The World of Suzie Wong — Then & Now

Wan Chai, 1960: William Holden steps off the Star Ferry into a harbour of junks and neon. Today the junks are gone — but the piers, the streets and even a staircase or two survive. A walking tour through the film's Hong Kong, scene by scene, then and now.

The World of Suzie Wong (1960), directed by Richard Quine from Richard Mason's novel, made Wan Chai famous to the world. William Holden plays Robert Lomax, an American architect trying to paint; Nancy Kwan, in her astonishing film debut, plays Suzie, the bar girl who becomes his muse. France Nuyen was originally cast and replaced mid-production — one of Hollywood's great what-ifs. The film's Hong Kong is half real, half studio magic: below is where the real parts stand today.

The locations — then and now

• Star Ferry & Edinburgh Place Pier (Central): Robert arrives by ferry — the pier in the film was demolished in 2006; today's Central Pier 7 sits further out on reclaimed land. The crossing itself is unchanged and still costs a few cents.
• Nam Kok Hotel, Wan Chai: Suzie's hotel was a set inspired by the old Luk Kwok Hotel on Gloucester Road. The Luk Kwok still stands (rebuilt as a modern hotel on the same bones) — and Lockhart Road's bar strip below it is the direct descendant of the film's world.
• Lockhart Road & Jaffe Road, Wan Chai: the bar district the film immortalised. The sailor bars are gone; the neon, the clubs and the anything-goes energy are not.
• Pottinger Street (Stone Slab Street), Central: the granite-stepped street appears in the film's street scenes — and looks almost identical today, stalls and all.
• Hollywood Road & the ladder streets: hillside scenes used Central's steep stepped lanes; several, like Ladder Street, are protected and unchanged.
• The harbour itself: junks and walla-wallas then, barges and ferries now — but from the lower deck of the Star Ferry, the light is exactly the same.

Sample itinerary

• 09:00 · Meet at Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui — the film's actual opening, where Robert Lomax steps ashore
• 09:45 · Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront — the 1960 skyline against today's, the biggest then-and-now contrast in the film
• 10:15 · Star Ferry crossing to Central — the arrival scene, from the lower deck where the light is exactly the same
• 11:00 · Pottinger Street and the ladder streets — standing exactly where the camera stood
• 12:00 · Wan Chai: Gloucester Road, the Luk Kwok site, Lockhart and Jaffe Roads — the bar district by daylight, with all its stories
• 13:00 · Lunch in Wan Chai — my local favourites, your pick (paid on the day)
• 14:00 · Old Wan Chai streets, the Blue House and the market — the neighbourhood behind the neon
• 15:00 · Local snack break — egg waffles, milk tea or something braver; it's on me
• 15:30 · Back to Kowloon: Ferry Street, Yau Ma Tei — the film's dockside world, next to the century-old fruit market
• 16:30 · Finish at the Yau Ma Tei wholesale fruit market and my map of every location for your own re-visit