Where was Expats filmed? 4 iconic Hong Kong locations in Nicole Kidman’s new Amazon Prime TV show – from Victoria Harbour to the Instagram-famous Monster Building, and which cha chaan teng?

Jan 25 , 2024

Starring Nicole Kidman and filmed in Hong Kong, Amazon Prime’s Expats features many iconic backdrops in the city, including Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok (pictured). Photo: Winson Wong

Set to release on Amazon Prime Video on January 26, the long-anticipated Nicole Kidman-led series Expats is gaining plenty of buzz – especially among those in Hong Kong, where it’s set and filmed, who’ve been following the production since 2021. The series was filmed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when Hong Kong was under stringent travel restrictions.

Nicole Kidman on the set of Expats in August 2021. Photo: Winson Wong

In August 2021, the government decided to allow the Hollywood star, and director Lulu Wang and her crew, to skip the city’s lengthy quarantine period in the name of filming Expats, which sparked outrage among residents.

Expats director Lulu Wang and Nicole Kidman in 2019. Photo: @thumbelulu/X

But what about the show itself? The series tells the stories of three American women living in Hong Kong, with Kidman’s character Margaret and her family struggling in the wake of a tragedy.

Expats is based on the novel The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee, a Hong Kong-born American with Korean expatriate parents. Many of the city’s iconic locations provide the backdrop to the show.

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The show’s recently released trailer offers a glimpse of the storyline as well as some of the scenery. Here, we trace the filmmakers’ footsteps for a look at where the novel and series found inspiration across Hong Kong.

1. Mei Foo Sun Chuen

This isn’t the first time Hong Kong’s unique residential architecture has been tapped for an international production. Michael Bay shot scenes for Transformers: Age of Extinction in front of Yick Cheong Building in Quarry Bay. Better known as the Monster Building, it’s become a famous Instagram spot for locals and tourists alike.

Moments into the series, we see Kidman looking out of her window at a view of residential buildings in Mid-Levels. In the next shot, we glimpse a cluster of structures in beige and blue. These are actually part of Mei Foo Sun Chuen, one of the city’s first large-scale private housing estates, and one of the largest in the world when its first stage was completed in 1968. Situated in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, the development comprises 99 blocks with roughly 13,500 flats housing some 70,000 to 80,000 residents.

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2. Fa Yuen Street Market

Mong Kok’s Fa Yuen Street Market is a key setting in Expats. Photo: @javan/Instagram

Next, we catch the neon lights and the colourful canopies that line Mong Kok’s Fa Yuen Street. The trailer shows a transition of the street from day to night, with Kidman later standing in the middle of an empty Fa Yuen Street Market.

3. Victoria Harbour skyline

The Hong Kong skyline, seen from Kowloon side. Photo: @_samwong_/Instagram

The audience catches glimpses of Hong Kong’s iconic skyline from several angles – in one scene, we see Kidman and her son cruising along Victoria Harbour, while another shows the city’s skyscrapers as another character rides in a red taxi.

4. Mido Cafe

The legendary Mido Cafe cha chaan teng on Temple Street was founded in 1950. Photo: @explore_hongkong/Instagram

One of the most storied cha chaan tengs in Hong Kong, Mido Cafe retains its nostalgic charm, having first opened its doors in 1950 on Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon. Expats shows Kidman and co-star Sarayu Blue chatting and dancing inside the restaurant, though there’s no sign of the two enjoying an iconic Hong Kong milk tea or the famous French toast.

Fame and celebrity

Hongkongers have been following the show’s production since 2021, when Kidman, director Lulu Wang and her crew were allowed to skip the city’s Covid-19 quarantine, sparking controversy
The series, based on The Expatriates by Korean-American author Janice Y.K. Lee, shows backdrops from the skyline to Fa Yuen Street – but Kidman’s Mid-Levels view was actually somewhere else …