Dragon Centre is a large shopping mall. Its Chinese name (西九龙中心) sounds similar to the West Kowloon Cultural District (西九龙文化区). However, the latter is graceful and delightful while the former is hippie and cyberpunk, full of old Hong Kong mystery. Analogically, it is a safe version of the well known Chungking Mansions in TST, of course with old Hong Kong vibes.
The name “Dragon Center” comes from the dragon-shaped roller coaster on its very top floor. This is the most famous indoor roller coaster in Hong Kong, many Hong Kong local celebrities like Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, and Sammi Cheng have ridden it.
The roller coaster was shut down in 2003 due to various problems, but it is still a symbol of Dragon Center. Like every Hong Kong legend, when you search online you will find the haunted stories of this place. Nine-storey high and hollow designed, it is ideal for the depressed to commit suicide. But no worries they did put a net to avoid accidents … Lawyer costs and haunted spirits are more harmful than protections!
I knew about this place in 2021. When I wanted to eat “Ma La Tang” (麻辣烫) so much (a traditional Chinese street food, yummy and cheap, too cheap that it doesn’t fit the Hong Kong vibe), but couldn't go back to Shenzhen due to the cruel epidemic policy. I searched online and found one highly rated in Dragon Center. That was the first time I came here.
I told the French guy I met not long before (Heaven) that I had discovered an intriguing treasure. He was amazed and said: “Dragon Center is very famous. I went there when I first arrived in Hong Kong. How come you didn’t know about it?”
Risk-averse foreign residents usually stay on the “safe” Hong Kong Island side, the whiteface friendly paradise. But Dragon Center is the real Hong Kong gem! It is a sacred place of pilgrimage in the hearts of those who are interested in Hong Kong culture. It is passed down by word of mouth.
The most mentioned is an intangible cultural heritage - Liang Su Ji
Liang Su Ji sells handmade umbrellas with a lifetime warranty. An umbrella usually costs more than 500 hkd (60USD). You can buy the finished product or have it tailored on the spot. (However this store closed, the only remained is located on Park Lane Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui now.)
Not far from Liang Su Ji is a small barbershop, 50 hkd (6 USD) for a haircut (previously 45 hkd). There is a constant stream of customers. But the hairdresser is so skilled and swift, 10 minutes only or even less for one haircut. So people come and go, the line outside is never long.
Heaven loves this place. For some men, the waiting time and process of getting a haircut is a torture. He didn't dare to come alone due to the language barrier, but to my experience, the hairdresser only knows how to cut one particular type of men's hair, you just need to tell him the length. “Hong Kong style hair cut” Heaven would say! But he has always been excited to get it done fast and easy!
In addition to the “Ma La Tang” on the sixth floor, the eighth floor is also a food court. It ranges from Sichuan and Hunan traditional food to Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, and Korean dishes.
Unlike the food court in most big shopping malls, it looks more like family-run workshops gathering. The food are shockingly authentic especially Sichuan dishes like hand-shredded chicken (手撕鸡) and sour spicy noodles (酸辣粉), not modified with a weird sweet flavour that you find in the big restaurants. The best food you can get in Hong Kong is the authentic old styled ones, that’s what Heaven said.
On the other side of the eighth floor is an ice rink that visitors would ignore.
The top floor of Dragon Centre is a small amusement park with loads of claw machines, coins pushers and cars for kids.
There are also all kinds of little surprises hidden in the corners of other floors. Cotton candy and popcorn will take you back to the 1990s instantly.
Gashapon machines and claw machines makes a huge part of the Center. Although I have no interest in this kind of blind box activity, I can't help but sigh, it's really punk.
Oh! By the way, I almost forgot! My favorite photo booths - they were everywhere when I went to Korea and I wanted to go inside whenever I saw one - are also available here, they are exactly the same as the Korean version. You choose various costume items to look funny and cute and then take plenty crazy pictures with friends! The price is three to five times that of Korea. But this is one of the rare places you can find it in Hong Kong.
There are also many nail salons, idol blind box stores, ancient coin and stamp trading stores, and small stores that sell all kinds of things... sometimes that you would not even expect. I love the retro camera store, which has film cameras from 20 years ago.
Dragon Center is a silhouette of time passing in Hong Kong. Although there are modern supermarkets such as Sasa and ParknShop, as well as chain restaurants offering Japanese food and hot pot, they cannot wash away the imprint of the old times. The watch shop feels like a pawn shop; the posters, small cards, the way to support movie stars, all stay in the last century.
Next time when you want a taste of old Hong Kong, come here and have a look to this hidden gem!
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