It is easy to picture Ngai Mui-chu as the lady of the manor in a world that no longer exists. She looks every inch the product of her times and upbringing - the cultured, pampered daughter of a prosperous family in imperial China. The native of Dongguan, in Guangdong province, dresses immaculately, holds herself erect and speaks in a clear voice.
What's amazing about this elegant woman is her age. She is 104 years old, but looks just 80. She still walks an hour every morning for exercise and visits the hairdresser at least once a week. But she had to stop reading her favourite newspapers two years ago when her eyesight began to fail.
Ms Ngai was born in late 1898 into a big, wealthy family. Three of her uncles were high government officials in China. She married into an even richer family and never knew what work was until her in-laws decided to move the family to Hong Kong.
'I had everything a young girl could possibly want. I had private tutors and servants to wait on me hand and foot. I didn't have to work. All my needs were seen to. I lived at home with my parents until I was married at 23. Life with my in-laws was good. I didn't have a care in the world.
'We ran away from China because of the troubles there [after the Qing empire collapsed]. Things got too much and my in-laws decided it was time for a change and moved the whole family to Hong Kong. They had a printing business in China and started a new printing company in Central after we got here.'
By the time the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, both her husband and father-in-law had died and she was running the business.