重慶森林

Faye Wong singing on a lit stage, microphone raised — Faye Wong in concert in Hong Kong, December 2003, nine years after the film. No free photograph of her from 1994 has turned up. 770 from Hong Kong, China · CC BY 2.0

Tony Leung in a dark jacket, looking down — Tony Leung at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 2007. The only free 1994 photograph of him is a 237-pixel press print its archive now licenses for non-commercial use. gdcgraphics (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0

Takeshi Kaneshiro smiling, in a dark suit — Takeshi Kaneshiro at a preview of The Warlords in Bangkok, December 2007, the earliest free photograph of him. Sry85 · CC BY 3.0

Wong Kar-wai · Hong Kong, 1994 · Kowloon by night, the Island by day

Chungking Express

Made in a break while Wong was editing another film, with the script still being written, and shot as fast as it moves. Hold the city still long enough to stand in it.

The lit entrance of Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road at night, people walking past — The Nathan Road front of Chungking Mansions at night, March 2013. Matthäus Wander · CC BY-SA 3.0

Story one · Kowloon, by night

The labyrinth on Nathan Road.

Wong planned two stories side by side: one on Hong Kong Island in daylight, one in Kowloon at night. The night one lives in Chungking Mansions.

Where we read it

Two parallel stories, the Island by day and Kowloon by night.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

36–44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Most of the first story happens here. Wong was drawn to the building’s lodgings, its mix of cultures and its name for crime, and saw it as a picture of Hong Kong.

Completed on 11 November 1961: seventeen storeys in five blocks, A to E, full of guesthouses, curry houses, African bistros, sari shops and money changers.

The anthropologist Gordon Mathews estimated in 2007 that people of at least 120 nationalities passed through the building in a year.

Time Out found it still packed with food stalls and independent shops in 2023, now watched by hundreds of security cameras.

The ground and first floors are an open arcade of food stalls, money changers and small shops, reached straight off Nathan Road. The floors above are guesthouses and homes.

Where we read it

People queueing at the lifts inside Chungking Mansions, watched by a guard — Queues for the Block D lifts inside Chungking Mansions, March 2013. Matthäus Wander · CC BY-SA 3.0

Projecting shop signs crowded over Hankow Road — Signs over Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, April 2010. The Bottoms Up Club was in a basement on this street until 2004. Jorge Láscar · CC BY 2.0

14 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (the Bottoms Up Club, closed)

The blonde wig, on Hankow Road

The Bottoms Up Club is where Cop 223 approaches the woman in the blonde wig; they drink there before a hotel room.

It opened in 1971 in the basement of Mohan’s Building, 14 Hankow Road, and its outside had already been in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974.

The Tsim Sha Tsui club closed in April 2004 and reopened in Wan Chai as a sports bar.

The club has gone. Hankow Road is a public street two blocks west of Chungking Mansions, between Peking Road and Middle Road.

Where we read it

YMCA of Hong Kong

The Salisbury, YMCA of Hong Kong

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Not a filming location: the YMCA’s hotel at 41 Salisbury Road, on the harbour opposite the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, at the foot of Nathan Road a short walk from Chungking Mansions.

See the hotel

Step-printing · Christopher Doyle and Andrew Lau

Hold the shutter.

The film’s cameramen step-printed it: frames doubled and smeared, so the crowd rushes past while one person stays still. Here the places rush past. Hold the shutter and the one in the gate stops, sharp, and you can stand in it.

Where we read it

Credited cinematographers; step-printing duplicates frames into a blurred, staccato rush that sets still characters against fast surroundings.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

The frames are running. Hold the shutter to stop one.

Every frame in the gate

At their closest, the narrator says, two of these people were 0.01 cm apart. The places are further, but not by much.

Where we read it

The film’s best-known line: at their closest point, 0.01 cm apart.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

Story two · the Island, by day

The counter is a 7-Eleven.

Midnight Express, the snack bar that gives the film half its name, stood in the middle of D’Aguilar Street in Lan Kwai Fong. Most of the second story was shot around it. Its manager was played by Chan Kam-chuen.

Where we read it

Midnight Express in Lan Kwai Fong, the title’s Express, Chan Kam-chuen as its manager, and the second story shot nearby.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

D’Aguilar St · 2008

A crowd on D’Aguilar Street at night under bar signs — D’Aguilar Street on a carnival night in October 2008. GoT2008 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The site · 2009

A small 7-Eleven shopfront on a sloping street in Lan Kwai Fong — The Midnight Express site on D’Aguilar Street as a 7-Eleven, May 2009. Christian H. · CC BY 2.0

D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central

Midnight Express, D’Aguilar Street

A fan who ate there called it a cheap lunch counter, very small, the food decent but dearer than expected.

It sat in the middle of D’Aguilar Street and is now the 7-Eleven partygoers call Club 7-Eleven.

The site is a 7-Eleven in the middle of D’Aguilar Street, open late. Lan Kwai Fong is busiest after dark and quiet in the morning.

Where we read it

The base of California Tower at night with bar signs and people on the street — California Tower, 32 D’Aguilar Street, at night in June 2015. KSLEeyulum · CC BY-SA 4.0

32 D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central

California, across the road

California, the restaurant where Cop 663 arranges a date, stood just across the street from Midnight Express.

The restaurant and its building have gone; California Tower, full of bars, restaurants and clubs, stands in their place.

California Tower is open: bars, restaurants and clubs on its floors, reached from D’Aguilar Street.

Where we read it

Fruit and vegetable stalls under awnings on a steep street — Stalls on Graham Street, November 2010. deror_avi · CC BY-SA 3.0

Graham Street, Central

Errands on Graham Street

Faye runs errands here by day; the two men walk its stalls at night.

Urban renewal has been clearing the market away, but some stalls are still there.

A public street just off the escalator. Come in the morning, when the remaining stalls are open.

Where we read it

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Central and SoHo on foot

Central, Hong Kong

Live marketplace results for walking tours of Central, SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong. None is built round this film; check each route for the escalator, Graham Street and D’Aguilar Street.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Central · Cochrane Street to Conduit Road

Which way is it running?

The escalator opened in October 1993, months before Wong filmed under it. It keeps one rule: down in the morning, up the rest of the day. This sign reads the time in Hong Kong.

Downhill 6–10am · uphill 10am–midnight

Hong Kong time

Step on.

Queen’s Road Central
Cochrane Street
Hollywood Road
Staunton Street
Caine Road
Robinson Road
Conduit Road

Early 1990s

Steel framework of the covered escalator rising over a narrow street between old buildings — The escalator being built over Cochrane Street in the early 1990s, shortly before the film was shot under it. 文子言木 · CC BY-SA 3.0

2023

A covered escalator climbing between tall buildings above a street — The Central–Mid-Levels escalators in October 2023. Z thomas · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wong chose it because nobody had made a film there.

It opened at 6am on 15 October 1993: about 800 metres, a climb of 135 metres, eighteen escalators and three moving walkways.

It cost HK$240 million, against an approved budget of $100 million.

Time Out counts almost 80,000 people a day on it now.

Free to ride. It runs downhill from 6am to 10am and uphill from 10am to midnight; stairs run beside it.

Where we read it

An old apartment block on Cochrane Street at night, seen from the escalator footbridge — Cochrane Street at night from the escalator walkway, April 2021: the street beside which Christopher Doyle had his flat. The flat is private and not shown. M28MOA STMOOD · CC BY-SA 4.0

A private home, unpinned

The flat was the cameraman’s.

Cop 663’s flat was the cinematographer Christopher Doyle’s own home at the time.

Doyle had just moved into a flat right beside the escalator.

He worked all day and slept on the floor at night; for years afterwards fans with a tourist-board map rode the escalator to find his door.

A private home. Ride the escalator past it; don’t go looking for the door.

Where we read it

View from a plane window over Kowloon Bay and the Kai Tak runway, the island beyond — Taking off from Kai Tak’s runway 31, between 1994 and 2002, with Hong Kong Island behind. Alix Lee · Public domain

Kai Tak · departures

The departure hall has gone.

Kai Tak’s old departure hall appears in the film.

Chek Lap Kok replaced Kai Tak on 6 July 1998. The passenger terminal and hangars were demolished in the mid-2000s.

Kai Tak Sports Park, with a 50,000-seat stadium, opened on the old airport ground in March 2025.

The airport and its departure hall are gone. The sports park’s plazas on the old airport ground are open to walk through; Kai Tak MTR station is beside it.

Where we read it

A paved plaza between the new Kai Tak Sports Park buildings and tower blocks under a blue sky — Kai Tak Sports Park’s Pier Plaza on the old airport ground, December 2024. Ceeseven · CC BY-SA 4.0

Now boarding: the people

No free photograph of them from 1994 has turned up, so these are the earliest there are, each with its year.

Gate 1
Faye Wong in concert in Hong Kong, December 2003, nine years after the film. No free photograph of her from 1994 has turned up. 770 from Hong Kong, China · CC BY 2.0
Faye WongFaye · photographed 2003
Gate 2
Tony Leung at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 2007. The only free 1994 photograph of him is a 237-pixel press print its archive now licenses for non-commercial use. gdcgraphics (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0
Tony LeungCop 663 · photographed 2007
Gate 3
Takeshi Kaneshiro at a preview of The Warlords in Bangkok, December 2007, the earliest free photograph of him. Sry85 · CC BY 3.0
Takeshi KaneshiroCop 223 · photographed 2007
Gate 4
Wong Kar-wai in his dark glasses in Toronto, September 2008, at the premiere of Ashes of Time Redux, the film he broke off from to make this one. lukeisback.com; crop by Tabercil · CC BY 2.0
Wong Kar-waiWriter and director · photographed 2008

Brigitte Lin plays the woman in the blonde wig, Valerie Chow the flight attendant. In 1994 Tony Leung won Best Leading Actor at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, and Faye Wong Best Actress in Stockholm. The film opened in North America on 8 March 1996 through Quentin Tarantino’s Rolling Thunder.

Where we read it

Cast; Golden Horse Best Leading Actor for Tony Leung; Stockholm Best Actress for Faye Wong; Rolling Thunder release, 8 March 1996.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

1 breakfrom editing Ashes of Time: two or three months, by different accounts, in which Wong made this film
1 dayto write the second story, finished during the shoot
14 July 1994released in Hong Kong
4Hong Kong Film Awards in 1995, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tony Leung

Where we read it

1 break: from editing Ashes of Time: two or three months, by different accounts, in which Wong made this film.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express
1 day: to write the second story, finished during the shoot.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express
14 July 1994: released in Hong Kong.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express
4: Hong Kong Film Awards in 1995, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tony Leung.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

A pair of handprints and a signature set in a bronze plaque — Brigitte Lin’s star, handprints and signature on the Avenue of Stars, May 2007. BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 3.0

The harbourside promenade at Tsim Sha Tsui with Hong Kong Island across the water — The Avenue of Stars on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, May 2016. Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, Kowloon

Numbers 57, 70 and 72 on the harbour

Three of the film’s people have handprints here: Brigitte Lin is number 57, Tony Leung 70 and Wong Kar-wai 72.

A public promenade along the harbour, open all hours. The handprints are set along the water’s edge.

Where we read it

A boarding pass on a napkin

Where do you want to go?

At the end Faye draws Cop 663 a boarding pass on a paper napkin, dated a year later. Choose where yours goes.

Where we read it

Faye draws a boarding pass on a paper napkin dated one year later.
Wikipedia: Chungking Express

Boarding pass

From Midnight Express, D’Aguilar Street

To …

Date a year from today

The napkin is blank.

Go there.

Where it is now

9 places you can visit, 4 in Kowloon, 4 on the Island and 1 in London. Christopher Doyle’s flat is a private home, so it is named but not on the map.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The ground and first floors are an open arcade of food stalls, money changers and small shops, reached straight off Nathan Road. The floors above are guesthouses and homes.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The club has gone. Hankow Road is a public street two blocks west of Chungking Mansions, between Peking Road and Middle Road.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public promenade along the harbour, open all hours. The handprints are set along the water’s edge.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The airport and its departure hall are gone. The sports park’s plazas on the old airport ground are open to walk through; Kai Tak MTR station is beside it.

The Nathan Road front of Chungking Mansions at night, March 2013. Matthäus Wander · CC BY-SA 3.0
36–44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Chungking Mansions
Most of the first story happens here. Wong was drawn to the building’s lodgings, its mix of cultures and its name for crime, and saw it as a picture of Hong Kong.
The ground and first floors are an open arcade of food stalls, money changers and small shops, reached straight off Nathan Road. The floors above are guesthouses and homes.
Where we read it
Signs over Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, April 2010. The Bottoms Up Club was in a basement on this street until 2004. Jorge Láscar · CC BY 2.0
14 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (the Bottoms Up Club, closed)
Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
The Bottoms Up Club is where Cop 223 approaches the woman in the blonde wig; they drink there before a hotel room.
The club has gone. Hankow Road is a public street two blocks west of Chungking Mansions, between Peking Road and Middle Road.
Where we read it
Brigitte Lin’s star, handprints and signature on the Avenue of Stars, May 2007. BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, Kowloon
Avenue of Stars
Three of the film’s people have handprints here: Brigitte Lin is number 57, Tony Leung 70 and Wong Kar-wai 72.
A public promenade along the harbour, open all hours. The handprints are set along the water’s edge.
Where we read it
Taking off from Kai Tak’s runway 31, between 1994 and 2002, with Hong Kong Island behind. Alix Lee · Public domain
Kai Tak Sports Park, Kowloon City
Kai Tak, the old airport
Kai Tak’s old departure hall appears in the film.
The airport and its departure hall are gone. The sports park’s plazas on the old airport ground are open to walk through; Kai Tak MTR station is beside it.
Where we read it

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