A shrine to old Hong Kong rises in Lung Wah Hotel

In its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, the Lung Wah Hotel, a converted Spanish revival villa, offered a leafy refuge from the bustle of city life, near a cove and surrounded by parks in Hong Kong's New Territories.

- Tiffany May

HONG KONG - In its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, the Lung Wah Hotel, a converted Spanish revival villa, offered a leafy refuge from the bustle of city life, near a cove and surrounded by parks in Hong Kong's New Territories.

Winding stairs flanked by red lanterns led to a sprawling Chinese-style garden. On summer weekends, people gathered for games of mahjong under a pavilion as children played nearby in sandboxes and on swings. Movies were once shot there, and action star Bruce Lee, its most famous patron, practised martial arts on its roof.

In the decades since, the hotel stopped renting out rooms because new fire codes would require them to be upgraded. The surrounding rice fields were developed into middle-class housing.

The restaurant is still turning out its famed roast pigeon, but it has struggled to fill its wood-trimmed dining rooms since its 500-spot carpark was requisitioned for a new police station in the 1970s.

Now, the operation has been given a chance for a new lease on life - by leaning into the past. An unused teahouse on the property has been remade into Hong Kong Radiance, a hands-on museum that seeks to recreate slices of the vibrant life in the city as it transitioned from a post-war factory town producing clothes, electronics and plastics into a glittering financial centre connecting the East and West.

Mr John Wu, a graphic designer and well-known local collector who curated the space, wanted it to resemble a film set, where each corner has a cohesive palette.