Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng history, designs and legacy celebrated in new exhibition
‘The Cha Chaan Teng Codex – Tales of Invisible Designs’ dives into the visual languages, heritage and new interpretations of Hong Kong cafes
Architect Charles Lai Chun-wai still had not finished his pork chop rice – a signature dish at For Kee in Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan neighbourhood – when product designer Kay Chan Wan-ki lifted his melamine plate to read the inscription at the bottom.
She shrieked when she saw the words she had been desperately seeking: “Made in Hong Kong”.
“Seeing that plate proved a theory that I’ve been working on for months. I was ecstatic,” she recalls.
Chan and Lai are co-curators of “The Cha Chaan Teng Codex – Tales of Invisible Designs”, an exhibition exploring the visual languages, heritage and new interpretations of these cafes unique to Hong Kong. Put together in partnership with 12 other creators, the exhibition runs until July 31 at Gate33 Gallery in Kai Tak’s Airside shopping centre.
