Why we love Hong Kong's garish, gaudy neon signs

Imagine Hong Kong without any neon signs -- hard, right? We apparently have more of the gassy glass tubes than anywhere else in the world. Despite their ubiquity, though, neon signs are only lightly regulated, and they have been largely left out of the recent surge of interest in Hong Kong heritage.

Maybe that’s because they’re just so common. Neon lights were first invented by the French engineer and chemist George Claude, who exhibited the first neon light at a Paris exhibition in 1910.

By the 1920s, Claude had patented his design and was selling neon signs in Los Angeles. From there, they spread around the world, and Hong Kong took a particular liking to the technology. Neon continued to thrive here even after its popularity declined in Europe and North America in the 1970s. 

Today, Hong Kong’s commercial districts are an explosion of neon light, and even global chains like McDonald’s have blinking neon signs. But the fact that neon is everywhere seems to have led to complacency when it comes to documenting and protecting the best examples of neon signage.

Every year, landmark signs disappear when businesses close and buildings are demolished. Some of the most recent victims include the Yue Hwa Chinese Products signs on Nathan Road and the Lung Moon Restaurant sign in Wan Chai.

The Tai Lin Radio signs in Jordan have been dark since the business went under two years ago.

Other cities have taken a more active approach to protecting and restoring their neon heritage. Fifty years ago, Vancouver had almost as many neon signs per capita as Hong Kong.

Many were removed after restrictions on neon were passed in the 1970s, but the pendulum has now swung back, with new regulations that actually encourage the proliferation of neon signs. Many classics have been restored and new signs have joined their ranks. Vancouver’s City Hall is even decked out in neon. 

A bad neon sign can be a ticky-tack affront to good taste. But a truly unique sign can be magical in its capacity to evoke wonder, stir memories and act as a symbol for an entire city.

Think of the surrealism of Madrid’s Tio Pepe, the quirky bilingualism of Montreal’s Farine Five Roses, the naive earnestness of Glico Man in Osaka, and the twirling neon windmills of the Moulin Rouge in Paris.

And what about Hong Kong? What are the signs that define our landscape? Here are some of our favourites. What are yours? Click on the next page to see our favorite Hong Kong neon signs.