Hypnotic on my Heart

Tai Zan Yuen was a Chinese restaurant established in 1919 on the new commercial street Changdi Damalu (長堤大馬路) of the mainland China city of Guangzhou which is 74 miles/130 kilometers north of Hong Kong (信息时报, 2012, April 12; 維基百科, 2017, December 05). During the 1920s, Tai Zan Yuen together some other three Chinese restaurants (南園、西苑、文苑) in the same city are collectively known as the four greatest Chinese restaurant in Guangzhou 廣州四大酒家 (天涯论坛, 2010, December 13; 維基百科, 2017, December 25; 懷舊堂主, 2013, November 13).

Being geographically and ethnically close to Guangzhou, the dining habits of Hong Kong people are close to Guangzhou. Any famous restaurant in Guangzhou therefore would also set up branches in Hong Kong to capture the business opportunity. Tai Zan Yuen is no exception. It started its first branch in Hong Kong in the 1920s. Serving Hong Kong people with its famous shark fin dishes, the restaurant also attracted tourists who were looking for good Canton-style food until all the company closed all its Hong Kong branches in the 1970s (天涯论坛, 2010, December 13; 百度百科, n.d.; 懷舊堂主, 2013, November 13).

News report mentioning that Tai Zan Yuen Chinese Restaurant was from outside the city. Source: 香港華字日報, 1927-05-17

At the beginning, the business probably didn't meet Lo's expectation. Sales were as few as 1000 bottles per day before the business was suspended in 1941 due to Japanese invasion. Lo himself went bankrupt (DeWolf, C., 2017, April 06). 

The Xiamen in the name of the store hints the relation of the store with Fujianese (Xiamen is a city in the Fujian province of mainland China). It might be that the store featured Fujianese meat products, or the store was started by some Fujianese (Xiamen is a city in Fujian province of mainland China). Nonetheless, the store's relation with Fujian was likely a result of multiple historical events.

Before the Second World War, North Point was at the edge of the urban area of Hong Kong, making it an excellent place for new settlers to stay or even start new developments. The place attracted a lot of businessmen from the neighboring Fujian province and Shanghai of mainland China. In fact, the street was named after the Fujianese sugar merchant Chun-yeung Kwok (郭春秧) who eventually built a row of stores and apartments on the street. Since then, the street became a wet market comprising of stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood. The Fujianese and Shanghaiese settlement on the street explains why we had Xiamen Meat Co. which was likely to be opened by Fujianese there, or serve Fujianese meat products to Fujianese people (維基百科, 2017, October 23).

Things that you may find in a Fujianese food store. Source: Sabai Sabai

The street won the attention of the game developers and tourists from all around the world probably because of double-decker trams running in the middle of the market. Trams joined the scene after communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, after which year there was an influx of mainland Chinese immigrants to the British-controlled Hong Kong. For those from Fujian province and Shanghai, they tended to settle in North Point where many of their relatives and friends had already moved to, making North Point the highest-density area in the world at that time. To cater for increased ridership in that area, the tram company moved the terminus of one of its local routes to North Point. To allow trams to turn around at that terminus, the company built new tracks that passed through the narrow Chun Yeung Street (維基百科, 2017, October 23).

A tram moving inside the market in Chun Yeung Street. Source: Wikipedia

The map of Chun Yeung Street showing tram track running in the middle of the street

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Final Remarks

The set of popular real Hong Kong companies in the video game world has revealed quite a few characteristics of businesses of the real city: Some businesses are branches from outside the city, but many others are started local from scratch and some of them even open branches outside later on. The products and services that they offer are from not only just local but all around the world, ranging from inexpensive yet vital produces to expensive and extravagant arts and crafts. These businesses catch the attention of game developers and many other visitors due to not only their eye-catching presence in popular commercial streets but more importantly the quality of their products and services. Their rise and fall could be simply be evolution over time, or interactions with historical events.

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