Bruce Lee used to train on the roof of this iconic Hong Kong restaurant
Once a go-to hotel in Sha Tin, Lung Wah Hotel still pays homage to the kung fu star and delights diners with its pigeon dish
Amid the passing rumble of the East Rail Line and tucked between rows of corrugated metal shacks, a winding path flanked on both sides by dozens of red lanterns snakes up a slight incline. This memorable approach has welcomed generations of Hongkongers to the Lung Wah Hotel, once one of the proudest hospitality establishments in the city.
Meaning “grand dragon” in Cantonese, Lung Wah has a storied past. Built in 1938 as a holiday home for the Chung family, who earned their fortune in private banking and trading, the compound was modelled on Kowloon Tong residences of the time, the Spanish revival villa standing on a prime piece of coastline along the northern shore of Tide Cove, as the inlet that bisected modern Sha Tin was known before being heavily reclaimed in the 1970s.
During World War II, the villa was requisitioned by the Japanese army and used as a command post, with the surrounding empty land turned into military camps. After the war, ownership reverted to the Chung family, who opened it as a hotel in 1950, the first in the area.
With its teahouses, Chinese gardens and alfresco dining by the water, Lung Wah quickly became a popular weekend getaway among the middle classes, located on what was affectionately known as “the Peninsula of the New Territories”. The local film industry caught on, and teachers and students from the nearby Wah Kiu College became accustomed to sightings of A-listers as the hotel became a hotspot of film production.
Today, however, the hotel is slightly the worse for wear. Its bedrooms haven’t welcomed guests since 1985, when the government forced its closure after a failed fire safety test. The grounds have also been parcelled out by the government and MTR Corporation, relocating its once picturesque perch to the wrong side of the East Rail tracks.