3 Lai Yuen (Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park)
Once in Lai Chi Kok, there was a castle, the entrance and symbol of a local amusement park long before Hong Kong Disneyland came into being. The blazing neon sign of Lai Yuen represented a generation’s collective memory of the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park, now synonymous with the golden days of old Hong Kong entertainment.
Opening mere months before Luna Park, the two competed for the title of the largest Hong Kong amusement park in the first few years. Lai Yuen started business with the typical stall games, but soon had a rollercoaster, teacup rides, bumping cars, a zoo, and an air-conditioned theatre in its arsenal.
In time, Lai Yuen did not just earn many Hong Kong firsts in terms of hardware. The first ice rink, first artificial snow facility, and first ancient Chinese-themed park matched Lai Yuen’s performing stages, on which many local stars—Cantopop diva Anita Mui and action star Jackie Chan included—made their debuts.
Following Ocean Park’s grand opening in 1977, Lai Yuen went into an irreversible decline that resulted in its permanent closure in 1997. The end of Lai Yuen was also the end of an era that saw amusement parks open up all over the city instead of just on Hong Kong Island, with the Kai Tak Amusement Park in Kowloon East, the Happy Dragon Recreation Park, and Tsuen Wan Amusement Park in the New Territories, and many more.