Tai Hang's most stylish granny
Septuagenarian Cheng Shen Lai Fan stands out on Tai Hang's Wun Sha Street like a gilded rose in a compost heap. This old lady looks great every day.
Cheng is loyal to the traditional Chinese costume of the samfu, which she gets specially tailored, favoring bright and bold prints.
Born in 1933, Cheng has lived in Tai Hang all her life, and is known by everybody in the neighborhood. They all call her "ah lui" which means "daughter." It is a fitting nickname for someone who admits to a vanity more suited to a young girl.
"I just like to look pretty," says Cheng. And she lets loose a gregarious laugh at her own immodesty.
At our encouragement, Cheng models her collection of samfu, the traditional shirt and trousers that was historically worn by southern Chinese women. The outfit was a sartorial representation of the merging of the Han Chinese and the Manchu rulers during the Qing dynasty.
Cheng says her mother was an advocate of this style of clothing.
"It is ironic that I once was so embarassed by my old-fashioned mother, yet later on I started to wear [the samfu] myself. It is the only kind of clothing I wear now, unless the weather is too cold.
Now my own kids try to persuade me to give up the samfu. They even buy me modern clothes. But I never consider wearing them."
When Cheng turned 30, she started to gain weight and resorted to wearing the forgiving designs of the samfu to cover up her growing middle. She used to be a regular customer of a Shanghainese tailor in Tai Hang.
"He was very good. The Shanghainese are great tailors," says Cheng, who is also Shanghainese by descent. "When the tailer moved away, I started to look for cheaper options. I began to get my samfu made in Shenzhen. The tailors there are terrible. They can no longer make the clothing with the traditional details. But they get the job done."
Each of Cheng's samfu costs HK$200-300, depending on the material. They have lasted her as long as three decades.
"I keep in shape by swimming every morning, so I do not have to get my clothes altered. But I am still so fat. I don't look good even in samfu anymore," says Cheng. A girl will always be a girl, even at 77.
Click through the pages to see more of Cheng's spectacular samfu.
