“Causeway Bay was like Hong Kong
dialed up to 11. Lights, noise, people,
24-hour fish balls, sensory overload.”
Adrian Wong, multimedia artist

Celebrating Causeway Bay

A neighbourhood in flux, Causeway Bay’s constant evolution keeps residents and visitors coming back for more. Whether it’s fashion, food, film or art, it’s a part of Hong Kong that keeps people mesmerised and inspired.

When Adrian Wong was asked to create a pop-up bar for Absolut Vodka in 2013, the psychologist-turned-artist thought about a few places in Causeway Bay. More specifically, a few different cha chaan teng, the quintessential Hong Kong-style diners that emerged in the booming postwar years.

There was Tai Ping Koon, the Pak Sha Road restaurant with black-vested waiters and a

mesmerizing patterned carpet; Cheung Hing Coffee Shop in Happy Valley, with its classic wood booths and mosaic tiles; and the Cafe de Goldfinch, whose neon sign and sultry lighting made it the setting for a memorable scene in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love. Wong combined all of these to create Wun Dun, a strange throwback bar that blended a cha chaan teng aesthetic with Taoist mythology and an animatronic band.

“I first moved to Causeway Bay in 2007, after two years in the New Territories, so it occupies a special place in my heart,” says Wong. “For those two years, I felt a real remove from the hustle and bustle so characteristic of Hong Kong – to give some context, I was attacked by a wild monkey outside of our previous apartment. Causeway Bay was like Hong Kong dialed up to 11. Lights, noise, people, 24-hour fish balls, sensory overload.”

Wong says his time in Causeway Bay influenced much of his work, which blends live performance with installations made from typical Hong Kong materials. “My time living there influenced many of my works: the neon animations, barbershop pole compositions, even my work with domesticated animals. The beginnings of this work were conceived while wandering along Cannon Street, back in the days when every shop window had a puppy, kitten, chinchilla, or rabbit in it.”

Even more than other parts of Hong Kong, Causeway Bay is a neighbourhood in flux, its retail and entertainment landscape never quite the same from one year to the next. But that’s the very quality that has made it such an indispensable part of Hong Kong culture. Whatever it is — film, food, art — Causeway Bay finds itself at the centre. It’s that constant change and evolution that defines Causeway Bay, which in turn defines Hong Kong.

There was Tai Ping Koon, the Pak Sha Road restaurant with black-vested waiters and a mesmerizing patterned carpet; Cheung Hing Coffee Shop in Happy Valley, with its classic wood booths and mosaic tiles; and the Cafe de Goldfinch, whose neon sign and sultry lighting made it the setting for a memorable scene in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love. Wong combined all of these to create Wun Dun, a strange throwback bar that blended a cha chaan teng aesthetic with Taoist mythology and an animatronic band.

“Wun Dun” – Commissioned installation and performance for Absolut Art Bureau during Art Basel Hong Kong, 2013.
Images: Christian Hagward, courtesy Absolut Art Bureau

“The nostalgic mood of Goldfinch fits the tone of the film perfectly. Smoked mirrors, brown leather booths, even the old school cutlery brings us back in time. The dimly lit interior creates an impression that is relatively mysterious yet sensual.”
Joycelyn Choi, General Manager of MOViE MOViE

“Unlike many other neighborhoods, this path of development embraces the entry and exit of people and businesses of different ethnicities, and underscores the vibrancy and fluidity of this district,” says John Wong, an assistant professor of Hong Kong Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

smouldering scene between two lovers having dinner in Goldfinch. “The nostalgic mood of the restaurant fits the tone of the film perfectly,” she says. “Smoked mirrors, brown leather booths, even the old school cutlery brings us back in time. The dimly lit interior creates an impression that is relatively mysterious yet sensual.”

Choi says there’s something about the atmosphere of Causeway Bay that seems to draw filmmakers to its busy streets. “The hustle and bustle, the crazy zebra crossing in front of Sogo, the new skyscrapers, the malls and the crowds,” she says. “There are a lot of people there but it somehow is strangely orderly in its chaos. It’s full of sound and fury yet also peaceful and serene.”

That liveliness lends itself to film. Causeway Bay has made memorable appearances in a number of movies, says Joycelyn Choi, an ardent film buff and the general manager of MOViE MOViE, a new art house cinema in Taikoo Shing. She names a few settings that have stood out over the years. Queen’s Cafe, which dates back to the era when many upscale cha chaan teng were run by Russians, featured prominently in Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild. The circular footbridge above Yee Wo Road helps Ghost in the Shell achieve its cyberpunk atmosphere. And then there was In the Mood for Love’s famously smouldering scene between two lovers having dinner in Goldfinch. “The nostalgic mood of the restaurant fits the tone of the film perfectly,” she says. “Smoked mirrors, brown leather booths, even the old school cutlery brings us back in time. The dimly lit interior creates an impression that is relatively mysterious yet sensual.”

Choi says there’s something about the atmosphere of Causeway Bay that seems to draw filmmakers to its busy streets. “The hustle and bustle, the crazy crossing in front of Sogo, the new skyscrapers, the malls and the crowds,” she says. “There are a lot of people there but it somehow is strangely orderly in its chaos. It’s full of sound and fury yet also peaceful and serene.”

I.T often mixes fashion with art for their events

“To me, it’s similar to Shibuya in Tokyo, where there is always a good mix of local and overseas customers with dynamic vibe,” she says. “Causeway Bay has a bit of everything.”
Deborah Cheng, Chief Commercial Officer of I.T

Fashion styles seen in Causeway Bay

For a neighbourhood that covers such a small land area, Causeway Bay contains multitudes of different businesses: upstairs bookstores, coffee shops tucked inside alleyways and unexpected corridors, restaurants hidden in the top floors of anonymous commercial towers. Among them are a plethora of shops that represent the cutting edge of Hong Kong fashion – from high-end luxury labels to independent boutiques.

According to Deborah Cheng, the chief commercial officer of leading Hong Kong fashion group I.T, the past two decades has seen a proliferation of fashion brands, starting with an influx of luxury brands that eventually transitioned from a franchise model to direct operations. Then, in the past decade, newer global fashion chains have arrived in Hong Kong and made their mark in Causeway Bay.

“I remember that Lee Garden was a hotel when I was young, not a shopping mall and there were not a lot of luxury brands, not even in Times Square,” she says. “The entire landscape was different and back then, Paterson Street was known as ‘Eat Street’. ”

I.T’s connection with Causeway Bay began when its founder, Sham Kar Wai, opened a 200 square foot shop in 1988 and developed a cult following. Since then, the multi-brand group has grown into an extensive portfolio of fashion’s most celebrated names. Described as a champion of the avant-garde within the Chinese fashion retail industry, the group maintains a strong presence in Causeway Bay, including a flagship store in One Hysan Avenue.

“To me, it’s similar to Shibuya in Tokyo, where there is always a good mix of local and overseas customers with dynamic vibe,” she says. “Causeway Bay has a bit of everything.”

Food writer Janice Leung Hayes says that has allowed an “incredibly diverse” food scene to flourish. “There’s something for everybody,” she says. “One thing that stands out in particular is the density of excellent Japanese restaurants, from high-end sushi, to ramen, to desserts.”

Causeway Bay has a long street food tradition, too. “Like the rest of Hong Kong, I think most street food carts have moved into shops,” says Leung Hayes. “There’s still quite a few traditional things like fish balls, fried eggplants stuffed with fish cake and gai daan zai or egglettes, but there are also quite a few new things like matcha soft serve [ice cream]. My favourites are classic gai daan zai and in the winter, steamed sweet potatoes and wok-roasted chestnuts. You can smell the roasting a block away.”

For a time, surging rents tied to the boom in mainland tourism seemed to be threatening this cultural diversity and distinctiveness. “One of my favourite places to go for beef brisket and pork meatball congee used to be in Causeway Bay – Lee Yuen Congee Noodles on Lockhart Road,” says Leung Hayes. “Every summer holiday when I came back to Hong Kong from university I’d make sure I stop in. It closed in 2013, and even then, it was already one of the last reminders of what Causeway Bay was, before it became such a glitzy commercial hub. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but till this day I don’t think I’ve had a better beef brisket in Hong Kong.”

Not long after coffee enthusiasts John So and Kammie Hui opened specialty café 18 Grams in a tiny alleyway space on Cannon Street, it seemed

like they may need to close shop because of the feverish rents. “When we first started 18 Grams there were a number of spots we could choose. There’s a high failure rate in F&B, so we thought that if we failed in Causeway Bay, at least we’d be dying somewhere glamorous.”

But things have since come back down to earth – and 18 Grams is doing better than ever. Eight years after it opened, it has grown into a chain with locations all over the city. And though the pint-sized Cannon Street shop is much more modest than its other locations, So says it’s still his pride and joy, in large part because of its location. He went to school on Braemar Hill and remembers how all of his classmates gathered in Causeway Bay after class.

“Causeway Bay is where everybody hangs out,” he says. “There is a lot of sentimental value here – this is where it all started. We have a lot of regulars and it would be really difficult to duplicate this atmosphere anywhere else. That’s why I love Causeway Bay.”

Causeway Bay has a long street food tradition, too. “Like the rest of Hong Kong, I think most street food carts have moved into shops,” says Leung Hayes. “There’s still quite a few traditional things like fish balls, fried eggplants stuffed with fish cake and gai daan zai [egglettes], but there are also quite a few new things like matcha soft serve [ice cream]. My favourites are classic gai daan zai and in the winter, steamed sweet potatoes and wok-roasted chestnuts. You can smell the roasting a block away.”

Not long after coffee enthusiasts John So and Kammie Hui opened specialty café 18 Grams in a tiny alleyway space on Cannon Street, it seemed like they may need to close shop because of the feverish rents. “When we first started 18 Grams there were a number of spots we could choose. There’s a high failure rate in F&B, so we thought that if we failed in Causeway Bay, at least we’d be dying somewhere glamorous.”

“There’s something for everybody. One thing that stands out in particular is the density of excellent Japanese restaurants, from high-end sushi, to ramen, to desserts.”
Janice Leung Hayes, food writer

“Causeway Bay is where everybody hangs out. There is a lot of sentimental value here – this is where it all started. We have a lot of regulars and it would be really difficult to duplicate this atmosphere anywhere else. That’s why I love Causeway Bay.”
John So, owner of 18 Grams