She saves Hong Kong’s neon signs, but it was a Taiwanese mansion that triggered her journey
- Cardin Chan is general manager of Tetra Neon Exchange, which rescues and preserves Hong Kong’s disappearing neon signs
- She was ‘blown away’ by the Wufeng Lin Family Mansion in Taichung, Taiwan, which started a chain reaction that led her to Hong Kong’s neon industry
The Wufeng Lin Family Mansion on the outskirts of Taichung, Taiwan, is a stunning example of traditional architecture. Owned by one of the island’s most influential families, it was extensively restored following the 1999 Jiji earthquake.
I saw it on a month-long trip to Taiwan in 2016.
Before I planned that trip, I was going through a lot in my personal life. From about 2011, it was one of my darkest times: I was feeling lost, with no purpose.
I had been living abroad in London at that time, running a music channel, and my job was my whole life – my identity was what I did for a living. When I left that job, I was like, “Oh no, who am I?”
It had taken me years to work out what I didn’t want, but what I did want was still a mystery.
The trip came at a time when I realised that I had to relocate to Hong Kong. I love going to Taiwan, and I wanted to go for a month. I started doing some reading, saw some beautiful pictures of the mansion in a magazine, and thought it should be part of my travel plans.
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I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered. To start with, I was captivated by its beauty. It’s the only complex of that style on that scale that remains in Taiwan.
You had to join a tour to visit it, and I loved it so much that I joined at least three consecutive tours so that I could appreciate it.
There were a couple of door gods, and the guide was very proud of how they had been restored. I was blown away because the government had spent a lot of money researching how it looked when it was built, in 1864, during the Qing dynasty.
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How Hong Kong lost its neon glow
It also reminded me of the importance of storytelling: because of the guide’s passion, when he shared stories with us, I got goosebumps.
Then something else happened that really left a mark on me. I took a public bus back to the centre of town, and I wanted to make sure I was getting the right bus, so I grabbed someone who looked local.
She asked, “Why did you come here? We’re in the middle of nowhere.” I said, “I really wanted to see this complex.”
Her eyes lit up and she said: thank you for coming all this way to appreciate our culture. I asked myself: when was the last time I jumped through so many hoops to visit a historical place in Hong Kong? I couldn’t remember.
It started a chain reaction inside my head and triggered this journey I’ve been on.
After I moved back to Hong Kong, I became part of a group that was focused on saving the city’s neon signs. It came to a point when I thought, “Are you happy about the very small amount you can do?” So I decided to do more.
I contacted the first person I knew in the neon industry and it started from there.
The more I learned about the industry, the more I realised there’s so much about it that’s worth sharing. If we don’t save the neon in our city, very soon there will be nothing to save.
For me, it’s very personal. If I allow these signs to disappear, how could I sleep?
