PMQ, Hong Kong’s creative incubator

PMQ in the heart of SOHO, Central, Hong Kong is now a hub for the city’s — and even Asia’s — creative and design industries.

Similar in concept to the 798 Art District in northeast Beijing, the former Police Married Quarters is now home to over 100 young designers and artists. It has welcomed around three million visitors for exhibitions, fashion shows, local high-quality brands and food since it was reinvigorated in 2014.

But if it could talk, this plot in Hong Kong would tell a riveting tale. Over the past 130 years, it has lived several lives.

Dating back to the 1880s, the Central School relocated its campus to Hollywood Road from Gough Street. It was the first government school providing Western education to Chinese students at the primary and secondary levels in Hong Kong. In 1894, the school was renamed Queen’s College — the name it keeps today, albeit in a new location in Causeway Bay.

The school nurtured many leaders and talents. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, was one of them. He studied there from 1884 to 1886.

During World War Two, the building was damaged during the Japanese occupation. It was rebuilt as the first Police Married Quarters in 1951. The building consisted of 140 single room units and 28 double room units.

At the turn of the new millennium, the Quarters was abandoned. But in 2009 it was included in “Conserving Central”, a project proposed by the Development Bureau to preserve historical architecture in Central with the concept of “Progressive Development.”

Visiting PMQ, people of all ages can discover new skills at events and workshops, feast their eyes at galleries and exhibitions with a wild range of themes, and electrify their taste buds at cafes and restaurants.

(With inputs from pmq.org.hk)