Historic Hong Kong cafe ready to say goodbye as Kowloon squatter village faces redevelopment
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
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Ngau Chi Wan, a compact cluster of small shops, squatter huts and narrow streets, has been earmarked by the government to make way for public housing and is expected to go within the next decade. Chou Chi-soon, the 73-year-old owner of Po Fook Cafe that openedits doorshalf a century ago in the village, was upset tosay goodbyebut would count it as a “happy retirement”.
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Just hope this guy doesn't end up in those sorry claustrophobic excuses of places that they call "apartments".
The Plastic Metalhead Shitposter well described
im not from Hong Kong but from what i know those apartments arent as common there as korea for example. so hopefully the old man can enjoy his time off
@@kevinzhu6417 those small studios are not the worst though, HK tiny homes are smaller than what you can imagine like some only as big as a bed space.
What is wrong with apartments. They are modern skyscrapers with facilities and amenities.
@@lynnkueh I think he is reffering to those tiny 1 person rooms that are common for students in Korea. Really tiny, no space to walk, to have a shower you must work around the toilet between your legs. Probably not a very nice place to spend a lot of time in.
It's a pity. On a side note, he looks very healthy for a 73 year old. I guess that's the power of doing something you enjoy, leading a simple life and never stop moving.
Yep your last sentence is very true indeed 😁
I hope they make it in time to provide him with another store location. I respect people who serve the community.
@@easypeasy2991 they should, and probably he can pass his passion onto someone.
Hou7226 hopefully.... still, the basic set up just shows how you can have great food and find peace, without all the fancy deco and gadgets. Guess that’s hard to recreate...
The part where he said he was outdated really hit me
I feel like that already.
Even though i don't live here, I still felt a mesmerizing sense of nostalgia...
Hi Malaysian
@@abdulhamid2369 you stole my reply :)
@@jarrodyuki7081 so you are Malaysian too
@@abdulhamid2369 no im japanese.
@@jarrodyuki7081 oh. Sumimasen
This is the old, beautiful aspect of Hong Kong that is sadly disappearing through redevelopment. I would love to see this before it is gone.
There are still lots of these type of places in HK. Don't worry too much.
@@goliaboi True, but that man has run that place since he was 17. Decades of families and students have been regulars there. He seems like a nice guy, too. It's local history which is slowly vanishing.
@@raksh9 I get it, but it didn't seem like anyone was probably going to continue on his business after he passes, so it's not so bad. Change is inevitable, at least we have videos like these to preserve some of this history!
@@raksh9 Blame mainlanders.
@@Friendznco Blame CCP
Underprivileged ppl in a modern city. For years they worked hard to contribute, did the best they could to make a living even though it’s not decent. Yet they don’t blame the society for everything. Just like my parents.
Violet Blue that’s life.
Sad isn’t it? Only the medium upper household seniors can “escape” this fate in modern cities
@Brian Pubg yet these hong kong protestors support them over the old Hong Kong people
I really like this guy because is actually accepts change.
He kinda his shop doesn't look very sanitary and probably doesn't have a very agreeable proffesional personality when it comes to customers who disagree with his cooking or him also he wears to casual clothes to be working a restaurant atleast have have a uniform and wear gloves
+Cynthia Knight He might not have enough money to afford all of that expensive stuff.
@@chancefairbairn6951 this is lowkey the slums
@@chancefairbairn6951 shops like this aint abt the sanitar, its about the experience. I wouldnt mind going to his restautent if im in hk
@@chancefairbairn6951 Wow first world problems ..
Sad, they should retain this. its a place where you could go back in time.
Yeah just leave this hk slum area alone. Keep it as it is in the 80s
Thing is its not like the residents would be able to aford the rent i the new devolment so theyd just be crammed into already crowded cage apartments while the mainlanders will likely buy the new apartments/houses to get their money out the country and leave it for most of the year anyway
@@troyc908 Quite right. HK people should do something that will scare off the mainlander. And the black clad rioters are doing it.
@john lee yeah. Hong Kongers killing themselves
The real estate company couldn’t agree more.
I've been in a house like this, it gives this sense of nostalgic and calm
And peaceful place to eat
So have I, it gives me PTSD
Yes
But like he said, it requires maintenance.
@john lee it's*
he seems so kind and positive. i really hope he's doing well at the moment. i can't imagine being forced to destroy your childhood like that. :(
I would like to help out there. He looks like he’s having a lot of fun there :) It’s quite sad
I'd join but I live somewhere else :(
me too, poor man he has a similar soul to my grandfathers
M M Same :(
I actually lived in this village for a couple of years, from 2009 to 2011. My family was given a government housing flat. During the rainy season dozens of snails, big and small, would be 'pacing' around on my floor. I was afraid of stepping on them and would try into scoop them up one by one in the morning, and drain them out in the open. Some days! 🙂
Wow! Tell us more ^_^!!
@@goliaboi well, the time I lived in the village, 95% residents were gone. Probably 6 out of 50 plus houses were occupied. My ex wife actually spent her childhood there and she told horror stories. No toilets and you had to go in plastic bags, dispose them at night. There were literally thousands of people living on 2 acres of 4 and 5 storey shanty huts.
@@cyrushomes7512 Thanks for sharing!
When I ws very little, my grandmother lived in zinc-sheet roofed houses too. As a toddler/young child, I remember secretly loving rainy days as there will be cups, pots & buckets all around to catch the rain water from the leaky roofs... nostalgia... :)
I lived 5 min away from this place but never went there. Used to go to a family friend's diner instead. If you ever visit these old restaurants you might see hooks on the ceiling or walls. Old people used to have pet birds they take out with them with a cage during the day and would hang them on such hooks.
I remember there used to be a little corner store outside of my middle school in China. My brother and I would often go there to buy junk food before and after class starts. The second floor is somewhat of a makeshift arcade, really small. And there would be like a ps2 and other off brand consoles where you could pay 2-3¥ per 30 minutes to play. And we would often play this Naruto game on it.
That was like the chill spot for most of the young kids in that area lol. This was almost 20 years ago, I went back to China recently and couldn’t even recognize the road and store anymore due to renovation, even tho the shop was directly across from the school’s entrance. How time has changed and the thought of never experiencing those days again kind of saddens me.
This story makes me really sad. I haven't been back to Hong Kong for over 10 years but hearing this makes me feel it wouldn't be the Hong Kong I know at all if I decide to visit again.
I get what you mean. So much of that make shift corner mom and pop shop from the 90s and early 2000s have changed to something I can't feel nostalgic about anymore. My hometown is not what I remembered.
I live 5 mins walk away from this cafe and usually have breakfast during the weekend. Don't worry, the cafe can still be kept for at least 3 to 7 years given the Government just recently started the feasibility for developing this area. An interesting fact is that the building (abuts the cafe) at 1:08 is a nunnery that graded as Grade 3 historic building and the Government may attempt to preserve it. The silver lining is that the cafe "might be" kept together if possible. Its a shame that Carrie Lam announced such housing plan to attempt to solve the political issue (coping the anger against her) whilst a significant amount of brownfield and vacant land are available for housing development. The Government showed no care to these squatters area. Few days ago, the second floor of the cafe at 4:46 just caught fire and burned with the frame left. The Government could have done a lot help these people to renovate their place to improve the safety of these area.
My grandpa would take me here when I used to visit Hong Kong during my summer break. I now wish to visit this place again before it closes. Love from U.S.A. 😃 👍
I live there and it's my "Starbucks".
Few days ago I went their and I can say it is really something I would highly recommend to visit before it's gone. Especially if you are a tourist this is a must go spot. The reason is that the village (where the cafe is based) is definitely something different than the modern HK (Central or Tsim Sha Tsui) you may know. Also it is literally across the road from Choi Hung estate so if you plan to go there you should also go here. Being in the old villages you could experience the small remaining part of old Hong Kong and being at he's restaurant gave a special feeling. I would say it was hard to find for me (it took almost a hour while it was 10 min walking from the MTR exit). But I will try to explain how to get to the restaurant:
1. Go to the Choi Hung MTR station (green line)
2. Exit the MTR station from C2 and than walk straight forward (with the big road on your left side)
3. If you are nearby the old villages (on the right) you should look carefully for a stair (surround by green fences) which go down to those village. If you see that go down and you should immediately see the cafe on the left.
Why does this place look SO AMAZING
Eeee..
"When something's coming, you just have to deal with things"
That made me cry. Change is so hard to deal with sometimes...
Really sad, just found this in my recommendations 8 months after this was posted and hopefully he’s doing well.
me too :(
彩虹牛池湾龙池径牛池湾西村115A地下
G/F, 115 Ngau Chi Wan Estate, Lung Chi Path, Ngau Chi Wan, Choi Hung
港铁彩虹站 C2 出口, 步行约2分钟
Choi Hung station exit C2..2 minutes walk
eddie eddie
簡至繁
彩虹牛池灣龍池徑牛池灣西村115A地下
港鐵彩虹站 C2 出口，步行大約2分鐘
@@platoze thank you!
Can you pin this pls?
What does it mean?
@@franchocou direction to this place via subway station exit.
Maybe in 40 - 60 years we will feel the same way this old man feels now, the world has moved on so fast it has left us behind, time is a cruel thing not because it moves by fast but because it never stops...
Th earth never changed it is us humans who change its landscape
So many memories for him.. Its gana be soo heartbreaking for him.. So sad
At least he's lived v long there. If he's just 40 y'old, what's he gonna do with his life?
It's a real thing that there are people who doesn't care about ancestor creation
Not because people don't care for ancestors creation and something like that. It is because city will always grow and need new space to expand. Especially in the case of Hong Kong which has limited land.
Its called Greed of MONEY. Money rules the world and minds of people and at what cost?.... #Idiocracy
@@Suomi91 there is the perfect reply, greed of money is the best answer for this shut down.
I feel that in a China of the past, it would have been utterly outrageous to destroy an historic place or an ancestral house. But now that Chinese mentality has been "reformed", valorizing the past is gone (or at least they try to revive it). Now that the effects of "negative capitalism" is present, well, you get this!
@@Tom19142 Well, China has a lot of flat land, unlike HK. You don't have to demolish it. Just keep it as a tourist site. Perhaps UNESCO will list it someday.
in our country, we need this kind of action from government. Our squatters and illegal settlers are the mess in the city.
My hats off to Mr. Chou. Every street corner needs to preserve these vendors. I love them. I was born in Taipei, and three street vendors were my favorites. One shaved ice station, one best passion fruit and star fruit juice slush station, and another rice noodle and pork sticky rice bar. I left Taiwan 1982, and returned visited them in 2006, and they were still there. The noodle and rice bar is now run by the original daughter now. All others are still the original owner run. They are still on my mind and part of my youth.
Ive been watching lot of HongKong dramas, to me this type of store represents HongKong, I love this traditional store. Hopefully it won’t be disappearing, at least until I could have chance to visit this beautiful country
Not a country tho
Sorry to me HongKong is a country
Still not a country no matter how strong your misguided brainwashed belief is.
Seramics well it doesn’t matter, everyone has their own point of view in certain things. And I respect HongKong as a country with their own independent democracy
@@anhdoan3092 It is only your opinion, no matter what you think, it still belongs to China and is not clarified as a country on United Nation
I wish the officials would also renovate the cafe as part of compensation.
Well, that was basically how Singapore is built
HK does not want a Singaporean way. It likes its own way, stay still, or move backwards.
@@heinlich or destroy itself. Hooray for protesters. Let me break your property in the name of freedom n democracy.
This is what they like, removing Hong Kong's special past....
There is nothing special about leaky roofs.
@@antoniorsoftware there is something special about the history, the people, culture and community. They never said anything about leaky roofs
What’s so special? Looks run down and is what it is a slum, redevelopment is part of society moving forward.
Peter Paul Lee likes to keep things the same. E.g. slum area from the 70s
Yeah...let's just keep it forever so that HK stays stagnant like the rest of the run down buildings and streets, while nearby countries like Korea are getting more and more advanced in the last few decades. 😂
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
I want to try before its over😢🙏🙏
@MAGA Supporter you may be able to almost try the food atmosphere but being there it is much more which you can't get in China Town. Walking through these narrow roads in the villages while seeing the famous Choi Hung Estate is something different. I would highly recommend there if you also visit the Choi Hung estate. Also, if you are in the restaurant knowing about the history it gives a special feeling.
Probably the most peaceful place in these hard times
"Redevelopment" More tall apartments where common folk dont afford to live there or lines to the apartments are over 5 years...i reallt doubt they get housed after they destroy these areas.. Please check him after 5 years or sooner
Likanen Länsi please don’t make up stories if you don’t actually love there. I live on a small island in Hk and the squatter residents were given brand new homes and many have stopped working because they became quite well off after renting a floor of their flat. They are wealthier and live in safer houses that won’t crumble on their heads in a typhoon.
I do have some family living in public housing and they admit how lucky they are. I hope they can build more.
I don‘t know about hongkong，but in mainland China the government give u the apartment for free and give u a lot of money. Often these houses are not properly heated，or constructed safe enough，and often has fire hazzard.
Your problem mostly happen in SE Asian country.. 😭
Sentiment means nothing in the march for progress, but are we really richer for it? A part of the old culture will die out. Replaced by a more homogeneous facade that will become the new culture. We are converging towards conformity. Everywhere you go will be the same. Beam, column, slab. Tall buildings. Such are the realities of life.
And once we achieve the so called conformity, a new dawn of unconformity will arrive.
Yeah and the new generations are taught to devalue anything 'old', that is anything authentic about their own culture, and aspire to a life of consumerism and banal conformity. Its a tragedy unfolding all over Asia unfortunately.
Thanks Carrie Lam, you might as well remove all of these magnificent reminders of HK’s past and let mainlanders live in those new “public” flats while the “compensation” these people would get wouldn’t even be enough to live in a suitable “apartment” or be able to afford anything when they retire
This is really sad, it reminds me of my mom (who is from Hong Kong) and when we were visiting she took me and my dad to where her house used to be, but it wasn’t her house
It was demolished and an apartment building stood there instead
I miss all the old 茶餐廳 in Hong Kong:( They give a nostalgic feeling and I’m so sad that this one has to close down too
No worries, pretty soon all Hong Kong's cafe will follow suit and close down, not because of demolition but rather due economic hardships
Same thing tbh in hk.
Gives him a reason to retire. And hopefully a better life.
This is exactly what i want to happen to me rn (I'm 15), my parents runs a stall (not an actual restaurant) and I wanna continue it, even when I get old. But my parents want me to be an engineer, someone that can bring even more instead of looking out for what I enjoy and what I wanna do. They pushed it aside.
Once you make your engineering money you can always return to the place of your comfort, but it is a choice you'd have to make
Even I'm from India ,but I feel really sad, coz next generation would forget how it use be in olden days
Proud restaurateur family owned. Serving the community. A staple to community for generations
Well......an end of an era. All the best to him and his family.
In the blink of an eye, more than 50 years have passed......
Certainly feel a sense of loss with these villages torn down and replaced with public housing, but without these public housing development you would end up dealing with mad homeless problems like you see in the US, especially on the west coast. The HK government is, and have been for decades, doing the right thing.
The problem is hks public development is that its very expensive for many jobs to even afford a roper home... and hks pro govt officals dont do anything address it because housing is run by many chinese business men also.
I am so sad and it feels like they want to remove all of the history that HK was trying to retain. I hope they at least preserve some of HK’s history and historical buildings or else HK will no longer be HK anymore.
The owner seems like a kind and wonderful man. I feel so bad for him. I hope he will ok after all this. Although it is sad but it shows that nothing lasts forever.
That's what cities are about, nothing wrong with moving on. The owner ran a business for 50 years.. he's not a child, he's fine.
I want him to continue doing what he is doing even after the redevelopment. This is sad.....
Really sad but all the best for the hardworking man.
I pass by the bus stop near this place every day, hope to visit this cafe sometime soon
It’s sad that development is valued more than history. I wish they found a way for the two to coexist.
Sad facts it is
When I read that this village was historical and the wet planning to demolish this village like the other two villages instead of helping rebuild the homes and ancestral halls to be kept in shape I was disappointed. It just shows how right now China probably is only focused on making things lavish and not carrying about history that are in their land.
You are not out of date.
You are a rare and treasured artifact of a time that should be honored and remembered.
but you want to lower housing prices, so....
i think u talking about yourself
Lower housing prices, while people live in worser conditions than animals, literally locked up in cages because housing prices are THAT expensive!
50 cent bot....
arc arcon shut up. Calling anyone with a different opinion a 50 cent bot just shows how poorly your parents raised you.
@@arcarcon4620 u r more like a brainwashed bot dude
I was just in Hong Kong I drove past this place
These are the places make Hong Kong more beautiful than sanitized Singapoor.
This is too sad !!
Im glad that here in Tokyo ( despite being a huge modern metropolis ), old neighbourhood cafes ( kisaten ) and pubs ( izakaya ) and ramen places are still alive and well. One kisaten in my neighbourhood is already more than 100 y.o !!!
Kowloon walled city warehouse arcade in japan is closed, now the actual kowloon is goin to end soon :(
What happened ?
thank u for posting this
It so sad that the ancestral homes are being demolished. My family has a ancestral home in China where many generations of my ancestors are buried and it’s where we go to pray and give offering to our dead ancestors. Something similar is happening in my ancestral home, it is said that in the next ten years the land where my ancestral home is will belong to the airport. Although I only visit China every few years that house still holds great significance to me, so I can kind of relate how this grandpa is feeling.
Your story on this old gentleman who fed generations of residents is very touching.
Reminds me of having 煎蛋三文治 snack from a squatter near my school on Hong Kong island.
I always wanted to check out kowloon while riding a motorcycle at night. Cyberpunk mode!!!
Kowloon walled city was demolished many years ago and what's left is a park
No not now I never been there i wanna try before you close 😢😢
Chang I assume you never worked behind in the kitchen of those highly regarded European restaurants and cafes. Oh well, it’s your choice to dine or not, there’s no need throw insults. Stick to your over-glorified standards ya.
@@sagan08 if it's a mainland chinese cafe people would be delighted at the insults they hurled and agreeing with them all the way. unfortunately this cafe is in hk therefore deserves special status.
@Chang And yet, they have regulars who eat there every day, don't get sick, and go back daily. You are entitled to your judgemental opinion, of course.
@@wojomojo TEA.
@Chang you have not understood the importance of conservation and remembering of the past. Modernisation and forgetting isn't always the answer. Looking back and learning is. One day when these places are nowhere to be found, you'll understand important they were. ❤️
The tradition of culturistic beauty is lost while the meaningless of unnecessary continue, a sad world isnt it?
It is not meaningless. The new flat will house many more people especially the one that really needs a home.
Also new housing will be healthier for the residents as they don’t need to worry about structural integrity of their home, Mold growing and cheaper.
I am learning to speak Chinese for many years now. This man is very easy to understand. I don't know why but his way of speaking Chinese is very clear to me. Maybe it is because he is used to Cantonese and so his Chinese is more slow and precise. I think that is why it is easier for me to understand this man than most Chinese lessons
He looks so optimisstic even in a difficult time. Hopefully, things will get better in the end.
Oh my ghad. I wish I would've gone there when I was there last month.
Still remember my grandpa telling me stories of the place . The restaurant was filled with fascinating stories *sigh* but now the story has reached the end of its final chapter....I will remember this place ....
Such a shame. This man has so much history and I bet he has wonderful stories to tell!!
50 yrs have past like blink of an eyes ????? Man for some reason that statement hit me so hard. I guess life is too short.
If you can experience 50 years in a blink of an eye, then it's a life well lived.
Old is gold old are always in history
The Philippines should follow their steps and redevelop the whole Manila
I agree with his statement that if this restaurant closed, the regular patrons would be more upsetting than the owner.
Sad. My heart hurts for this man and his community. Not everything needs to be “developed” nor modernized. Places like these are more important than another shiny new building.
Such places have so much soul to it and the richness within its own cultural uniqueness. It can never be recaptured or reinvented in any modern concrete and steel building.
I used to go here with my uncle pre covid and my cousins too! The food is amazing! It is near Choi Hung and we went here after going swimming!
It should stay, it is very historic, and for some people, nostalgic.
Sadly HK is currently in need of land so it probably won't stay. :(
Oh dang I live in HK but I’ve never been here. Gonna go if he hasn’t retired yet.
Any news on this man? :( i wanna knoe if he's doing well in times like this
I was able to visit this place last December. But it was closed for holidays.
finally. news about Hong Kong that isn't about protests
This is extremely sad 😭😭😭🤯😢
HK spirit..加油
I don't follow Hong Kong news, I don't even know this guy. But I feel extremely depressed about this as if I had been born in Hong Kong and grew up with this guy's cafe.
I would go to this place over any fancy shmancy hipster cafe any day of the week
Grandfather in a basketball jersey making instant ramen under a century-old moldy roof.
I NEED TO FIND THIS RESTAURANT!
So sad......😢😢😢😢
I feel extremely sad about this. 😭
its sad.
i wanna visit this caffe before its closed.
This is so sad. Same thing is happening in Honolulu Hawaii. All those small places are disappearing at a rapid pace. Luxury shops and apt buildings are popping up all over.
I literally cried.. This happends all over.. My family had land for 200 years and once the development started they kick them out and didnt get much $$. It became a turious place..
Today’s teenage and young adult prefer fancy shop with modern decoration. I prefer traditional coffee shop/long time family own, it gives you that warmt of home feeling. 😔 Not much westerner understand that.
This is happening to all of China. The village my dad grew up in was a very historical farming village. My uncle stayed there and had a little store he ran, as well as a field he farmed. The village was selected for redevelopment and now they’re cramped in high rises. Tragic.
I’ll bet Mr Chow makes the best HK style coffee/tea! A humble cafe, but how many people he’s served. Respect!
Hard to watch this especially when coronavirus is ongoing
Smart old man. 4:44 Development of society is unstoppable. 4:32 It will be a long time before i forget about the things that happened here.
When I see his place I see my old self and I really miss it ... This is SAD , this is what happens when people only want new things .
Nnnnooooo not the little cafe
These kinds of restaurants, mom and pop shops are the best
Being Kanto and able to understand him just makes it more emotional :(
They really hadnoroom for morespaces in the description