The Sand Pebbles Locations | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

The Sand Pebbles Locations

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Submitted by Don Whistance on Fri, 2018-01-12 07:57

Where is the elephant statue that Steve McQueen sits under?

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Steve McQueen the Sand pebbles
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Submitted by tngan on Fri, 2018-01-12 09:21.

Hi There,

That was likely not in Hong Kong.  Couldn't recall any sites with such wide open but walled off space anywhere here.

Thanks & Best Regards,

T

Submitted by philk on Fri, 2018-01-12 11:40.

I'm not aware of any HK scenes filmed on land in The Sand Pebbles. Various land-based scenes were filmed in Tamshui (north of Taipei) and Keelung in Taiwan, so it's possible those scenes were filmed in Taiwan.

 

edit: this website talks about it. http://taipics.com/douglas.php however it's still unknown and is suggested it may have been part of Japanese shrine that once stood where the Grand Hotel now stands in the Zhongshan area of Taipei.

Submitted by Don Whistance on Fri, 2018-01-12 16:08.

The elephant statue in the film are similar to those at Ming Dynasty Tomb hence the Hong Kong connection. Are there any museums with elephant statues standing nearby?

Please find time to view my research via:

 http://stevemcqueen-justclickhere.com/links.htm

 

Don

Submitted by tngan on Fri, 2018-01-12 17:27.

Hi Phil,

This could likely be the walled enclosure\courtyard as the shape appeared to be correct.

Don't know if the end credits of the file would show any clues about it.  That site, before bull dozed and rebuilt into the Grand Hotel, was relics from the Japanese.  Elders may still remember it.

T

Submitted by philk on Fri, 2018-01-12 21:30.

I think it might be a red herring Thomas. It turns out the Grand Hotel (in an earlier, smaller form) was already in operation when the film was being made so I can only assume that the link I provided earlier meant that perhaps some of the statues from the former Japanese shrine were moved elsewhere when the site was redeveloped. As you say, it needs someone who was around in the 60's and would remember it. But definitely not HK.

Phil

Submitted by philk on Fri, 2018-01-26 12:29.

as an update, Don has been kindly keeping me up to speed with his search and the location of the walled compound with the elephant structure is Ben-Yuan Lin's family compound in New Taipei City. It appears that the elephant was most likely a prop. I've added a place for it here https://gwulo.com/node/40155 but it looks like the mapping isn't configured for Taiwan (understandable seeing as this is really a HK centric site).

Anyway, for future reference, given the HK connection with the film (http://hongkongandmacaufilmstuff.blogspot.hk/search/label/The%20Sand%20P...) people with an interest in the film now know where those scenes were filmed.

Phil