The extended story of Yifeng Building is not simple

If you want to choose the most popular movie scene in Hong Kong in recent years, there is no doubt that it is the "Monster Building" on King's Road in Quarry Bay (the old building group composed of Haishan Building, Haijing Building, Fu Cheong Building, Yik Cheong Building and Yi Fat Building). In "Transformers: Age of Extinction" in 2014, this old building group became the scene where Ke Bowen and the Decepticons fought, and made this colorful and oppressive building a punch card for fans at home and abroad hotspot. In recent years, due to the influx of tourists who check in and affect the lives of residents, the building management had to put up notices prohibiting outsiders from taking pictures there. In fact, the monster building is only part of the battle scene in the film. The other part actually takes place in an old building with the same oppressive feeling across the sea. This old building is the protagonist of this article - To Kwa Wan I-Feng Mansions (I-Feng Mansions).

Yifeng Building is located at the intersection of To Kwa Wan Road and Zhejiang Street. It is divided into four buildings with an age of about 50 years. Compared with the monster building in Quarry Bay, Yifeng's story is stronger. In addition to the bits and pieces related to the movie scene, the real files of the building outside the movie are also quite fascinating. There are community stories, spies, and chilling Hong Kong Strange Case.

Xixi, a well-known Hong Kong writer who has lived in To Kwa Wan for many years, described Yifeng Building in this way: "This place was originally a Tang porcelain factory and a thermos bottle factory, and it is famous for the related words "blindly relying on rolling" and "serious and courageous". Now the factory building has been moved away, but the building is actually worth visiting, because it is a "Hui"-shaped building that is already rare. The building is surrounded by windows, the door of each household faces the central courtyard, and corridors extend in all directions, and each wall is shared with the next door. Looking up from the street, of course, it cannot be seen that it looks like a courtyard in the north. "【Note】

Like many old buildings in the area, Yick Fung Building was full of knockoff factories in the past, which is closely related to the post-war industrial development of To Kwa Wan. In addition to large-scale factories, there were also a large number of large-scale OEMs and small-scale factories in the area back then, forming an interdependent industrial model and a large community life circle. With the development of the economy, the transformation of factories or enterprises, the relocation of relocation, and the dismantling of demolition, the old factory buildings in the past have become golden egg real estate projects, and the remaining old buildings such as Yifeng have become subdivided houses. With the upcoming opening of the SCL, the community is changing at a rapid pace.

Yifeng Building is like the Chungking Mansions in To Kwa Wan, with densely packed inside, narrow environment and crowded layout. Tsui Hark’s work "Upstream and Countercurrent" used this unique environment to shoot a classic gunfight that lasted more than ten minutes and was oppressive. "Transformers 4" also used the oppressive feeling of the building to shoot the main scene of the film. The good and the evil factions walked up and down the courtyard and fought to the death. Then there's Contagion, where the mansion is home to carriers of a deadly virus and is sealed off by health authorities to prevent the spread of the virus. Seeing this scene, one can't help but think of the scene of SARS raging in Hong Kong in 2003.

If you look carefully from the patio, you can see that the sloped design of the top floor of the building is actually a feature of the old buildings of the same era, which is a record left by the old "street shadowing method". What is street photography? This is a building regulation that the Hong Kong government joined in 1969. The purpose is to allow the street to receive basic sunlight and air circulation through the design of the slope of the roof. This law was relaxed with the subsequent high land price policy, and was officially abolished in 1987. The appearance of screen buildings later was more or less related to the abolition of this law.

Yifeng Building has a large number of residents, and the flow of people is bound to be complicated. Its long and narrow corridors extend in all directions, making it easy for criminals to hide. In 1980, the case of corpses hidden in water tanks on the roof took place. Five years later, the suspect was arrested, but after a court trial, he was acquitted of the murder in self-defense. As the suspect, Lee Soo Hyun routinely plays the policeman. In the 1990s, the "Tuen Mun Sex Devil" Lin Guowei who shocked Hong Kong also committed crimes in Yifeng Building. He raped as many as 13 women, 3 of whom were killed, and one of them was killed in the elevator of Yifeng Building. The case was also adapted into a movie, directed by Cha Chuanyi, and Li Jiasheng played the Tuen Mun sex devil (known as Lan Guowei in the film).

The distribution of high-density and jagged buildings is a unique urban landscape in Hong Kong, and the rooftop is the place that best presents this rich Hong Kong characteristic. Therefore, in Hong Kong films, the rooftops of buildings often become shooting scenes, which is rare in films from other countries or regions. The rooftops of Yifeng Building are also one of the scenes that often appear in movies.

Tsui Hark took a fancy to Tsui Hark for the filming of "Upstream and Against the Current" on the rooftop where the "Corpse Hidden in Water Tank" case happened. In "Transformers 4" in 2014, the roof also became part of the scene. I still remember that the incident of "Shoutuodi" (extortion of money) caused a small disturbance. I have to mention "Credit Fraudster JP: Hong Kong Romance" starring Nagasawa Masami. This movie extended from the popular TV series takes Hong Kong as the main scene, and the rooftop of Yifeng Building is also one of the scenes.

In July last year, the author took a film troupe on a pilgrimage to the rooftop of Yifeng, and happened to meet a Japanese film crew who were filming. To avoid affecting the filming of the film crew, I had to avoid it. Later, I found out that they were filming this film. Also on the rooftop. Later, the group members who went to the rooftop were lucky enough to take some photos, but he didn't notice that there were two protagonists in front of him, unfortunately lucky.

Looking down from the rooftop of Yifeng Building, you can also discover the story. Looking towards Zhejiang Street, you can see Baode Building, which was involved with an Indian terrorist last year. This terrorist is called Romi, who was born in India and grew up in Rainbow Village. He was wanted by Interpol on a red notice. He is suspected of planning prison robbery, political assassination and other terrorist activities. At that time, the media pointed out that Romi set up a control room in the subdivided room of Baode Building in To Kwa Wan. In 2016, he directed several militants to rob the prison and rescued the leaders of the Sikh separatist organization.

Coincidentally, Yifeng Building is also related to the "Snowden incident" which has caused a lot of international espionage. Snowden, the protagonist of the incident, fled to Hong Kong in 2013 and lived in different places. The famous director Oliver Stone (Oliver Stone) adapted the matter into the movie "Snowden Storm" (Snowden), and Yifeng Building became the hiding place of the protagonist in the film. In reality, Hong Kong, as the meeting point of various cultures and forces, has created her unique advantages. This unique background, as well as the relatively stable and free situation, have made Hong Kong a bridgehead or a breathing space for various factions since the end of the Qing Dynasty. It has played an extremely important role in the diplomatic history of modern China and even the world. Although there is an extraordinary past, Hong Kong's history has always been treated coldly and ignored, which cannot be justified.

Looking from the roof of Yifeng Building towards To Kwa Wan Road, it is the site of the To Kwa Wan Station of the Shatin to Central Line. In 2014, ancient wells and a large number of cultural relics were discovered there, including relics such as square wells, houses, copper coins, tombs, and open channels. Gao Tianqiang, a member of the Advisory Council, described these antiquities as "the most important archaeological discovery in Hong Kong's history after written historical records". As for how to deal with these cultural relics, the government still needs to make a final decision.

The Yi Fung Building is scattered here and there, extending a period of not simple past, and many fascinating stories have happened, presenting the memory and imagination of To Kwa Wan and even Hong Kong. This seemingly ordinary old building is equally wonderful inside and out. It is no exaggeration to say that she is the movie scene with the richest story in To Kwa Wan. It not only has movie scenes, but also has the strongest extended story.

Note: Xixi: "To Kwa Wan Road" "My Street, I Know, I Write" https://writinghk.org/featured-article/To Kwa Wan Road/