Membership fell by half at the Foreign Correspondents' Club and by 20 per cent at the United Services Recreation Club (USRC) during the same period. The effect was far less severe at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, where there was only a 10 per cent fall, mostly due to the departure of expatriate civil servants.

The Helena May, which occupies a heritage building on Garden Road, was among the hardest hit, with numbers dropping from more than 1,000 in the early 1990s to about 400 at the time of the handover.

Originally called The Helena May Institute for Women, the club was set up in 1916 to accommodate newly arrived single females, and its members reflected that intent. The club has moved with the times to include men as associate members and its name changed accordingly, but the impact of 1997 has been a major challenge.

'Families left and women left so membership fell. It was obviously a concern,' Ellis says. 'If we don't have the membership, we don't have the monthly fees and people coming for the food and beverage.'

Ellis and her fellow councillors worked hard to rebuild membership over the past year, organising open days and other activities. Their efforts have paid off: there are now 900 members, 30 per cent of whom are local Chinese.

In Tsim Sha Tsui, the USRC was quick to respond to impending political change. Set up in 1911 for the British military and their families, it lifted restrictions to allow civilians to join well before 1997.

But club officials discovered that wasn't enough. 'We have one new Chinese member who has lived and worked in the Jordan area for his whole life,' recalls USRC chairman Ross Parker. 'When I asked why he took so long to join us, he said he walked past the club every day but didn't know what lay behind the wall.'

So in the past few years, the USRC has encouraged members to refer friends and colleagues, and has contacted various professional and community groups to recruit a broader cross-section of the community.

Language is sometimes a barrier, especially in clubs focused on pursuits favoured by westerners. 'I wouldn't say that if you don't speak English, you can't join. But English is the language used in an international sport like sailing,' says Harald Dudok van Heel, commodore of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

Still, some adjustments to cater for cultural differences help attract more locals. The Helena May has been organising more activities related to Chinese culture in addition to core interests such as wine tasting, ballroom dancing and bridge. It now runs classes on Chinese painting appreciation, calligraphy, qigong and organises mahjong competitions, which appeal to both expatriate and Chinese members.

Clubs such as the USRC and FCC make an effort to include Chinese dishes on their menus, especially during festive occasions when some members want to avoid crowds in Chinese restaurants elsewhere.

'It isn't as simple as it looks,' says FCC general manager Gilbert Cheng Chik-kong. 'We need to invite a good Chinese chef to set the menu and install new kitchen facilities to prepare authentic Chinese meals.'

Some officials believe the greatest threat to the colonial-era club comes from new ventures with plush settings and facilities, such as the health and dining clubs run by luxury hotels and residential complexes.

Still, they have their distinctive appeal. Dudok van Heel says the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's long history and promotion of sailing and rowing already differentiates it from others.

The ambience at clubs in heritage buildings holds considerable appeal. 'We have location and the ambience,' says Ellis. 'People join the club for various reasons - because there's a good library, it's quiet, they can read and relax. People come for lunch as we are in the heart of Central and the food is good.'

For the USRC, which sits on a 2-hectare site next to King's Park, there are other factors in its favour. 'We have things other clubs don't have, like the wonderful environment outside, which is like gold in Hong Kong,' says Parker. 'There's an outdoor field and greenery. We have more than 50 different varieties of trees and foliage, like the banyan, bamboo and fern.'

Intensive membership drives have seen numbers at the USRC bounce back from post-Sars lows to about 800 members, 40 per cent of whom are Chinese. Chinese membership at the FCC has also gradually climbed to 30 per cent from less than 20 per cent before 1997. At the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, the mix is evenly balanced between Chinese and non-Chinese, compared to nearly 100 per cent expatriate in the 1960s.

The Hong Kong Club, a bastion for the city's rich and powerful since the early years of colonial rule, has also seen a shift in the membership mix. Chinese membership has risen from about 10 per cent to 30 per cent in the past two decades, says a legislator who is a long-time member. 'Now you can see a lot more Chinese faces compared to when I joined 20 years back,' he says.

That's not to say joining its elite circle has got any easier. Applicants still have to go through repeated interviews by the vetting committee. Besides having a strong financial background and social status, candidates must be referred by a member, preferably those sitting on the vetting committee.

'The waiting time is at least two years,' the legislator says. 'The Hong Kong Club is a place where you go to be seen and to see people you would like to meet.'

The prospect of a more diverse social network that British-era clubs provide appeals to many locals who have lived abroad. Linda Yiu Lam Lai-fun, who joined The Helena May last October, is among them.

'The heritage building and the surroundings are gorgeous. My husband is an associate member and loves to have lunch here,' Yiu says.

After living in Canada for four years, Yiu finds the club provides a good channel to make new friends of different nationalities.

'I've come to understand better about how other expatriates see Hong Kong,' she says. 'I'm impressed that some westerners are so keen to learn about our culture and assimilate into Hong Kong life. They even learn mahjong and play better than a lot of us.'