Bruce Lee home addresses or locations of interest | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Bruce Lee home addresses or locations of interest

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Submitted by Unknown user (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-24 23:51
Hello I will be in HK on June 1-3 and was a huge bruce lee fan. I read on the internet, his home address 41 Cumberland Lane ( not sure which area), was made a hotel. Can anyone please give me precise location of his house, his parent's house in HK??? Silly question but is there a bruce lee museum in HK also? Thanks Anthony
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Submitted by David on Fri, 2007-05-25 10:47.

Here's the map for Cumberland Road.

There's no museum, only a couple of statues.

Enjoy your visit to HK,

David

Submitted by philk on Tue, 2019-10-08 08:44.

You had better get and see it soon. The owner - wealthy philanthropist Yu Pang Lin - is going to sell it to raise funds for the SiChuan Earthquake disaster. A worthy cause. Who knows what it will become once it is sold. Standard article here:

http://www.hkstandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=66172&sid=19033305&con_type=3

More Bruce Lee locations here:

Bruce Lee HK Locations

Submitted by tngan on Wed, 2009-05-06 19:38.

Hi Philk,

The piece of news in your link was dated May 22, 2008.... 

I remember I read something earlier in Ming Pao about the same house that the landlord and the Government came up with an agreement to turn the house into a Bruce Lee Museum.  Also the house would be restored to what it used to look like back in the early 1970's.

Best Regards,

T

Submitted by philk on Wed, 2009-05-06 19:48.

yes, T, you are correct.

This thread has popped up again because I was updating a link, that no longer worked, at the request of admin.

The latest on the house is that the Govt are soliciting people from around the world to submit plans for the site's redevelopment. Seems they want ideas about how to expand the space without annoying the neighbours!!

Submitted by David on Tue, 2011-08-30 21:28.

If you're a fan of Bruce Lee and you're visiting Hong Kong, check out Phil's "Bruce Lee guide to Tsim Sha Tsui". It's packed with facts and trivia, all delivered via an easy walk around Tsim Sha Tsui. Map included!

Regards, David

Submitted by philk on Tue, 2019-10-08 08:45.

Thanks for the mention David.

I should update the old link to my new blog (livespaces had the plug pulled on them earlier this year) so you can access all the Bruce Lee stuff from:

http://hongkongandmacaustuff.blogspot.com/search/label/Bruce%20Lee

Cheers, Phil

Submitted by David on Wed, 2011-08-31 22:46.

You're welcome - it's a very well laid out walk. Please let us know when the next ones are ready.

Cheers, David

PS I've updated the link above.

Submitted by OldTimer on Mon, 2019-10-07 22:22.

This article appears in today's (October 7, 2019) SCMP, highlights are:

Demolition of Bruce Lee's former mansion in Kowloon Tong was completed on September 28, 2019.

Proposals to renovate it into a museum honouring Lee have been ruled out due to high cost (HK$20 million), and structural problems a key factor.

Plans are underway for a new building offering courses on Mandarin and music; estimated construction completion date is August 2020.

The mansion backs onto the railway.  Directly on the other (west) side, in the early 1960s, there was a small wooden shed where a young man guarded his crops.  The area then was part forest and farms and exceptionally quiet before they developed Yau Yat Chuen.  I befriended the man when I "walked" my pet bird there from Boundary Street.  I also rode my bike on his back lane.  This was the closest I have ever gotten near Lee.  Regards,  Peter   

Submitted by tkjho on Mon, 2019-10-07 23:22.

Hi Oldtimer,

I remember seeing lots of Pyrostegia venusta 炮仗花 in the back lane when I walked home from Kowloon Tong School kindergarten to Boundary St. in the 1950s. It was quite common in HK at that time but seems to be quite rare nowadays.

Do you remember seeing any in his back lane at that time?

PDRM0176.JPG
PDRM0176.JPG, by tkjho
There was a large playground called 九龍塘公園 (Kowloon Tong Park, probably called something else in English) either on Boundary St. or on Waterloo Road. Do you remember exactly where it was?

Submitted by OldTimer on Tue, 2019-10-08 04:58.

Hi tkjho,  I remember seeing these flowers in some backyards while riding my bike, and your Chinese name for the flowers rings a bell.   They bloom for a short period each year so your photo brings back memory of those pass-by glimpse.

I have heard about Kowloon Tong Park, but never visited or played there.  The 1956 map does not show any park in the area.  However, on the west side of Waterloo Road and between Suffolk Rd and Norfolk Rd, there was the St. George College, whereas the 1952 map shows this area as unsettled.  I wonder if this spot was at one time a park.  Regards,  Peter

Submitted by tkjho on Tue, 2019-10-08 10:06.

The last time I went there was around 1967, and it was still there in 1972, but cannot find it on the maps anymore.  If St. George existed before 1972, then it's not the location.

Submitted by philk on Tue, 2019-10-08 12:29.

there's a 1965 map that shows several green areas within the Kowloon Tong estate, most of which are still around: Cornwall Street children's playground, Kent Road garden, Dorsett Crescent garden, Rutland Quadrant children's playground and the Essex crescent rest garden. There is a green patch where the Kowloon Tong club now stands, perhaps that could be it?

With regards to the flower, it still occurs estensively in some of the alleyways around Kent Road. Very fragrant. 

Submitted by tkjho on Tue, 2019-10-08 22:38.

Hi Philk,

Thanks for the info. That may be the location as I remember it to be at least as large as a football field. As for the flower, I don't think I've seen it anywhere else in HK outside of Kowloon Tong.