iSurprise GRV Post-box

Cross-harbour postal service

In the old days, it was a mission impossible to mail anything to villagers in Lei Yue Mun; literally! There were no postal services, no proper roads, houses were not even assigned with numbers, and therefore they didn't have a physical address.

Borrow an address

Since it's much easier to take a boat across the sea than climbing the mountains to Kwun Tong, many villagers relied on addresses in Shau Kei Wan at the opposite side of the channel. Stores selling rice, mechanical appliances and other everyday necessities took letters for the villagers, who would pick them up when they travelled across to do their shopping.

Turning point

It wasn’t until the late 1950s that roads in Lei Yue Mun got proper names and houses were assigned with numbers.

The surviving post-box

In the 1970s, the government placed an original George V post box here on Praya Road. It's one of the nine colonial post-boxes still remaining in Hong Kong. Did you know that they are made in the UK as far back as 1910?