek Kip Mei in Sham Shui Po. The founder, Lee Yung Cheong, had uneven eyes and earned his “one-eyed man” nickname from neighbourhood children. Herbal tea houses usually installed phonographs and televisions to attract customers, but One-eyed Man’s Herbal Tea relied on a large, simple neon sign to draw passersby.

Courtesy : Lau Ching Ping

Lai’s Medicine
501 Canton Road, Jordan
1979

Located on a quiet section of Jordan Road, the largescale Lai’s Medicine sign offers an unusual example of ‘double line’ neon script. Double line characters are distinguished by their use of neon tubes to outline the silhouettes of Chinese characters (rather than having single tubes forming individual strokes). The Lai’s sign not only employs this technique but also renders the outlines themselves in pairs of tubes to further amplify the sign’s visual impact.

Courtesy : Lau Ching Ping

Tai Tak Hardware & Paint
278 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei
c. 1990

Though it no longer lights up, the Tai Tak Hardware & Paint neon sign retains its hammer shape, differentiating itself from the more standard rectangular signs nearby. Despite the neon’s disrepair, the sign’s presence, reaching far over the street, continues to draw attention to the store during its daytime opening hours.

Courtesy : Michael Wolf

Bank of China Building
1 Garden Road Central
1990

When lit up at night, the iconic Bank of China building, designed by I.M. Pei, becomes an architectural neon installation. Tracing the building’s cross-bracing, over 500 neon tubes climb more than 70 floors, or 367 meters.

Club Rhine
147 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Year Unknown

“The titillating neon signs on Wan Chai’s Lockhart Road remind us of the world of Suzie Wong, when US Navy crews spent offshore leave there. Like a woman whose prime has passed, the neon signs there have nevertheless retained their charm.” – Lawrence Pun

Among the many neon signs advertising the nightclubs and bars on Lockhart Road, the Club Rhine sign unabashedly draws patrons with its curvaceous neon cat girl.

Law Fu Kee Congee and Noodle Expert
50 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
c.1960

Law Fu Kee Congee and Noodle Expert has long paid homage to one of its staple dishes—deep-fried fish balls—with its fish-shaped neon sign. Because its head is heavier than its tail, the aquatic sign requires an extended support frame. Its neon tubes are no longer operational.

Golden Dragon Mahjong
2-4 Spring Garden Lane, Wanchai
c.1970

A small back street in Wan Chai, Spring Garden Lane has historically been associated with its distinctive businesses, including the Golden Dragon, Golden Phoenix and Fairwood mahjong parlours. Nowadays only Golden Dragon remains, marked by its brightly-coloured dragon neon sign.

Hong Kong Funeral Home
679 King’s Road, North Poin
c.1966

Neon signs have seldom been used by funeral parlours, given the solemn nature of their business. A rare exception is the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point. Appropriately plain, its blue and white sign employs the colours common to traditional Chinese funerals.

Tai Lin
310-312 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
Year Unknown

After 62 years, the Tai Lin electric appliance store in Mong Kok closed in 2008. But with the building still owned by the store’s former owners, its remarkable 5-storey neon signboard survives.

Tsui Wah Restaurant
77-78 Parkes Street, Jordan
c.1990

The expansion of the Tsui Wah Restaurant from a small bistro in the 1960s to a multi-branch chain has spread its familiar neon signs throughout Hong Kong. Seemingly identical, each signboard differs slightly from the others. Alongside Tsui Wah’s standard field of coloured neon tubes, the sign on the restaurant’s Parkes Street location also incorporates a neon cup of milk tea.

Victory Mahjong
15 Kansu Street, Yaumatei
Year Unknown

Notable for its breadth, running across the entire width of its façade, the Victory Mahjong neon sign in Yau Ma Tei offers an architectural expression of “running neons,” which produce animated effects precisely controlled by a signaling apparatus.

Kai Kee Mahjong
2-8 Temple Street, Yaumatei
1956

While maintaining the consistency of its iconic rooster logo, the Kai Kee Mahjong School uses different configurations of neon signs among its three branches. Joining a more compact horizontal version, Kai Kee’s vertical neon sign on Temple Street is outlined in colorful rectangles resembling mahjong tiles. (An elongated horizontal variation, formerly at the company’s now-shuttered Kwun Tong location, has been donated to the M+ collection.)

Sammy’s Kitchen
204-206 Queen’s Road West, Western District
1977

Since 1977, the Sammy’s Kitchen neon cow has presided over Queen’s Road West in Sai Ying Pun. Due to its size, the owners have been ordered to dismantle the sign, and it will subsequently enter the M+ permanent collection.