Wanchai, Hong Kong

Photos and Words by Cara Gallardo Weil

Queen’s Road East is a street in Wanchai, on Hong Kong island. The settlement of Wanchai began as a small Chinese community in pre-British times and centered around the present Hung Shing Temple, which was built in 1847. This temple originally faced the shoreline, but is now surrounded by commercial and residential buildings, built on reclaimed land.

Near the beginning of Queen’s Road East is a Stone Nullah Lane, where the Blue House can be found. It’s a 4-story, balcony-type tenement block and is one of the few remaining examples of “Tong Lau,” tenement buildings built in the late 19th century to the 1960s designed for both residential and commercial use. The block still has residents despite the lack of modern conveniences like flushing toilets. No74 Stone Nullah Lane now houses the Hong Kong House of Stories, a community project which organizes exhibitions on local culture, and arranges “community classrooms” where traditional craftsmen, young artists, organic farmers and housewives act as instructors to pass on the culture and craft skills of the old community.