“Let there be light,” God said. But, humans learned how to burn kerosene to lighten the urban environment. Kerosene lamps first appeared on streets and in arcades, as well as bridges in West cities. Another century would pass before “urban coloring” was established. In 1898, scientists discovered that neon, a colorless, odorless gas, can be injected into an electrified vacuum tube to emit red light. Partly as a loanword to Chinese, the term ‘neon’ was later rendered into Chinese as ‘rainbow-hued light’. The neon lights, which emit intense color even in adverse weather conditions, quickly found widespread usage throughout the city as both logos and air and sea navigation beacons. In Paris, neon signs were first used to light up hair salons as well as opera houses in the 1910s. The neon sign arrived in Los Angeles in 1925. The trend quickly spread to other parts of the United States. This led to the creation of the iconic neon scapes at Times Square in New York City and The Strip in Las Vegas. This was also the time when neon lights began to trend east. Modern metropolises Shanghai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong were the first to adopt them. Hong Kong followed suit in the 1950s. In the 1920s, the combination of Western technology and square block Chinese logograms was used to decorate our city’s night sky in rainbow colors. Technological history deserves an entire essay. I will concentrate on the cultural imagery associated with the neon sign in artistic texts as well as urban landscapes.

A Palette for Lights, a City’s Evening Beauty Make-up

If you imagine the city’s night skies as a collection of lights or as a woman’s evening makeup, then the city’s foundation would be the faint yellow lights and their subtle, but captivating, shades. The bright, colorful neon lights in the city would be the city’s extravagant, layered make-up. They are worn as if they are anticipating a lavish, nightly feast hosted by the rich world of commerce. Neon is nestled in the city’s forest signboards, covering every corner where consumers thrive. Hong Kong has had such dazzling make-up for more than 50 years, making it an extraordinary urban spectacle.

The neon sign is a visual cue to urbanites’ prosperity, or the sign itself may be the lure to their desire.

The neon signs used in Hong Kong include banks, drugstores, and restaurants as well as bistros, currency exchanges, and video game parlors. Too many to list. But the symbolism of the neon sign or the imagery it represents, stands out more than any other as a sign of prosperity and splendor, especially when viewed against the dark sky. The neon sign is the spotlight that brings the city to life at night. Even when nocturnal creatures race out of their caves. The neon sign is the visual stimulus that seems to represent the prosperity that fuels urbanites’ desires. Capitalist society is built on the city dwellers’ desire for consumption. “The city that never sleeps” thus becomes synonymous with “the city of desire”. No other type of illumination is better at lighting up a city than neon. It was precisely this interplay of light and desire that made New York’s Times Square, with its neon-lit skyline, the perfect backdrop for the faceless loners such as Robert De Niro’s character Travis Bickle (1976). And touched the sound of silence.’ This is a feeling that speaks to our experience as city lights have become if you will, a mobile visual aura, an urban sensibility. The city’s mentality and its materiality are always shaping one another.

Dejection can be found under the glow of neon. In the shadow of radiance lies loneliness, with an unmistakable undercurrent desire. These varied representations of the neon sign can be found in literature, music, movies, and local literature. Several examples are notable. Eileen Chang wrote Love in a Fallen City (1943). Bai Liusu is the female protagonist and docks in Hong Kong. Chang describes Bai’s fixation upon the blue-green water reflecting off the shop signs. Chang does not give any direct description of neon signs. Perhaps they were not as prevalent as they are now. While I cannot determine when the neon sign appeared as an image in Hong Kong literature at first, I can tell you that one of its earliest appearances was in Cao Juren’s 1952 novel The Hotel. This story takes place in 1949, the year that the Chinese Communist Party gained control of the mainland. The story begins with a young man who flees with his father south to Hong Kong and works as a shoe-shine boy at M Salon. Later, he meets a refugee called a girl. Cao describes one scene in which the young man saw a neon sign displaying the character “Ching Wah Ballroom” as he stepped out from the salon’s side door. The fictional hotel in the title is a place of lust on Nathan Road. However, signs can be found all over Hong Kong. Liu Yichang’s The Drunkard (1963), opens with a writer who is also an alcoholic, visiting a nightclub for drinks while chatting up the sexy female servers. Liu wrote, “Not all the people on the prowl have brave souls; especially within the neon-lit thickets. The innocents at the swing set are few.”

An array of illuminated neon signs for sale adorning building facades along Nathan Road during the 1960s. Photo by Old Hong Kong

Cinematic World. The Aesthetics and the Mise-en-Scene

The neon sign, which is an iconic landmark of Hong Kong’s streetscape, can be seen in almost any Hong Kong film. Wong Kar Wai’s As Tears go By (1988), Chungking Express (1994), and Fallen Angels (1995) are just a few examples of artistic adaptation to the neon-lit urban backdrop. Clifton Ko’s Devoted to You (1986), is for me the best example of both artistic intent and visual execution. Clifton Ko’s Devoted to You (1986) is a story about two secondary school friends, May Lo, a rich girl, and Rachel Lee (a poor girl), who start dating Jacky Cheung (a Canadian university student) and Michael Wong (a biker-gangster). Lee and Wong are seen passionately kissing in a scene set against a bright-red neon signboard ‘TDK.’ This scene is just over 2 minutes long and ends with the neon signboard going black. This contrasts with Lo and Cheung’s rendezvous scene under the tranquil lighting of the Charter Garden fountain. Films use neon lighting to set the mood for their most blazing desires, particularly red.

Lee and Wong are shown in a private scene against the backdrop of a massive neon “TDK” signboard in Clifton Ko’s Devoted to You. It is a stark contrast to their intimate corner, where they embrace each other against the skyline adorned with rooftop antennas. Courtesy: @2010 Fortune Star Media Limited. All Rights Reserved

Legends of the Fallen City – Urban Nocturnes

Cantopop’s neon is often found in the lyrics to popular songs like Jacky Cheung’s ‘Loving Each Other.’ Jacky Cheung’s song ‘Each And Every Light Finally quiets down. Resting on a hard day’s night.’ The song’s popularity owes much to it being Jacky Cheung’s romantic hit and less to the mention of neon lights. At best, the neon light is only a passing mention in songs like Streaks in Rain’ and Shadow Dance both by Hacken Le and ? Shadow Dance by Alex To. Also, in more recent hits such as One Night City’ (2011) by Ken Hung. Mavishee’s ‘The Fallen City will be a memory I will cherish. This song ties the neon lights to the imagery of the city and is one of my favorite songs. Fireworks are spent and music stops. Even the most impressive neon sign can eventually fade away and even the most heartfelt tune will come to an end. This conclusion makes it difficult to discern whether the song is about the fate of the romance in a city.

Another memorable title I grew to love was Tat Ming Pair’s “It’s a Starry night”. It begins with a neon reference: “Neon lights shine through [the night] All I look for this midnight As one drive along the streets, they flash by. But these glittering incandescents cannot hide the feeling of cold bleakness. A child in despair yearns for the dark of night more than ever. The song’s last few lines capture the city in a single line: “Please take one last look at this beautiful city. I fear this glittering city MTV released the song in 1987. It is remembered for the iconic image of the lead singers wearing all black with shades as they weave in and out traffic along neon-lit streets like Nathan Road.

The best neon sign for sale is a small, sporadic appearance.

Gradual Transition

Every golden age is bound for decline just like Walter Benjamin sees the ghostly remains at the top of capitalism. Every trendy product that is produced in the city will age over the years, just like dust on neon signs at pawn shops, mahjong restaurants, old-style steakhouses, and nightclubs. Wanchai’s Lockhart Road’s neon signs remind us of Suzie Wu, the time when US Navy sailors spent overseas leave there. Although they have lost their appeal, like a woman in her prime, the neon signs still exude a sense of humor and decay in the city’s forest of shadows and lights. While some signs are still useful, others have long since passed away, such as the iconic Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium sign. Some shops use both LED and neon signs to illustrate the succession of generations in the same area. McDonald’s for example marks the difference between the old and the new. The old signs were lit with red and yellow neon, while the new signage uses standard-issue yellow and blue spotlights. After being around for generations and serving to create and inspire desire through prosperity, devastation, and radiance, the neon sign has fallen into disuse, creating an image of nostalgia and melancholy. However, it’s too early to say that Hong Kong’s neon lights are gone. There are still many signs illuminating the streets. As fading takes time, disappearance can be a slow process. The end of the historic mission of the neon sign won’t be overnight.