In the eleventh episode of 細間始終你好, host 阮兆祥 explores Kwun Tong’s 40-year-old handmade soy milk institution Wing Hing Soy Milk King, a fragrance boutique blending Chinese characters with perfumery, and the generational preservation of traditional floral plaque craftsmanship at the 72-year-old Lee Yim Kee in Yuen Long, highlighting the resilience of local artisans against urban transformation.
The Bottom Line
- Kwun Tong Legacy: Wing Hing Soy Milk King marks four decades of community history, fueled by daily fresh bean preparation and neighborhood demand following urban redevelopment delays.
- East-West Fragrance Fusion: Independent local brand LLEMS translates life stages into four scent profiles—Yuan, Mi, Wu, and Hu—by pairing Chinese character philosophy with French perfumery techniques.
- Handmade Heritage: Yuen Long’s Lee Yim Kee floral plaque shop secures its third-generation continuity through bamboo scaffolding specialist Andy, who steps in to protect a 72-year-old intangible cultural tradition.
Preserving Kwun Tong’s 40-Year Breakfast Staple
In this installment, host 阮兆祥 visits Wing Hing Soy Milk King, a Kwun Tong fixture that has spent four decades serving fresh, hand-ground soy milk and douhua to local residents. Run by Mr. and Mrs. Lau, the shop’s daily routine remains unhurried yet relentlessly demanding. Every morning begins with the meticulous selection of imported Canadian soybeans—a choice the owners insist is non-negotiable for authentic flavor—followed by soaking, grinding, and boiling without commercial shortcuts.
The journey to permanence was hardly straightforward. Decades ago, the business operated as a street-side hawker stall where Mrs. Lau balanced childcare with retail while Mr. Lau managed operations, sometimes sleeping on sheets of cardboard on the pavement just to keep the venture afloat. When urban renewal plans for Kwun Tong forced a hiatus, the couple initially planned for permanent retirement. But customer demand proved stubborn. The hiatus stretched across two years of community requests, ultimately convincing the family to reopen at YM2 in Kowloon Bay. As the Laus’ daughter observes, the business has grown into an inseparable part of their family identity, carrying the weight of neighborhood memory into a new architectural era.
Translating Chinese Philosophy Into Modern Perfumery
Far from the industrial kitchens of Kwun Tong, the episode shifts to the intersection of ancient linguistics and contemporary scent design. Independent local fragrance label LLEMS, founded by graphic designer Jason alongside partner Cindy, approaches branding through an unmistakably philosophical lens. The label’s four core scents—”Yuan” (源), “迷” (迷), “Wu” (悟), and “Hu” (豁)—map out sequential phases of human consciousness. “Yuan” captures the pristine innocence of beginnings with crisp green notes and rain-soaked forest accords, while subsequent fragrances chart the chaos of adulthood, intellectual clarity, and eventual emotional liberation.
Here is the kicker: despite operating as an independent Hong Kong startup, the founders bypassed local shortcuts by traveling directly to France to collaborate with master perfumers, marrying Western extraction methods with Eastern aesthetic principles. The physical bottles themselves double as tactile sculptures, featuring four deliberately flattened corners designed to symbolize the metaphorical smoothing of human rough edges through life experience. Currently transitioning out of their Causeway Bay counter at Lee Garden Two, the founders maintain a communal ethos by incorporating a tranquil tea room into their retail concept, offering stressed urbanites a physical space to pause, drink tea, and decompress.
| Craft / Brand | Location | Founding / Operating Era | Key Cultural Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
Guarding the Multi-Storey Craft of Lee Yim Kee
No exploration of vanishing Hong Kong trades is complete without examining the towering, multi-tiered floral plaques native to New Territories village celebrations. In Yuen Long Old Market, the 72-year-old Lee Yim Kee stands as a stubborn monument to an endangered art form. Second-generation proprietor Lan Jie, who began learning the trade from her father at age 13, spent decades wielding a brush to paint custom calligraphy directly onto massive bamboo-and-paper structures without the aid of modern printing. The work is physically punishing, resulting in chronic physical strain from years of outdoor installation work, extreme weather exposure, and meticulous detailing.
For years, the looming threat of extinction hung over the workshop as specialized apprenticeships dwindled across the territory. Relief arrived when third-generation successor Andy stepped in to take over the family business after working as a scaffolding artisan. Over the past decade, Andy has systematically balanced structural preservation with contemporary utility. He has successfully registered trademarks for stylized flying dragon pillars, upgraded traditional tungsten illumination to energy-efficient LED configurations, and scaled down floral plaque designs for modern indoor restaurant banquets. From international tattoo conventions seeking bespoke signage to local wedding banquets, Andy’s interventions prove that heritage crafts can survive if practitioners are willing to modernize their frameworks without losing their cultural soul.
