This view to the old Shanghai Street is reminiscent of the Hong Kong in the colonial times in the 50's as depicted in the recommendable memoirs Gweilo.
Signboards are seen in many countries, predominately in this part of the world, not the least Hong Kong. There is something special about signboards in this city but they themselves are not what characterise the so-called signboard culture here. What is special about signboards in this city is, apart from being aglow in neon lights when the sun retires at night, how they clutter up the skylines.Whenever you look overhead in the city area in Hong Kong, there is no chance that you don't see signboards. There are not just a few of them, but a great number stretching out as much as can be, fighting for space and climbing over one another. It seems as if there would never be enough signboards to show people what they can expect along the streets and up in the buildings where whatever unthinkable kinds of shops you can think of are doing business.
Any observant readers should have noticed that the signboards are in various shapes, and surely sizes too. As Chinese writing can be understood from top to bottom (traditional style), right to left (contemporary style) or left to right (modern style), the designers are only limited by their imaginations. Probably for this reason, visitors to Hong Kong find the views of the signboard-jampacked streets exotic in their own rights. These signboards definitely paint a unique picture for the streetscape which is unmistakenably Hong Kong.
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