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Amy Nip

Fishballs have always been part of life for Tong Kim-chi, 68. Since he was a toddler, he has eaten daily at the Sun King Kee noodle shop founded by his father, in Gage Street, Central, in 1945.
Now, Tong has three sons of his own and serves up the dish as boss of the shop to regulars including his five grandchildren.
But not for much longer. Tong will say goodbye to the shop and the memories it holds this week and hand it over to the Urban Renewal Authority. The URA is replacing a swathe of old buildings in the area with a complex of shops, homes and a hotel. More than 10 shops on Graham Street, Gage Street and Peel Street must move out by Tuesday.
Watch: Decades old shops make way for Hong Kong redevelopment project

With no chance of finding another shop nearby for the HK$40,000 a month he pays in rent, Tong has no option but to close. Paying higher rents would mean he could no longer sell noodles at HK$30 per bowl while using only fresh ingredients.
"Everything we offer is freshly made by ourselves every day," he said. "The fishballs and fillets are made from fish caught in the local sea, not farmed fish."
The noodle shop started out as a traditional dai pai dong, or outdoor food stall, to serve the Central's working-class population - decades before the high-end shops and bars moved in.

Since it moved indoors in 1967, the shop has changed little - the tiles on the walls and floor, the round, folding tables and even the metal chopstick cylinders are all decades old. Despite its modest setting and affordable prices, noodles are served in porcelain bowls instead of the cheap plastic ones used in cha chaan teng.
"The ladle for pouring the noodle soup is handmade and more than 60 years old," Tong says, adding he wanted to donate some of the items to a museum.
A poster on a wall of the steaming kitchen reads: "Prevention of cholera. Avoid cross-contamination of raw and cooked foods." It is turning yellow, but the boss keeps it as a reminder to keep food fresh and hygienic.
On a wall opposite are pictures from a fashion shoot in the shop and news clippings. Its unique vibe has drawn food and travel writers, as well as film stars Ricky Hui Koon-ying, Simon Yam Tat-wah and Annie Liu Xin-you.
With closure imminent, regulars are lining up for a final bowl of noodles - and many are leaving messages on Post-It notes on a board outside the shop.
"Sun King Kee adds a drop of freshness into Hongkongers' memories," reads one. Another says: "Times are changing, but the taste of good food will stay forever in our hearts. I hope the government will preserve cultural heritage, and keep more restaurants with character."
Tong remains hopeful that the URA will find a place for the displaced shops in the new development. If not, he plans to find another job - perhaps teaching others how to make fishballs.

On an adjacent street, Shanghainese grocery store Sam Yeung Ho Food Company will also close after 29 years in business. "There were many residential buildings in the area back then. The street was so packed people couldn't walk through," the owner recalls. "Now the old buildings are gone and it is so quiet. Occasionally old clients return, but … most shoppers are office workers."
Hang Cheong Hardware and Paint Store has cut prices by half or more to clear the shelves before it closes. "This shop earns HK$70,000 a month. I am talking about gross revenue, not net profit," says boss Chau Yau-chuen. "The rent is several thousand dollars a month. On nearby Wellington Street it is HK$60,000 … even Shau Kei Wan is expensive. It's impossible to move."



70-year-old Sun King Kee noodle shop makes way for Hong Kong URA project in Central

The Urban Renewal Authority plans to build a complex of shops, homes and a hotel on Graham Street in Central. Photo: Nora Tam

Sun King Kee noodle shop on Gage Street. Photo: Nora Tam

Sam Yeung Ho Food Co. Photo: Nora Tam

Sun King Kee noodle shop on Gage Street, nearby Sam Yeung Ho Food Co and other stores around Graham Street will all close by Tuesday. Photo: Nora Tam

IN PICTURES: End of an era for Hong Kong's Graham Street as vendors trade places

The corner of Wellington and Graham streets in Central, photographed in 1894, showing the old tenement buildings. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Accompanied by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose, Queen Elizabeth II chats with vegetable sellers while making an unscheduled visit to busy Graham Street in Central.  Photo: P Y Tang

Antique shops on Graham street in Central. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang (right) visits  Graham Street's wet market. Photo: Martin Chan

A model dressed as a skyscraper performs at the Graham Street market festival fashion show. Photo: Robert Ng

Models in market-themed outfits perform at the Graham Street market festival fashion show. Photo: Robert Ng

General view of the market in Graham Street, Central. Photo: David Wong

People shop at the Graham Street wet market. Photo: Martin Chan

People hold vegetables aloft and shout "Market, how much? Gai si gai chin?" for two minutes and then disperse, at the market on the Gage Street intersection with Graham Street in Central. Photo: Martin Chan

A fruit stall on Graham Street, Central.  Pictured (left) is 58-year-old owner Yau Luk Chiu-ying, who has had the stall for about 40 years. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Roger Ho Yao-sheng, executive director of the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage, pictured at the Wing Woo Grocery, which is over 80 years old and one of the highlights of the Graham Street market tour. Pictured with Roger is store owner Kwan Moon-chiu. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Kwan Moon-chiu, owner of hundred-year-old grocery shop Wing Wo,  which is in the area to be redeveloped by by the Urban Renewal Authority, at the junction of Graham Street and Wellington Street, Central. Photo: Dickson Lee

Visitors take in the "Market in the Sky" light installations on Peel Street, Graham Street and Gage Street designed by master's students from the University of Hong Kong's Department of Architecture, Eric Yin Po-chung and Sandra Leung Mei-wa. Photo: Felix Wong

(From left to right) Lindsay Robertson, Katty Law Ngar-ning, Tanya Chan Suk-chong and Patsy Cheng Man-wah call for government action to save the Graham Street market in Central. Photo: Edward Wong

(From left to right) Lindsay Robertson, Katty Law Ngar-ning, Tanya Chan Suk-chong and Patsy Cheng Man-wah call for government action to save the Graham Street Market in Central. Photo: Edward Wong

A Harry's View cartoon published on July 20, 2007. The Urban Renewal Authority pushed ahead with its plan to knock down the city's oldest wet market on Graham Street in Central despite strong opposition from heritage and residents' concern groups.

Artist's impression of the Peel Street/Graham Street redevelopment project. Image: Urban Renewal Authority

The Urban Renewal Authority's model of the Peel Street/Graham Street project at the URA office. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

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Hong Kong

A noodle shop that's been in the family for 70 years is one of more than 10 businesses in the area that will close to make way for a URA project


A noodle shop that's been in the family for 70 years is one of more than 10 businesses in the area that will close to make way for a URA project.


70-year-old Sun King Kee noodle shop makes way for Hong Kong URA project in Central

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A noodle shop that's been in the family for 70 years is one of more than 10 businesses in the area that will close to make way for a URA project

A noodle shop that's been in the family for 70 years is one of more than 10 businesses in the area that will close to make way for a URA project