Old Hong Kong building gives a glimpse of the past

[Guest Post by Gary Yeung in Hong Kong] 

Located on the outskirts of our busy central business district, this building in Wellington Street is one of the very few remaining pre-war tenement buildings in Hong Kong.

It was built in 1879 after the great fire in central Hong Kong. The ground floor originally housed a jewellery shop. The shop was replaced by a dried seafood shop in 1930 until the whole building was made vacant by the government in 2009.

Originally, there were balconies made of iron attached to the outer walls on the second and third levels of the building. Some windows were once doorways that led to balconies, and marks of those doors are still visible.

This building may not be an architectural gem but in a city like Hong Kong which constantly rebuilds itself, too many memories and history is lost to the name of redevelopment. The fate of this building is still unknown.

Gary Yeung is a local-born Hongkonger who loves every aspect of his city state. He is one of the founders of Urban Sketchers Hong Kong and when not urban sketching, you’ll find him in the studio creating oil and acrylic paintings. For more of Gary’s work visit his blog or flickr.

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