Hong Kong’s best-kept secrets: shop for antique tin toys from ’50s and ’60s

Anyone with fond memories of playing with wind-up tin toys as a child – or anyone who appreciates groovy retro design – should pay a visit to Chung King Yong Yau in Wan Chai. The blink-and-you-miss- it hole in the wall is crammed full of antique tin toys made in Shanghai during the 1950s and ’60s, from wind-up robots and racing cars to waddling penguins and spinning gymnasts. During a recent visit we were tempted by two wind-up silver robots (HK$90 for the smaller one and HK$120 for the larger version). We were also charmed by two wind-up alarm clocks that featured moving pictures on the faces, such as a rabbit flying a kite and a hen pecking at the ground (HK$230 each). We’d take these over a kitschy “waving Mao” clock any day.