Published : 03/10/2025
As a filming location for numerous Hong Kong films and TV series, the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station is regarded as an iconic building full of local character.
Although tourists can only take photos at its shuttered entrance, encountering a century-old monument filled with collective memories is still a rather lovely experience.
Shanghai Street once called Station Street? It is related to old Yau Ma Tei Police Station
The old Yau Ma Tei Police Station (舊油麻地警署) was built as early as 1922. Many people mistakenly believe that this century-old building is the first-generation police station, but it is actually the second generation.
The first generation Yau Ma Tei Police Station was established in 1873, located at the intersection of Shanghai Street and Public Square Street, which is now the site of the Henry G. Leong Yau Ma Tei Community Centre.
Because of this police station, the street where it was located was called Station Street at the time. Later, the British Hong Kong Government renamed the street Shanghai Street.
With the social development, the first generation Yau Ma Tei Police Station became inadequate to meet the demand. Thus, in 1922, it was decided to relocate to the intersection of Canton Road and Public Square Street, which is the current site of the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station.
Old Yau Ma Tei Police Station features a design rich in colonial architectural characteristics
The second generation Yau Ma Tei Police Station is a three-story building in the Edwardian architecture style of New Classical Neoclassicism, featuring luxurious design.
The police station has a unique V-shaped structure on its left and right wings, with arched ceilings, columned porches, wooden floors, marble fireplaces, and other architectural elements of the colonial era. After the war, the police station expanded to meet practical needs by adding a new wing and dormitories next door.
As one of the few pre-war police station buildings, the Old Yau Ma Tei Police Station was rated as a Grade III historic building in 1988. It originally sat calmly on Canton Road without much attention until it faced demolition in 1998. Why?
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The old Yau Ma Tei Police Station once faced demolition
At that time, the Hong Kong government intended to demolish the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station to accommodate the construction of the Central Kowloon Route project, sparking social controversy over heritage conservation.
In fact, since Hong Kong returned to the motherland in 1997, society has gradually placed emphasis on conserving historic buildings, and the issue of preserving the Grade III historic building, old Yau Ma Tei Police Station, aroused significant societal response.
In the end, the Hong Kong government revised its original plan and decided to preserve the old wing of old Yau Ma Tei Police Station and most of the new wing on the original site. In 2009, the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station was rated as a Grade II historic building.
In 2016, the government completed the third generation of Yau Ma Tei Police Station on Yau Cheung Road and put it into use. The old Yau Ma Tei Police Station finally "retired", and then transformed into the Yau Ma Tei Report Centre.
Read more: Tracing the past and present of the red brick house in Yau Ma Tei
Old Yau Ma Tei Police Station bonded with HK films and dramas
It is well known that old Yau Ma Tei Police Station was the filming location for many Hong Kong movies and TV dramas, such as Infernal Affairs (《無間道》), Election (《黑社會》), Metade Fumaca (《半支煙》), Life Without Principle (《奪命金》) as well as TV dramas like Armed Reaction (《陀槍師姐》), On the First Beat (《學警出更》) and Line Walker (《使徒行者》), making it seem like one of the "designated" police stations.
Due to the high exposure rate and unique architectural style of old Yau Ma Tei Police Station, many tourists from Chinese Mainland consider it very characteristic of Hong Kong and full of "Hong Kong flavour."
As a result, they flock to the police station entrance to take photos, forming an endless stream of crowds. Thus, the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station has also become a popular tourist hotspot.
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