The Hong Kong Government has a lot to answer for

**Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.**
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Photo of the day No. 20 - The death of Neon Signs in HK

The Hong Kong Government has a lot to answer for

click on the image to enlarge

Learn more | Please read this great Article by Time Out Magazine in 2022 on the demise of Neon Signs in Hong Kong over the past 50 years and counting

“A look into neon signs, the shining legacy of Hong Kong. We uncover the history, tradition, and legacy of Hong Kong’s neon signs”

In a city that never sleeps, neon signs illuminate a gorgeous mosaic of reds, lavenders, blues, oranges, and more. Back in the 1970s, they shone bright and brilliant, but for the past two decades, its prosperous glaze has been ebbing fast, gradually leaving behind a dismal-looking asphalt jungle.

… and yes folks, that pretty much sums it up.

Hong Kong Iconic Neon Signs, fast fading from memory.

I am sure that any folk out there that spend a few minutes reading my missives about Hong Kong get tired of me going on about how I have lived in Hong Kong for over 50 years, it is a context thing, I have lived here for that long and witnessed many things over the decades, I have lived the history and that still means something.

These days with Google it is easy for anyone who has an interest in one of the great cities of the world (Hong Kong!) to research anything and everything but that is NOT quite the same as living in a place for 50 years and witnessing everything in real time and forming lasting memories.

As I have mentioned probably hundreds of times in my blog posts, I arrived in Hong Kong on January 2nd 1972, our first night, well we stayed in the Merlin Hotel at the back of the Peninsula Hotel which is long demolished and replaced with the Kowloon Hotel, this is relevant as the location of the Hotel just 150 yards away from Nathan Road, TST, Kowloon gave me an overwhelming introduction to neon signs.

Honestly it was a magical experience, Nathan Road (and the surrounding roads) were ablaze in hundreds, if not thousands of neon signs advertising a wide range of businesses, it was simply astonishing and I absolutely believe that these signs were a major USP (unique selling point) for Hong Kong and certainly the fledgling Hong Kong Tourism Board knew this.

Learn more | the 10 most beautiful neon signs in Hong Kong by VogUE mAGAZINE

Fast forward to 2025 and the Hong Kong Tourism Board does not talk much about neon signs these days except in the past tense, they believe these days (and spend billions of HK$ promoting them) that mega events are what drives tourism (type Mega Events Hong Kong into Google for an in depth explanation) The Hong Kong Tourism Board simply has no concept of the value of neon signs in this modern era., these days it is all about promoting Panda’s but that is another story.

Tourism competition in Asia is in full force with all the Asian Countries and their major cities fighting for the Tourism $, Hong Kong is a major player and yet is always quite happy to over regulate industries, fine Temples are a major draw in Asia and we have hundreds of them in Hong Kong but from my perspective neon signs lighting up the streets at night is a whole different ball game.

Part of the Governments mega events playlist is drone shows, fireworks, light shows and such, but a large event once a month is not the same as Neon Signs which shine brightly for 365 days a year and make the streets come alive at night in a blaze of colour.

Neon Signs have always been associated with Hong Kong and perhaps the Hong Kong Government should relax regulations a little and actually promote the Neon Sign culture, wishful thinking I know but you never know.

So what happened then, well please read the Time Out article, but in a nutshell “elf and safety” yes, I am a Brit and I have been using that phrase since I was a kid, naturally in Hong Kong, Health and Safety regulations can overwhelm you with their stupefying bureaucratic garbage.

Quite simply the Government decreed that any sign attached to a building was dangerous and had to be fixed to code or taken down, Neon Signs have been around since the 1920’s, that meant a lot of signs were simply removed, plus neon has also been replaced by LED signs which are cheaper, manufacturing of signs were also relocated to China as costs were cheaper -a double triple whammy so to speak and with so many regulations in place with regards to placing signs on buildings, no one could be bothered any more and this meant that all the skilled neon artisans had no business so the trade died a slow death.

All is not lost, there are still places to see neon signs but nothing remotely like the 1970’s scenes.. for that you need to research old images on Google..

A quote from Hong Kong Free Press will have the last word.

‘It’s disappearing very fast’: Hong Kong’s fading neon heritage shines a spotlight on the craft

Hong Kong’s neon signs have fallen foul of tightened government regulations in recent years. But not all that are removed are lost, as some businesses keen to keep the spark alive seek to replace them with approved – albeit smaller – signboards despite prohibitive costs and cumbersome paperwork.