Hong Kong Snapshot (50) Pawn Shop? “Tong Lau”? The Pawn 香港隨拍 (50) 當舖・唐樓・和昌大押

Today, we will go to Wanchai and know more about The Pawn, a mix of HK Pawn shop and Tong Lau, tenements building of old HK style.

這次，我們來到灣仔，認識一下和昌大押，這個唐樓和當舖結合的特式建築。

The Pawn was initially Wo Cheong Pawn shop. It was a block of 4 floors Tong Laus, which can rarely be seen in HK now. The buildings were built in 1888 with the characteristics of the mix of Chinese and Europe architecture style. In 2007, the HK government spent HK$15M to revitalize and renew the buildings.

和昌大押由四層高的樓宇連成一排，是香港現時少數仍留存的四幢相連陽台長廊式唐樓，建於1888年的和昌大押，歷經超過100年的歷史，結合了中西建築特色。在2007年，香港政府花費1500萬港元將這座建築保育翻新，自此，和昌大押被改頭換面。

The Pawn before revitalization 保育前的和昌大押
(photo from Wikipedia)

Views of the Pawn after revitalization 保育後的各面貌

The original buildings were shops on the ground floor and residential on the upper 2 floors. After the conservation, the ground floor is now restaurant. The 2nd and 3rd floor are also restaurant, The Pawn, providing modern English dishes. Visitors may enjoy a fine meal in this special building and enjoy the view of Wanchai with red wine through the terrace of the restaurant.

本來的和昌大押，地下是店舖，樓上是民居，經過翻新後，地下的一層現在是高級餐廳、二樓及三樓也是高級餐廳The Pawn，提供現代英國菜，遊客可在這極具特色的中式唐樓，享受美味的西餐，品嘗一口紅樓，在露台欣賞灣仔的景色。

The Pawn Restaurant
(photo from openrice)

The roof top is kept the same old structure. People may feel the roof top just like what they see in HK movie about the scene of roof top. But, 10 years after the conservation of The Pawn, The Pawn becomes further away from people. It’s beacause of 3 sins.

至於天台，則仍保留了原來的設計，讓大家感受一下唐樓的感覺，相信大家都曾在香港電影看過不少唐樓天台的情節，在這裡你就能感受到同樣的感覺。不過，保育十年後的今日，和昌大押卻和市民越走越遠，全因三宗罪。

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Sin 1: the relics that cannot be seen 第一罪：見不到的當舖遺痕

After the conservation of The Pawn, the restaurant OVOlogue was opened on the ground floor. There was a little exhibition room which keep the relics like the old safe, plaque of the old Pawn shop. But when OVOlogue was closed in 2013, the new restaurant didn’t open the exhibition room.

保育後的和昌大押，地下一層本為餐廳「祇月」，「祇月」開放了通道讓市民進入原大押內的展覽室，欣賞大押留下的舊夾萬、牌匾等文物。但當「祗月」在2013年結業後，後來的餐廳就不再開於這展覽室了。

It’s the old photos of the safe and plaque taken by inmediahk
當年香港獨立媒體拍下的夾萬和牌匾
(photo from inmediahk.com)

Some people reflected the case to the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). And they replied that The Pawn is a private property developed by both the URA and the developer. After 5 years management period of the URA, The Pawn became the property of the developer and they decided to open the exhibition room or not.

有市民曾向香港的市區重建局反映，但市建局表示和昌大押是它們和發展商共同開發的「私人物業」，市建局5年管理期結束後，建築已全屬發展商擁有，他們並有權力要求發展商開放展覽室，2013年正好就是5年。

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Sin 2: the roof top that taken away 第二罪：被沒收的天台

After the conservation, The pawn promised that they would open the roof top 12 hours a day for visitors. And now? 12 hours become 9 hours. The same reason, URA said that the roof top is managed by the Pawn restaurant on the 2nd and 3rd floor. It is a “Private Public Space”. The restaurant can control the opening hour of the roof top. When they need, they may even close the roof top for private use.

和昌大押保育後，二樓的餐廳The Pawn承諾每天12小時開放天台給市民，但今天已變成開放9小時，同樣的原因，市建局稱天台為「私人公共空間」，屬The Pawn管理，開放時間亦由他們決定，而當餐廳需要使用天台時，他們亦會關禁天台，禁止市民參觀。

From 12 hours to 9 hours 由12小時變成9小時

I found a youtube clip which is about the management team of the Pawn calling a team of Emergency Unit of the Police to the roof top of the Pawn, just because some visitors were eating at the roof top…

我在網上找到一條有趣的視頻：和昌大押的管理人員呼召了香港警察衝鋒隊到天台，因為有市民在天台進食…

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Sin 3: The CCTV at the elevator lobby 第三罪：電梯大堂的閉路電視

When we take the elevator to the roof top of the Pawn, we may see 9 monitors which is like CCTV at the elevator lobby. When we carefully watch them, we will find they are recorded videos. And the videos are funny. We can see a man (a woman!?) sit like a Sadako; couples are quarrelling, and also a pair of couple making out! The videos are looping all the day.

當我們乘坐電梯到天台時，在大堂會見到九格電視，內容很像閉路電視的直播，但細心一看，它們其實是一些預先錄好的錄像，而這些錄像亦十分有趣，例如有如「貞子」呆坐在餐桌上；情侶在吵架，還有一對外籍情侶在後樓梯親熱，更有不少大膽動作！這些錄像是每天不停重覆播放的。

We don’t know the purpose of those videos. Arts or Fun? But we know the elevator lobby is a public area and the only way to the roof top of the Pawn. The videos are really not suitable for kids and students. Even adult may feel embarrassing. Gradually, no school bring their students to visit The Pawn again.

我們不知道這些錄像的目的為何，是藝術還是有趣？但我們知道這電梯大堂是進入天台的必經地，但錄像的內容卻極不適合兒童及學生觀看，就算是成人在這公眾場合也頗感尷尬。慢慢的，再也沒有學校帶學生到這裡認識和昌大押的歷史了。

scary movie? 恐怖片？

Sex movie? 愛情動作片？

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It is a special building worth visiting. But due to some management problems, we cannot visit the full view of the Pawn. However, if you pass by the Pawn, just come up to the restaurant, enjoy a meal and taste the atmosphere and the history of the building.

一座極具特色的建築，珍貴之處卻因管理的問題被埋藏，實為很可惜的事，不過，如果你來到和昌大押，也不妨到The Pawn餐廳品嘗一餐，慢慢感受下這歷史建築的氛圍，也是一件不錯的事。

View of Wanchai from the Pawn
從和昌大押看向灣仔

A great photo of the Pawn and Wanchai by Chinese photographer Su Yipin
攝影師蘇一品拍下的和昌大押

It’s funny that Wo Cheong Pawn Shop is still here, next to The Pawn
其實和昌大押仍然存在，就在保育建築的旁邊

!steemitworldmap 22.276315 lat 114.169273 long d3scr

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