Billy Potts - South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com/rss/523775/feed Billy Potts is a Hong Kong-born designer and writer focused on the city’s heritage. Through his design consultancy, Handsome Co., Potts works with iconic local brands like Camel Vacuum Flasks and Hong Kong Tramways. Potts is also the founder of Hong Kong Ghost Signs, an initiative that documents and maps defunct signage across the city, recognising these unique cultural artifacts as a reflection of Hong Kong’s identity and past amid rapid urban change. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png Billy Potts - South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com Billy Potts Billy Potts It was December 1990 and I was four years old. Hong Kong then got much colder than it does today, but standing to my mother’s right as we took in the Christmas lights, my younger brother to her left, the cold seemed to melt away. Wide-eyed and clutching my mother’s hand, I gazed upon the illuminated towers and parapets of a snow-white castle. Angels perched on the battlements, haloes aglow. Fairy lights festooned the winter scene on the waterfront by Harbour City, in Tsim Sha Tsui. Hong Kong’s... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3336025/how-hong-kongs-famous-christmas-decorations-came-life-told-one-their-creators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3336025/how-hong-kongs-famous-christmas-decorations-came-life-told-one-their-creators?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:00:15 +0000 How Hong Kong’s famous Christmas decorations came to life, as told by one of their creators Billy Potts Billy Potts A grainy image comes into focus. Shaky interlacing lines coalesce into the vigorous movements of a lion dance. A time stamp reads “1990.8.19”, but the clang of cymbals and drums through the tinny output of the camcorder are as clear as if recorded yesterday. “That’s our opening day,” explains Mamoru Hayashi, who ran the Metropol Restaurant with his family until September 27, when it closed its doors for the final time. Hong Kong’s post-pandemic reality has ended many long-established eateries,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329241/hong-kongs-metropol-dim-sum-restaurant-may-be-dead-its-neon-sign-will-live?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329241/hong-kongs-metropol-dim-sum-restaurant-may-be-dead-its-neon-sign-will-live?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:15:08 +0000 Hong Kong’s Metropol dim sum restaurant may be dead, but its neon sign will live on