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.