Let me set the scene.
You are walking along Hollywood Road, surrounded by antique shops, art galleries and enough carefully curated windows to make you question whether you are exploring Hong Kong or accidentally browsing someone else’s very expensive living room.
Then Shing Wong Street appears.
It climbs sharply away from the traffic, all concrete steps, ageing façades and the mildly insulting reminder that Hong Kong rarely believes a street needs to be horizontal. But right at the junction, two enormous koi swim across a teal wall—turning an ordinary slab of concrete into something that feels briefly, wonderfully submerged.
That mural was what stopped me. The street itself was what made me stay.
Shing Wong Street: Hong Kong’s Uphill Shortcut
Shing Wong Street runs uphill from Gough Street to Caine Road, cutting through the layered edges of Sheung Wan and the Mid-Levels. Below Hollywood Road, it behaves like a fairly ordinary city street. Above it, the pavement gives way to stone steps and Hong Kong quietly turns the route into unpaid cardio.
This is one of the city’s old ladder streets—built to move people up terrain that clearly had no interest in cooperating. Along the climb, restored post-war tenements sit beside newer buildings, small cafés and façades still carrying the scratches, pipes and practical clutter of everyday life.
It is not a grand landmark, and it does not need an itinerary slot of its own. Shing Wong Street works better as a detour: something you notice while wandering around Hollywood Road, PMQ or Sheung Wan. Walk slowly, look beyond the stairs, and the street begins revealing the kind of Hong Kong that rarely poses neatly for visitors.
The Koi Mural That Stopped Me
At the junction with Hollywood Road, the concrete wall had been turned into water.
Two enormous koi curved through a deep teal background, their white, orange and black bodies broken into the geometric shapes used by Danish artist Christian Storm. Created for HKwalls in 2018, the mural borrowed something instantly familiar from Chinese visual culture without turning it into decorative wallpaper.
What I remember most was the contrast. Hollywood Road was busy doing what Hong Kong does best—traffic, shopfronts, people moving with purpose—while these two fish appeared to swim silently above it all. I did not arrive with the mural saved on a map or scheduled between attractions. I simply saw it, stopped and looked.
That matters now because street art is temporary. The koi mural has since been reported as painted over and replaced, although old guides still send people to 82 Hollywood Road as if walls sign permanent contracts. My photographs capture what was there during my visit; the wall you find today may tell a completely different story.
And honestly, that is part of the point.
What Else You’ll Find Along Shing Wong Street
Once the koi have finished stealing your attention—or the wall currently occupying their former address has done its best—you can continue uphill.
One side of the street runs beside PMQ, the former Police Married Quarters now filled with studios, design shops and exhibitions. The other is less polished: old tenement buildings, exposed pipes, narrow entrances, patched walls and the quiet evidence that people live here rather than merely providing atmosphere for someone else’s photographs.
Around Staunton Street and Bridges Street, the neighbourhood shifts again. Several post-war buildings have been restored and returned to use after years of redevelopment arguments. The result is not a perfectly preserved slice of old Hong Kong, because cities do not work like museum cabinets. It is a slightly awkward overlap of conservation, new businesses and ordinary residential life.
There may be cafés or small shops worth entering when you visit. There may also be shutters, deliveries and someone trying to carry groceries up the same stairs you are photographing. Shing Wong Street is still a functioning street first. Treat it accordingly.
Shing Wong Street: Quick Facts
Location: Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island. The street runs from Gough Street uphill to Caine Road.
Former koi mural location: Junction of Shing Wong Street and 82 Hollywood Road. The mural shown in my photographs may no longer be there.
Nearest MTR: Sheung Wan Station, Exit A2. Allow roughly 10–15 minutes on foot, depending on your pace and how often Hong Kong distracts you along the way.
Time needed: Around 15–30 minutes for the street itself. Longer if you combine it with PMQ, Man Mo Temple or a Hollywood Road wander.
Cost: Free. Your calves may submit a separate invoice.
Walking conditions: Steep stone steps above Hollywood Road, with little shade in places. This is not a comfortable route for wheelchairs, pushchairs or anyone who struggles with stairs.
Best approached from: Hollywood Road if you want to see the former mural location and sample the street without climbing its entire length.
Fox’s Practical Note
Unless climbing stone stairs is your chosen form of recreational suffering, approach Shing Wong Street from Hollywood Road. You can see the former koi mural location, look up the staircase and decide how committed you feel before gravity becomes personally involved.
For photographs, step back toward Hollywood Road rather than blocking the narrow corner. This is an active street, not an outdoor studio, and residents should not have to negotiate around an improvised photoshoot to reach their own front doors.
Hong Kong heat also makes a short climb feel far more ambitious than it appears on a map. Go slowly, carry water and do not schedule this as a dramatic standalone mission. It fits naturally with PMQ, Man Mo Temple or a wider walk through Sheung Wan—and that is exactly how it works best.
Final Thoughts
Shing Wong Street is not one of Hong Kong’s essential landmarks. Nobody needs to cross the city specifically to inspect a staircase, and the koi mural that first pulled me in may now survive only in old photographs and articles like this one.
But not every place needs to justify itself with scale, fame or a queue.
Sometimes a street matters because it interrupts your route. You notice two fish swimming across concrete, stop for longer than expected and end up looking beyond the wall—to the steps, the old buildings and the everyday city continuing around you.
Hong Kong changes quickly. Paint disappears, businesses move and familiar walls acquire new faces. The koi are gone, but the moment they created is not. That is reason enough for me to keep this little piece of Shing Wong Street.
Shing Wong Street at the junction with 82 Hollywood Road.
Leave a Comment