Founded in 1943, Datong Old Bakery has a two-storey neon sign hanging outside its main store in Yuen Long for more than half a century. It was found on Monday (26th) that a scaffolding had been erected, and it is suspected that it will be dismantled within the day. In 2022 The end is coming soon, and another Hong Kong sentiment may bid farewell to the public.
After the photo was posted in the Facebook group "Hong Kong Whereabouts", some netizens expressed their dismay.
On Monday (26th), a netizen uploaded a photo in a Facebook group, showing that the two-storey neon signboard of Datong Old Bakery’s Yuen Long main store had been erected as a scaffolding. It was suspected that the net would be dismantled, and the netizen left a message saying “Farewell”.
(Hong Kong Whereabouts facebook/Netizen Ebee Lam picture)
On Monday, Ebee, administrator of the facebook group of the conservation group "Travel in Hong Kong", posted a photo of the neon signboard of "Datong Old Bakery" and commented "Farewell to the neon signboard of Datong Old Bakery in Yuen Long".
It can be seen from the photo that there are workers working on the scaffolding.
The post attracted netizens to leave messages such as "rest in peace" and "goodbye", and some people also said, "it's okay. It was originally said that the demolition was over after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it has been delayed for several months."
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival in September this year, Datong Old Bakery posted on Instagram that the neon sign of "Datong Old Bakery" will be replaced soon, calling on the public to take pictures with it before it "leaves".
The store also said at the time that the date for replacing the neon signs in the Yuen Long main store is still being arranged, and if there is any further information, it will be announced on the official website.
However, there is no news about the dismantling of the signboard on the store's Instagram and Facebook pages.
The reporter of "Hong Kong 01" is making inquiries through the store's facebook and is waiting for a reply.
"Hong Kong 01" arrived at the Yuen Long main store of Datong Bakery at around 0:00 am on the 27th, and found that the neon signs were covered with fences in addition to the shed.
The name of the Datong Bakery is looming through the fence.
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Datong once announced its signboard to bid farewell to the public after the Mid-Autumn Festival, calling for a photo at the venue
Datong Old Bakery is famous for selling Chinese Tang cakes. Its Yuen Long main store is very lively on the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival. The old store adheres to the tradition every year. A Mid-Autumn archway that retains the characteristics of old Hong Kong will be erected at the door. It has been hung outside the door since the 1960s The two-storey high neon signboard of the store has become the store's signature sign, attracting a large number of gourmets to snap up mooncakes, and a long line of people formed outside the door.
However, this pair of old friends for more than half a century, one of them will "break up" after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Datong Bakery announced on Instagram in September, "Under the new regulations of the Buildings Department, it is helpless to face demolition. In the past, people often found the neon sign of "Datong Old Bakery" on social platforms. This year, it will disappear one to two months after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Replace." The article did not say whether the signboard would be handed over to a concern group for conservation and inheritance.
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Neon Conservation Expert: Signboards have three unique characteristics
Guo Siheng, an associate professor at PolyU’s School of Design and director of the Communication Design Discipline, said that the special feature of Datong’s old bakery’s neon signboard is that it uses three colors with green edges, yellow background, and red letters, which are complex with the main colors of today’s “red letters against blue” signboards. There are many more, and secondly, I specially imitate the old Hong Kong lanterns on the four sides of the signboard or use the traditional Chinese pattern arc design. The master needs to "spend more effort and bend a few times" to bend the lamp tube to match the shape, and the font also imitates calligraphy. Non-computer bodies are rare to buy nowadays.
Unique night view of Hong Kong in the 1960s. Unauthorized buildings under the new system of the Buildings Department
Hong Kong was very prosperous in the 1960s and 1970s. The bright neon signs in the night market became the living signs of restaurants, bars, mahjong parlors and nightclubs. The BD implemented the "Minor Works Control System" in 2010 on the grounds that the old signboard fell and injured people. The BD can take enforcement actions in accordance with the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance.
Under the current new system, signboards should not extend more than 4.2 meters and should not be less than 3.5 meters above the ground.
Since most of the signboards in Hong Kong were erected before 2010, thousands of signboards that have stood for decades have become illegal structures overnight because they do not meet the standards of the new system. Signboard owners must be approved by engineers or contractors. Afterwards, re-inspection is required every 5 years before they can be kept. The estimated cost is tens of thousands of yuan. Most of the old shops are eventually forced to dismantle their signboards, and some of them are sent to landfills to become waste.
