Old Hong Kong, Sheung Wan district back in 1964

[168mightymark]

The temple is called Man Mo Temple (文武廟) is still there. The street at around1:15 is still there selling antiques.The little girl was making fire crackers at 3:30, there is no longer such business in HK.

[bringbecksthehorizon]

thank you SO much for these videos!

i'm only a teenager, so I've only ever been able to see what Hong Kong is like now with all the sky scrapers.

always been facsinated by how my grandparents lived and how the city would have looked.

truly amazing, thank you so much :)

[waynehor1974]

Wish the building at 3.53 still exist!

thanks for sharing your video.

[hkchrism]

Sheung Wan has maintained its old architecture relative to the other areas of Hong Kong. Possibly because of this it's become the cool area for young people in the last 10 years, with very high rents as a result.

[jennylingwong]

why don't you travel to hong kong and see the differences ????

[MichaelRogge]

@jennylingwong I'm 82 years old and find no pleasure in traveling by plane anymore. Moreover I do not recognize HK anymore. I only go on cruises in Europe.

[maestrovso]

The old buildings with the pillars supporting the upper floors all but disappeared. If you look really hard you can find a handful scattered in different neighborhoods. Many are marked for demolition. In my recent trip this spring I was tempted to go into one near the temple street that was condemned and boarded up just to explore.

[maestrovso]

Dear Mr. Rogge,

Others may already replied. At 2:40 the temple and the school adjacent to it are both quite well preserved. The school was built with the donations collected at the temple. The temple belongs to a long time non-profit organization that also built many hospitals serving the residents many whom cannot afford paid services.

[MichaelRogge]

@maestrovso Thanks for your info. Yes, one cannot stop the tooth of time. Here in Amsterdam old buildings are declared a national treasure that may not be demolished. This makes that we still have buildings centuries old.

[nwong6410]

By the way, Michael, your films are great. I hope the hk govt archive has reached out to you. They should be preserved for viewing by all hk people.

[MichaelRogge]

@nwong6410 . Yes, they will have a professional digitalisation of the films for their archives very soon.

[nwong6410]

Depending on where you go in Macau. There are still some fairly old areas there while the area near the ferry and cotai are totally different.

[jasonng861231]

Interestingly, the modern Macau still looks a bit like the old Hong Kong in this video

[MichaelRogge]

@jasonng861231 Are you sure? I heard and saw that it looks more like Las Vegas nowadays !

[hkchrism]

@MichaelRogge Macau has done a good job of preserving its old part and building on new land. The coastline isn't the same but there is a very distinct old town area.

[thegolfingmachine]

didn't realize 8mm can capture audio as well.. Thanks for sharing...

[groovycc63]

Thank you very much! I was born in 1963. I missed my parents and the good old days.

[79snowwolf]

Thanks for the amazing footage of Sheung Wan. Now it's completely changed. Only the back street famous for dried produce remains the same, but it's so quiet nowadays.

[MichaelRogge]

@79snowwolf . Thanks for update. Hardly believable a quiet Sheung Wan district!

[chieko8]

Not only it is interesting to see your videos but so interesting also to read all the comments. I would like to visit Hong Kong on day may be after I graduated from University. Thank you again.

[pcmarriotthk]

Ladies wearing Qipao at 0:36! Now that's something you rarely see these days, except on special occasions.

[NBSCTS]

Thx for posting this valuable film

[xiaobaovideo]

yeah it's changed a lot since 1964... i live nearby and pass through the area evey day on my way to work. interesting to see how it was back then, this is the first time i've seen colour footage of street scenes, all the photographs i've seen have been B&W

[ingesusannap]

Very nice. I was living in Sheung Wan for almost three years. The MaJong scenery hasn't changed ever since then. Thanks for posting and greetings from Hamburg, Germany.

[josephwdlee]

I'm living in Sheung Wan now. The streets are cleaner and more developed. There are many more caucasians living here.

[SFikk]

finally,I found my year (1964) when I born in HK,it really colours my memory.tks !! ^ ^

[LiamFitzpatrick]

Wonderful

[SanjeevBalakrishnaN]

The hustle & bustle of Chinatown rightfully captured in the film.

[oyt2001]

Thank you so much, that's the real Hong Kong. Now...all is fake, no history, no old street, no old building, no real HK people....

[solitude100years]

this was beyond memory - I wasn't born yet. Viewing your clip was like seeing my birth place through the eyes of my parents. thanks for sharing.

[blackhawktubeyou]

The footage after 3:23 should be taken in Macau, because what the work the children is doing can only be seen there.

[hellodelaynomore]

I'm a hongkongese and born this year 1964, my office in Sheung Wan Man Mo Temple area. Your precious footage gives a special meaning to me.

[hkjazz1]

I am not so sure about the meaning of first world income. Someone must have been paid so well to make such comment. Colonialism is bad word in the text book but that part of history of Hong Kong is unique. It is part of the history of a tormented China. Why Chinese people are so short sighted and so numb in politics that they cannot rule themselves? Why had some of our parents chosen (or fallen into) Communism?

[betalover1]

I was seven years old then. I lived in this area actually. Thanks for the trip to memory lane.

I like HK today far better. I like modernity and first world income. I prefer the present political arrangement over colonial rule.

The Brits are welcome here as a part of HK. Colonialism has its ugly face.

The worst really was that there were classes of passports for classes of British subjects. I can't imagine accepting such discrimiation now. Expectation is higher now.

[DesCroft]

@betalover1 So true, people romanticize the past but it was definitely not an easy life for most in those days unless you were British.

[bilibara]

Thank you very much for uploading this clilp..

[eddielung31]

聽到有人大聲叫"係囉!" ，好好笑

[kowloonbaby08]

it's very very old now.....

[vanessaseed]

another superb footage of one of hk's emblematic areas. you really did have vision mr rogge and managed to capture the essence of daily life through your 'hobby' (hard to believe that this wasnt your day time job!) sheung wan still has some of this raw feel to it!  one of the things that strikes me is the amount of garbage on the streets all before the mega clean-up campaign started in 1972once again many thanks for sharing your extensive and interesting library.

[aussiehansi]

Dear Michael, I'm a German HK resident since 15 years and your videos make me want of go into a time machine back 50-60 years to experience the pure HK as it was.

God bless you for giving us such a precious insight about our beloved and treasured people and city.

Love, long life and health to you, Hans & Vera, Cheung Chau island

[MichaelRogge]

Thanks and same to you. I passed your beautiful island by ferryboat many a time more than fifty years ago. Wish you a pleasant stay there.

[aussiehansi]

Thanks too, I shared your clips on my faceny good comments about it. I guess you have no clips of my beautiful island Cheung Chau? Do you want me to take a video of any particular corner of HK today?

[MichaelRogge]

No, unfortunately I never called on your island to make exposures. Thanks for the offer for a video of HK today. It would only make me 'wehmutig' so don't bother.

[benbowDD]

Thank you so much!! This is so authentic.....

[darkstatehk]

These collections are superb and capture the essence of Hong Kong exquisitely during those times. Personal videos like these truly show the power of sites like You Tube, enabling people all over the world to enjoy them to their fullest. A most refreshing beak from the norm. Great job!!

[TaipoRoad]

I remember scenes like these. Thanks for sharing.

[mflfm]

You let us to find our lost memories, Thank you very much indeed!

[jbsf969]

Thank you for this great video. This is the Hong Kong I remember. I was in the U. S. Navy and was Station Ship aboard the USS Uhlmann (DD684). I did not go back until March 2008 and was very sad. The bay looks so much smaller now. I'm sure it is better for the residents now but it is just another big city now. Again thanks Jim

[yuetkukoihoje]

Thanks again and yes, I'm one among those people want to cry when they're watching your clips.

Seeing those kids worked on the street but still wore smile on their faces. You can image their life might be poor but they felt joyful to certain extent.

Hope that from your wonderful clips the spoiled young people right now in HK can learn more about their parents/grandparents lives in the old time and how they made HK became a famous international and financial city with their hard works.

[ANJIANLIANG99]

1964 was the year I joined HK government to be civil servant. My working place was GPO building. It is really wonderful that I could return to that space and time. I just want to cry for that wonderful feeling

[MichaelRogge]

I have had so many responses of HK viewesr who could weep at seeing the old HK.. I took them to show my folks how modern HK looked like at the time. I never realised that they would serve half a century later to show what the old HK looked like!.

[TaipoRoad]

I worked in the GPO canteen 1972 to 1973. I might have cooked you breakfast!

[hornydicky]

at 3:54, I hear a woman's voice saying "Thank you indeed", in cantonese.

[MichaelRogge]

Thanks for translating that to me. The first time I hear of what people in the clip say.

[andyhui0812]

very classical ~~

[Philmoscowitz]

i'm actually considering moving to Sheung Wan this summer. it looks like rent for a decent 2 bedroom these days runs between $13,000 and $20,000 (US $1,675 and $2,577). seems to be one of the more expensive parts of Hong Kong? those prices are a little cheaper than Manhattan prices, but the apartments also seem much smaller than those in NY. i'm from the US and am not that familiar with Hong Kong yet.

[tiutiu111]

thank you for sharing with us such valuable records.

[5282A]

I cant thank you enough for sharing this with us. Its truly going back in time. While much has changed, quite abit still remains the same.

[Happylanding6]

At 3:50, when was the girl doing?

It looks she was doing on firecrackers.

If so, it was extremely dangerous.

[MichaelRogge]

Indeed dangerous. If you watch my Macau clips you will find kids engaged in various stages of firecracker manufacture.

[catsui1314]

Thanks for sharing this video... I was a baby when this film was shot but boy, it brought back a lot of fond memories to me of how life was back in the 60's. thank you, thank you!!

[michaelcnsoo]

thank you very much

[euvucan]

i never know that the video quality in 1964 is already that good, i thought only black and white existed at the time

[MichaelRogge]

The video clips have been transfered from 16mm Kodachrome colour film, hence the quality.

[kowloonbaby08]

thx for sharing! :)

[stephentsang2000]

Wow, all those buildings were gone in the past 30 years

[alfeewusy]

I like the background music while showing the Man Mo Temple, as they're so matching!

[frankie1031]

Michael do you like Hong kong or Hong Kong people?

[MichaelRogge]

The Hong Kong people of course, otherwise I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of putting these clips on YouTube. I wish to share my regret of having lost the old Hong Kong.

[99782a]

尼位兄台真係好鬼有錢

[yauka]

好清，重要有聲，十分珍貴

[DRMETALLIZED]

at that time, when my grandpa still alive. he work at Sheung Wan maket......

[bigfatkwan]

Oh hey this is the first time i saw my grandma in color

lol

thank you

[MichaelRogge]

Do you mean to say that you RECOGNIZED your grandmother?

[manyuenwong2006]

I visited that temple this year, it's still the same!!!!

[schutzstaffel0000]

Thanks for your records! Invaluable!

[terenceso379]

So special!

[Szechung]

This is amazing!! Thanks very much for sharing!

[dudulung]

Thank You very much

[Akaliko]

Wow ! Impressive!

A video camera like this quality in those days are rare, and probably professional. what occupation are you?

Thanks for sharing this video.

[Icehexahedron]

Awesome!!!

It's a bit like China today

[alexhk]

This is really astonishing to all Hong Kong people who can now see their past, their childhood from your color movie, sure, all your collection and your name will go into the Hong Kong history museum, again, let us say thanks to you.

[Sunhk117]

Great video, this is very interesting to me because i was born in 80s. I have no idea about the old Hong Kong, even with colour!!!~~

Thanks!!~~!~!~!~!~!

[djmidori]

Same here and I'm always intrigued by the old Hong Kong.

Love this video too thanks!!

[spuppy852]

It's amazing how little has changed in all ithese years! In some scenes It almost looks like this video could have been taken today, except for a few things like clothes

[rl876]

wow, hahahahaha, michael, you made my day. i live on "bit lay jet see guy" (bridges st) which is a small dead end street above the man mo temple. there are still some signs of the same life in that video but not as much of course. wow, truly incredible for you to upload this. it's a very important piece of history. THANK YOU!!!

[roymango]

good stuff

[kls0702]

wow! it's amazing! i've been living around the district for 20+ years (thou not born yet at 1964) and i think there're still some angles and corners can be traced! people changed, building changed, but not the streets (streets where kids played, stairs, and the place around the temple, and even the wet market)thank you thank you so much indeed Michael for loading such precious pieces! and i m very glad to see it's a colour film! again, tks a lot, and wish you also enjoy the nice memories!

[groofy2540]

WoW~~~~i have been living in Sheung Wan near 20 years,but i never see this Sheung Wan.I'm just 20+yrs old...i let my mum see this,then she said she have many memorys back~! really really thanks for this video!

[hgearangler]

MichaelRogge,

I do want to thank you for uploading this valuable clip. As at the era, the most common

device is the 8mm camera, while you got this clip. And the clip do refresh my memory of how this area was. I just feel I'm back to the

spot. I lived just 1 street above the scene of the clip

(the Hollywood Road) and the CatStreet and everything do changed a lot Michael!!!

[karhey]

wow, thanks for the sharing and its really cool knowing the scene back then!

[robinphillips]

2:49 I wonder where they are now?

[MichaelRogge]

I guess that most of the people in my video clips have died by now. Only the children may

have survived. Would love to hear of anyone recognising him/herself in my videos. But alas, noone did so far!

[imface2]

it still remain a little old building & old market at there. But seem it will disappear very soon. Only the stair alive i thought

[nicktr84]

Great footage! I'm living near sheung wan now and I regularly walk past that temple you filmed.

[imface2]

yes, and temple is still alive.

[robinphillips]

Thanks so much for sharing this, i was born in HK in 1976, still here now, my office is in Sheung Wan, to think i walk these wonderful streets everyday. Did they smell like dried fish in the 1950's like they smell now?

[MichaelRogge]

Yes, particularly near the fishmarket!

[mikolovesanime]

wow .. so that's the living condition of how my dad lived before

[phw1314]

Thank you for sharing with us!

[JudaixJohan4ever]

whoa, im 13 and i live in hong kong...

and i never knew hong kong looked like that. O_O

[kaka628]

The quality of your video is so good!Thank you for sharing with us!

[tanghb]

I was born in Hong Kong in the 50's and grew up there. Few people owned cameras back then. Your video footage documented the everyday life of the Hong Kong people almost half a century ago - an invaluable footage of Hong Kong!

Thank you really very much for sharing.

[JCORBALL]

Michael, It inspired me a lot. I was borned in 1964 and spended my childhood in Sheung Wan. Your firm has brought me back to those difficult, simple but happy old good days. Thanks a lot. Keep up.

[MichaelRogge]

Thanks. I'm not a 'firm', though. I was myself privileged to wander through Sheung Wan in the good old times of the fifties, taking my camera along!

[ukbirdflu]

Thank you for sharing with us, they do bring back a lot of memories.

[Meowlao]

All the videos about old days, especially about Hong Kong are very very interesting to me and remind me a lot. U are a great collector. I am curious that how to collect these moives. Is it a hard job?

[MichaelRogge]

At one time I thought that my (80) movies in 8 and 16mm had no value anymore. Until I received enthousiastic responses and now they are coming to life again in these 190 video clips.

[semismallwig]

yor film work

has inspired me

beyond the emotions

of our time