Theme Concept Tour

Built between 1962 and 1964, Choi Hung Estate, a relatively high-end low-rent housing estate, is a model for contemporary long-building planning and architectural design, as evidenced by its Silver Medal from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. After 60 years, it still boasts a wealth of established businesses, including Kam Pak Restaurant, Li Ying Kee Watch Shop, Jianan Store, and Ai Kwan Fast Food Restaurant. Its arrival coincided with the era of the photo-taking phenomenon, making this modernist building a must-see destination for Hong Kong residents and tourists alike. While you may have already visited Choi Hung Estate, have you noticed more than just the check-in spots? This innovative concept tour allows visitors to experience Choi Hung Estate's architecture, life, and daily life from multiple perspectives, allowing them to discover its true value. The concept tour has also incorporated an "Estate Treasure Hunt" segment, utilizing the Hong Kong-developed "Kongceptour" app, allowing you to discover Choi Hung Estate's hidden gems at your own pace! Furthermore, the "Neighborhood Guide" program has invited a Choi Hung Estate resident of 62 years to join the tour, allowing everyone to experience daily life in Choi Hung Estate from a local perspective.

Wong Chuk Hang, a former fishing port, transformed into an industrial hub, and finally a hub for art and design, embodies a century of transformation in Hong Kong's economy and culture. This concept tour takes visitors on a journey through the Wong Chuk Hang Industrial Area and its history, from its early days as a fishing village to its post-World War II industrial development, to the stories of brands like Vitasoy and Yan's Jim Kee. Explore the rebirth of industrial buildings and contemporary art spaces like Pekin Fine Arts and Su Chang Research Office, delving into the unique concepts and memories of Wong Chuk Hang.

This concept tour takes you to the land of tung oil and hemp cables, also known as Yau Ma Tei (formerly known as Yau Ma Tei). Planning, architecture, old shops, neighborhoods... What is the concept behind Yau Ma Tei? A bustling dock area, Yau Ma Tei boasts a vibrant cultural hub, not only a vibrant shopping mall but also a vibrant cultural hub. During the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, the streets were dotted with cinemas, including the Yau Ma Tei Theatre, now a Grade II historic building, as well as the Kam Wah, Guangming, First, Ping An, and Happy Cinemas. Beneath the veil of light and shadow, there was once a medley of good and bad actors, stories we've captured through oral histories of the neighborhood. The concept tour route explores various community revitalization projects in today's Yau Ma Tei, beyond highlights like the Yau Ma Tei Police Station and the fruit market.

As generative AI becomes an everyday tool, we increasingly rely on it to create images, text, and even interpret culture and identity. However, when we ask AI to "draw a Yau Ma Tei street" or "write a poem about daily life in Hong Kong," we often find that the content it generates is unfamiliar and empty, even blurring the spirit of the place. This is because the data it draws from lacks our real memories and cultural context. In other words, it simply compresses various online stereotypes about Hong Kong. At the same time, we're surrounded by various versions of "Hong Kong imagery": the local labels of hipster shops, the Hong Kong-style slogans of fast food restaurants, the nostalgic Hong Kong style filtered through the lens of Little Red Book... Red, white, and blue plastic bags, sailboats in Victoria Harbour, neon signs, Lion Rock... Do these commonplace "visual symbols of Hong Kong" truly represent your daily experience of living in Hong Kong? Kongcept and Mixed Initiative kick off their journey in Yau Ma Tei, taking participants on a walk through street corners both old and new, sharing stories and chatting with shop owners. Along the way, record the moment with Reels videos, building a personal database of "Yau Ma Tei imagery."

Explore the street corners of Sham Shui Po on this conceptual tour and discover the architectural characteristics of corner buildings. Wander through different streets and observe the architectural evolution of corner buildings through the ages. Why are corner buildings curved and angled? What's the connection between pawnshops and corner buildings? Along the way, we'll also show you the appearance of corner buildings before and after their revitalization, and explore their future. Then, visit Colour Brown x GO.ON, a café revitalized from a former tenement building, to experience this complex arts and cultural space converted from an old cloth shop. Grab a glass of Hong Kong-style quaffed wine and ascend to the modern, three-story convoluted building to explore the upper floors' carbon-reducing and sustainable exhibition halls. The fascinating thing about Sham Shui Po is that it carries the souls of different times and places. Have you ever noticed what the tenement buildings on the street corners record? If tenement buildings represent the grassroots of our time, then tenement buildings have become a haven for the middle class in a fleeting moment. Unfortunately, all of these pre-war curved corner buildings have disappeared from Hong Kong Island, and only three remain in Kowloon.

How does Tai Hang achieve such a harmonious coexistence of traditional culture and a refined lifestyle? Tai Hang, inhabited long before Hong Kong's founding, is nestled in a valley, formerly known as the "Hung Heung Luk Valley." A sluice on Mount Pine flows through Tai Hang before emptying into the sea, where residents often washed their clothes, giving rise to the names Tai Hang and Wun Sha Street. Once a settlement for newly arrived immigrants from the squatter settlements, the area also served as a garden city for the wealthy, and traces of this still remain. On the streets of Tai Hang, the century-old "Dancing Fire Dragon" captivates people of all ages, like a Japanese festival. It becomes a gathering place for local businesses, residents, and outsiders, fostering a cultural atmosphere and a sense of belonging. Unique cafes and affordable eateries nestled beneath the tenement buildings make this a weekend destination you'll want to revisit. From its former Hakka village to its current role as a backyard for Causeway Bay and Tin Hau, "Our Port" takes you on a journey into Tai Hang, a community nestled in the heart of the city yet remaining aloof and self-contained. We'll visit a hidden gem overlooking Lide Estate! Finally, of course, we'll stop by Min Sheng Ice House for milk tea and a bowl of pork bun rice, immersing ourselves in the culture and community through our culinary senses.

Sha Tin, Hong Kong's first new town, was also a major experiment in urban design, becoming a cornerstone of today's urban planning. This concept tour takes visitors to Luk Yuen and Wo Che Estates, revealing the design and origins of Hong Kong's public housing estates and understanding how "estate shopping malls" became the heart of new community life in new towns. We also pass by Hong Kong's first-of-its-kind pool cooling system and its environmentally friendly design. Finally, at the Mushroom Pavilion, we experience the culinary culture of yesteryear and the collective memory of the community. Through these key scenes, we witness the development of public housing estates from resettlement areas to new towns, and witness a microcosm of the transformation of Hong Kong's city and its people.

The film "#BreakingHell" has prompted reflection on cultural customs and death, particularly the struggle between the living and the dead. For Hong Kongers, burials were once as difficult as raising a body. Drawing on Lingnan culture and Victorian experiences, Hong Kong has developed a unique and effective system of cremation and burial, allowing for the centralized development of tombs for the deceased, much like the homes of the living. However, Hong Kong still has some unique spatial structures that accommodate the needs of both the living and the dead. This concept tour, visiting Hon Fa Garden at Li Cheng Estate in Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po Park, explores the tension between urban development and cultural preservation, drawing on the preservation of ancient tombs in Guangzhou, Roman burial rituals, the evolution of British burial practices, and the handling of wartime remains. Also, how do we deal with the issue of land after death and how can we "die a good death"?

The story of Kowloon Walled City begins with a border. In 1847, the Qing government built walls and established a military garrison here to prevent pirates and illegal immigrants. When all of Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1898, Kowloon Walled City remained untouched and escaped the takeover. The walls could not stop Kowloon Walled City. The destruction of this border by the Japanese only fueled the fusion of the Walled City with the squatter settlements, transforming it into a vibrant melting pot attracting laborers, triad gangs, officials, and tourists—at one point, the most densely populated place in the world. Whether good or bad, Kowloon City's popularity vanished with the demolition of the Walled City and the airport, but traces of its history remain. Today, the boundaries of the Walled City no longer exist, but have evolved into the boundaries of Kowloon City, Walled City Park, Mei Tung Estate, and Tung Tau Estate. Hong Kong will learn from the past and explore the concept of the Walled City before the reconstruction of Kowloon City, examining the history of Kowloon's urban development. Finally, we visited the Stone House Home, a Grade III historic building, and had a relaxed exchange with residents of the old Walled City.

Climb aboard the Ding Ding tram for a 90-minute journey through time, showcasing Hong Kong's history, development, and culture. Starting at Western Market, an Edwardian-era monument built in 1906, we'll immerse ourselves in the life of the bygone street market. We'll then journey along Sheung Wan's famed Dried Seafood Street to explore the story of North-South trade. Passing Central's skyscrapers and historic buildings, we'll witness the rise of the city's commercial core. We'll then journey through Admiralty and Wan Chai, experiencing the transformation of Hong Kong from an old neighborhood to an exhibition and trade center. Finally, we'll reach North Point, revisiting the former prosperity and entertainment culture of "Little Shanghai."

Hong Kong's public housing concept originated in the UK. Although public housing development in the two regions diverged in different directions starting in the 1970s, many similarities remain. The large-scale development of public housing in the UK stemmed from post-World War II reconstruction, and the 1960s and 1970s saw a vibrant and diverse range of design styles. This concept tour, starting from the perspective of Hong Kong's public housing, explores several distinctive public housing estates in West London—a blend of modernism, brutalism, and postmodernism! Many of these estates are designated as historic buildings. We hope participants will understand how the cultural, social, and institutional differences between public housing in Hong Kong and the UK have led to distinct designs, and how to interpret the value of these public housing estates.