A Tram through Eastern District

Ng Cho-bang has driven Hong Kong’s double-decker trams through Eastern District for more than 30 years. In that time, entire hills have been flattened and developed with skyscraping apartment towers. A tram route that once meandered along the waterfront has been straightened. Even the waterfront itself has shifted, extended outwards by decades of land reclamation. Where there were once factories and shipyards there are now hotels and luxurious office towers.

And yet, despite the changes, some things remain the same, not the least of which is the tram. Ng says homemakers and elderly people still take it to the wet market to fetch their daily groceries. “Sometimes I help them with their grocery cart,” he says. “There are times that some passengers give me a fruit as a thank you gift when they finish the journey.” While the city around it may grow, the tram remains a throwback to a friendlier, less complicated time.

That’s why it’s the perfect vehicle to explore Eastern District. In 1904, the tram was extended from Causeway Bay to Shau Kei Wan, linking up the neighbourhoods that were quickly growing along the eastern shore of Hong Kong Island. Even today, perched on the upper deck of a tram, a warm sea breeze blowing through the carriage, you can get a sense of the district’s rich history and evolving culture.

Another market sits just a few blocks away. The Java Road Market is an industrial looking concrete structure — not the most inviting place from the outside, but if you make your way past its butcher stalls and fruit hawkers on its lower floors, you will come to the Cooked Food Centre on the top floor, where seafood specialist Tung Po has earned a loyal following for its Cantonese-style seafood. With plastic stools, big round tables and its exuberant atmosphere, it’s an indoor version of the outdoor dai pai dong restaurants that once thronged Hong Kong’s streets.

Tung Po isn’t the only surprise hidden inside the imposing buildings of Eastern District. It may not be obvious from street level, but inside glossy office towers and dingy industrial blocks is a burgeoning creative scene anchored by spaces like Para Site and ArtisTree, which offer art exhibitions, performances and other events. These spaces coexist with new development that is reshaping old industrial areas like Quarry Bay, which has become one of the city’s most important office hubs. 

You can get to the market by bus or MTR — but somehow, the tram feels particularly appropriate. When Ng Cho-bang navigates his tram through Eastern District, he thinks about the “gigantic changes” it has seen, but he is put at ease by the idea that the tram still unites its people and places. “It makes me feel proud and fulfilled,” he says.