its most iconic aspects: the neon lights.

霓虹光管。

Here in Hong Kong, neon lights makeup a quintessential part of the visual

霓虹燈可以說是香港街景，

culture and the aesthetic of the streets here.

香港文化，那種景觀之精髓。

During the Golden Age of neon the

香港霓虹燈的黃金時代

diffused glow of this cityscape was enshrined in film, helping to form the

那獨特溫和的光，已於無數的電影中登場；

unique Hong Kong cinematic style: dark, dense, chaotic, futuristic, and illuminated

香港電影獨特之陰沉、密集、忙亂、有未來風、以燈光為主的視覺風格

by this soft glow of neon. This style spread beyond Hong Kong, informing the

是霓虹燈所衍生出來的。這種風格亦啓發了海外的影視，

aesthetics of Japanese comics and anime like Ghost in the Shell, and popular

最為明顯的包括日本的漫畫與動漫（如《攻殼機動隊》）

American blockbusters like Blade Runner.

和美國的一些大電影（如《2020》／《銀翼殺手》）。

But even though neon is woven into the cultural fabric of this place these

雖然霓虹燈與香港本地文化是血肉相連，但隨着時日過去，

lights are quickly fading.

這些燈亦正在迅速地消失。

So what are neon lights? And what place do they have in Hong Kong's urban

但到底甚麼是霓虹燈？它們又怎樣成為香港

culture today? Let's go visit probably the perfect person answer that question,

市區文化的一部份？我去訪問了可能是全港最有資格去答這問題的人，

the legendary Master Wu who is a neon craftsman here in Hong Kong.

他是香港負責人手製作霓虹燈的胡智楷師傅。

Johnny. Nice to meet you. Thank you for letting us come by.

——我是Johnny。 ——你好。 ——你好，謝謝你接受我們的採訪。

Once a client sends him a design to work off of,

客人把設計遞給胡師傅後，

Master Wu starts by heating up a glass tube so that it's

他就由玻璃管開始。首先要加熱，

malleable and then he starts bending it to form his design. Once he has the shape

然後他循設計圖案把玻璃管弄彎。

that he wants, he needs to put gas, neon gas, into this glass tube.

成形後，胡師傅要把各種氣體放進玻璃管內。

So he vacuums out all the air and uses a series of knobs

「首先我將部份的氣體吸出來。」

and machines to pump in a mixture of gas, mostly neon or

玻璃管要抽空，成眞空管，之後用

argon. He seals on an electric unit that will feed electrical current into this

機器及各樣控制鈕泵入氣體，大多為氖氣(Ne)

tube. Once he plugs this into an electricity source, the gas in the tube

或氬氣(Ar)。其後再把一個引進電流的儀器

responds and begins to glow different colors depending on what gases he's used.

封入管內；通電後，管內的氣體會

The Golden Age for neon started around the 1970s.

產生反應，視乎所泵入的氣體而發出不同顏色的光。

This meant that neon lights were everywhere.

「白色的光管就是氬氣；

People were competing for the

紅色的眼鏡就是氖氣，給你看看。」

best neon lights, the best signs, and the designs got really big and really

「霓虹光管最興盛的時候，是會有很多顏色的配調給我們〔選擇〕的。」

sophisticated really fast.

霓虹燈的「黃金時代」約由1970年代開始，

And then things started to change for the worse for neon.

街上隨處也可以看到。

These signs look like they're neon,

商戶爭着要

they're built in the aesthetic of neon, but they're actually LEDs.

全港最大、最好、最搶眼的招牌，結果光管就很快

See the difference? That's

變得愈大，愈複雜。

a neon. That is an LED.

但之後出現一樣東西，開始威脅霓虹燈的地位。

Way cheaper, way more efficient, way easier to install. And

「有幾個原因，第一就是LED〔發光二極管〕。」

while LED is easy to mass-produce, making neon signs it's more of a craft. It takes

這些招牌看似是霓虹光管，

significant time to master.

連觀感設計也是基於霓虹燈，但它們其實是LED燈。

But this is also a matter of city policy.

看到差別嗎？這是霓虹燈，

The Hong Kong government started raising safety

而這是LED。

concerns with these big neon signs, especially the ones that hung over the

比霓虹燈便宜很多，又節能，又容易安裝。

street. They created safety codes and started taking down signs that were in

要大量製造LED燈簡單不過；要製造霓虹光管則是一門手藝，

violation, which were quite a few. In recent years thousands of signs have

需要長久時間掌握學會。

been taken down, slowly changing the visual landscape of this city.

「要至少用半年的時間，才可以學懂開始整霓虹光管。」

Neon lights are slowly moving into the realm of cultural preservation.

「LED就不用怎麼學的，因為LED全也是裝嵌而已。」

The West Kowloon cultural district has started curating neon signs

這個轉變也涉及政府之政策。

and documenting the

香港政府開始注視

stories behind them.

霓虹燈帶來的安全隱憂，尤其是掛在街道上的

And as for Master Wu, even though neon lights are disappearing

大型招牌。近年政府通過新的安全條例，

he still feels optimistic.

拆卸了不少違例的霓虹光管，達數以千計，