Wing Lee Wai Wines Ltd., founded in Guangzhou in 1876, Wing Lee Wai relocated to Sheung Wan, Hong Kong in 1905. It mainly deals in Chinese wines such as Siberian ginseng wine and rose wine. Mr Ching, the fourth-generation owner, is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner by training, and has passed his recipes on to his son who now runs the business. Looking around the shop, there are many photos and paintings that hold historical significance. Meanwhile, an intriguing tale lies behind the brand’s packaging and logo alone.

Apart from being a beverage, wine can also be used as a cooking ingredient – a head chef who is particularly fond of time-honoured Hong Kong brands incorporates the winery’s brews into his French dishes.

With the passage of time, raw ingredients became increasingly difficult to source, while high rent and labour costs led the company to move its production line to Macau. The wine-making techniques and the shop’s prized treasure, which have been passed down through the generations, serves as an important source of spiritual support that sustains this business with more than a century of history.

Established in 1935, Chan Kwong Kee Jewellery started out in the Central and Sheung Wan area as a shop occupying only half the space of the building it was in. After the war, the Hui family turned their pawn shop into a jeweller, which is now in the hands of the third-generation inheritor. He recalls that his grandfather and father were already doing business with many wealthy people in the city during the brand’s early days, as well as witnessing the business district expand from Central and Sheung Wan to Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

In the 1990s, jewellery shops in Hong Kong became a frequent heist target among mainland Chinese criminals, and the industry was in the grip of constant fear. However, the impact was far less severe than that brought by the financial crisis which followed. The company’s jewellery craftsmen witnessed the significant downsizing of the factory which once employed dozens of people, and business went into free fall. Twenty years later, the brand is still standing thanks to its integrity and the golden reputation that it has built over the decades. The shop’s sign and nostalgic decor do not only hold treasured memories for the owner, but also the people of Hong Kong.

Peering down on Stanley Street from the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator, one can see rows of patio umbrellas, under which there are several “dai pai dongs” (open-air eateries). Among them is Sing Kee, a stall with more than seven decades of history that is renowned locally and globally for its stir-fried dishes full of “wok hei” (breath of the wok).

Shing, the owner, wears a white t-shirt as his chef’s whites. He stands in front of two large iron woks, stir-frying various nostalgic Hong Kong dishes with astonishing speed. Pork offal and fresh fish soup with rice are popular heat busters among Central construction workers; sweet and sour pork ribs and salt and pepper squid are Hongkongers’ favourite accompaniments to alcoholic beverages; while steamed seafood and claypot rice are must-orders for foodies from the mainland.

After the lunch service, Shing can finally take a break. Sipping his beer, he recounts the rise and fall of our city’s dai pai dongs.

Yan Chim Kee is a renowned century-old “Made in Hong Kong” brand that started out selling coconut candy. In the 1990s, a misjudged business decision led to the demise of the age-old coconut empire.

Reluctant to see her grandfather and father’s efforts go to waste, third-generation descendant Evelyn Yan persuaded her big sister Lilian to step out of her comfort zone. The two worked together to launch Yan Chim Kee 2.0 in 2011.

Once princesses of the coconut candy empire, the sisters have since ascended the throne. They have not only revived the company’s traditional signature products, but are also actively developing new flavours and collaborating with various new brands in a bid to restore their kingdom to its former glory.

Known as the “four great inventions of the dining table”, congee, rice noodles, egg noodles, and rice are mainstays in our daily diet. Much of the noodles served in our local eateries are supplied by noodle makers.

In this day and age, there are fewer and fewer factories in Hong Kong that make both rice and egg noodles – one of them is a time-honoured brand located in Fanling. Its artisans work tirelessly through the night, rain or shine, to ensure that major restaurant groups have a stable supply all year round. They can be regarded as the unsung heroes of the food and beverage industry.

What does the third-generation owner think of the age-old brand? Has he inherited a business, a way of life, or a mindset? Let’s discover the human touch behind this family-run factory.