History for the Taking

The old Wan Chai market building at the intersection of Queen’s Road East and Wan Chai Road is an historical landmark. Built in 1934, it was one of the most influential examples of Streamline Moderne architecture in Hong Kong. It will be destroyed next year as part of the government’s urban renewal project for Wan Chai, unlike the nearby 1920s Blue House, which is to be at least partially preserved.

“This building is an example of pre-war architecture that marked the beginning of the rapid development of the Central-Wan Chai districts,” says Dr. Ho Kwok-leung of the Department of Applied Social Science at Polytechnic University. “The building not only served as a marketplace for the neighborhood, but was also a symbol of the rapid intrusion of Western concepts during the inter-war period – a symbol of a new era of lifestyle for Hong Kongers.”

According to Ho, the market is a key example of Wan Chai’s role in enabling the rapid growth of businesses in Central by providing low-priced basic services and modern business facilities.

The building is also a war relic: it was on the frontline during the final hours of fierce fighting in Wan Chai before Hong Kong fell to the Japanese in 1941. “A mixed bag of gunners, Hong Kong Volunteers and the Middlesex regiment held the position in an attempt to prevent the Japanese from reaching Central along Kennedy Road,” local amateur historian Tony Banham writes on his website, hongkongwardiary.com.

“There is no doubt that building has been through hard times, but it has survived it all,” Ho says. “It is like a silent storyteller of the district, a monument to the history of Wan Chai. You can feel how strong the bond is between that building and the district – it has been standing as a historical landmark in Wan Chai for the past 72 years.”