appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kylie Knott

Brush in hand, eyes focused, Hongkonger Anita Tso is in the zone as she carefully paints a fish on a delicate porcelain bowl. It is a design she has drawn countless times.
“I have been painting porcelain for more than 40 years – it is my life,” she says.
The craft is in her blood. Tso’s family runs Yuet Tung China Works in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay district. It was the first porcelain factory in Hong Kong, and it is the only one that remains in the city.
Established in 1928 by her grandfather Tsao Lui-chung, Yuet Tung China Works – previously known as Kam Wah Loong – specialises in guangcai, a Qing-dynasty-era technique originating from Guangzhou, a sprawling port city in southern China’s Guangdong province.
Located on the third floor of the Kowloon Industrial Centre in Kowloon Bay, the factory’s sprawling showroom – which encompasses four shops – features floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with plates, bowls, tea sets and vases, many of which are adorned with traditional motifs such as flowers, dragons, phoenixes and carp.

Weaving through the narrow passageways is akin to exploring a giant treasure trove. But it is a tight squeeze, so tread carefully – Yuet Tung China Works has a “you break, you buy” policy.
Artisans paint away in quiet alcoves, applying brushstrokes acquired from years of practice. In a way, Yuet Tung China Works is a living museum of a fading art.
And there is more than just what is on show in Kowloon Bay.
“We have warehouses around the city that contain millions of pieces,” Tso says.
Passed down through four generations, Yuet Tung China Works has played a significant role in the development and preservation of traditional Chinese porcelain painting for almost 100 years.
Yuet Tung’s prized porcelain has graced the tables of royal families in France and Britain. In Hong Kong, it is the porcelain of choice for luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La and The Peninsula.

Pieces have also found their way to the residences of former Hong Kong governors, such as Chris Patten and Murray MacLehose. In fact, MacLehose’s wife was so taken with the company’s craftsmanship that she commissioned a set of family tableware in 1975. Its pattern, a blue flower that was based on a design on a plate owned by the MacLehose family, became known as the “Governor Crest” and remains popular to this day.
Another popular design, Tso says, is “Canton Rose”, a classic combination of petals, buds and green leaves.
“Thousand Flowers” is another traditional pattern, but the company stopped hand-painting the design decades ago due to labour shortages and high production costs. In 2020, the design was reintroduced thanks to the use of a transfer printing technique for mass production. The final touch, a glossy gold finish, is added by hand.
Porcelain is integral to Hong Kong’s cultural history, the trade booming after the 1960s when craftsmen fled to the city in response to political unrest in mainland China.
Painted porcelain factories could be found across Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, including three Yuet Tung China Works.
The company reached its peak in the 1960s and ’70s, when about 100 painters were employed, with most demand for the painted porcelain coming from Europe, the US and the Middle East.

Business declined in the 1980s amid growing competition from mainland China. A drop in the number of skilled artisans and a lack of successors, coupled with fewer young people willing to dedicate themselves to mastering the complex craft, added to the challenges.
The hand-painting process was also costly and time-consuming.
While the art faces an uphill battle, with its fate closely tied to the survival of places like Yuet Tung, dedicated individuals and community efforts are working to preserve its legacy for future generations, even though its large-scale commercial presence is largely gone.
It is much needed. Part of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage, guangcai is only hanging on by a thread thanks to exhibitions, workshops and collaborations with brands.
Earlier this year, the M+ museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District hosted a talk on guangcai, while Crafts on Peel, a charitable organisation and creative hub in Central dedicated to preserving, reviving and reimagining traditional craftsmanship, also hosts workshops and exhibitions focusing on guangcai.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s recent “Muse Fest HK 2025” also celebrated the craft with workshops.
Guangcai emerged in the late Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty and has since developed over a history spanning more than 300 years.
The art of guangcai involves the painting of intricate patterns and the use of rich colours, especially a wide range of pinks, greens, yellows and reds, on shaped and fired white porcelain “blanks” sourced from China’s porcelain capital, Jingdezhen, a city in eastern Jiangxi province. The pieces are then fired at a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 degrees Fahrenheit) to seal the overglaze decorations.
Master painters first outline the designs in black and then carefully fill in the colours. The technique is also known for its liberal use of gilt or gold trim.

Guangcai was traditionally made for export to Western markets, hence its name as “export porcelain”. It blends Chinese and Western cultural elements and painting styles.
It is common for artisans to incorporate Western-requested motifs, such as family crests or specific landscapes, alongside traditional Chinese auspicious imagery, including butterflies, birds and flowers.
The composition is a difficult skill to master. In the past, masters could accurately outline intricate patterns with bare hands without requiring any modification.
Yuet Tung China Works, Unit 1-3, 3/F, Kowloon Bay Industrial Centre, 15 Wang Hoi Road, Kowloon Bay. Tel: 2796 1125


How Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan is a symbol of China’s fashion soft power

Traditional wind instruments from both East and West blow up a storm in Hong Kong concert

From moongazing to bus tours: how to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong

History of mooncake moulds and their designs, and those preserving the craft

Chinese culture

How Hong Kong’s last remaining porcelain factory is keeping city’s guangcai heritage alive

Yuet Tung China Works, a porcelain factory  in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay neighbourhood, has four showrooms, the shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with plates, bowls tea sets and vases, many bursting with traditional motifs such as flowers, dragons, phoenixes and carp. NOV 12, 2025. Photo: Kylie Knott


Various porcelain pieces are seen at Yuet Tung China Works, a porcelain factory in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay neighbourhood that has shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with plates, bowls tea sets and vases, many bursting with traditional motifs such as flowers, dragons, phoenixes and carp. Photo: Kylie Knott


Anita Tso stands among porcelain pieces at Yuet Tung China Works, a porcelain factory in Hong Kong. Photo: Kylie Knott

An artisan paints porcelain at Yuet Tung China Works surrounded by colourful pieces. Photo: Kylie Knott

Yuet Tung China Works’ porcelain is used by luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La and The Peninsula. Photo: Kylie Knott

An artisan works away at Yuet Tung China Works. Photo: Kylie Knott 

Yuet Tung China Works’ porcelain is seen at The Peninsula in Hong Kong. Photo: Yuet Tung China Works

Peking duck is a centuries-old favourite – how do Hong Kong’s top chefs make theirs?

The signature Peking duck at Hong Kong’s Hutong restaurant is flamed and carved at the table. Photo: Hutong

Chef Wu Yubo roasts ducks at Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

Peking duck at Mott 32 in Central. Photo: Mott 32

Peking duck at Lung King Heen in Central. Photo: Lung King Heen

 Peking duck at Lai Ching Heen in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Lai Ching Heen

Peking duck at Duddell’s in Central, Hong Kong. Photo: Duddell’s

Peking duck at Xin Rong Ji in Wan Chai. Photo: Xin Rong Ji

Peking duck at Man Wah in the Mandarin Oriental, Central. Photo: SCMP

Peking duck at Sha Tin 18 in Sha Tin. Photo: Hyatt Regency Sha Tin

How sugar blowing, a Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage, is being kept alive

Hongkonger Anne Sit demonstrates sugar blowing, an art form that is considered an intangible cultural heritage in Hong Kong. Photo: Ann Sit

Hongkonger Anne Sit holds a shrimp she sculpted out of sugar in less than two minutes. Photo: Kylie Knott

Hongkonger Anne Sit says speed is a crucial factor in the art of sugar sculpting and blowing. Photo: Kylie Knott 

Sit prepares hot, sticky sugar during her workshop. Photo: Kylie Knott 

Sit demonstrates sugar blowing. Photo: Anne Sit

Sit demonstrates sugar blowing. In 2014, the blown sugar technique was recognised as part of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage. Photo: Anne Sit

On the Hong Kong Island of Cheung Chau, artist Louis To Wun makes intricate sugar figurines. Photo: Kylie Knott

One of To’s figurines, shaped as a dragon. Photo: Kylie Knott

A rooster figure made from sugar at a park in Beijing, China. Photo: Reuters

American-Chinese family’s classic Canton porcelain finds new home in the Smithsonian

A porcelain serving dish from Yuet Tung China Works in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Grace Young (fourth from left) and her family sit around the table in 1972 for Lunar New Year dinner in San Francisco. The porcelain being used was hand-painted in the Shanghai factory of Hong Kong firm Yuet Tung China Works and has been donated to the Smithsonian. Photo: Grace Young

In 1999, the family porcelain was featured in Young’s cookbook, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. Photo: Simon and Schuster

Cookbook author Young visits China Town in New York. Photo: Christian Rodriguez

Young’s family sit around the table for Lunar New Year dinner in San Francisco, using porcelain hand-painted by Yuet Tung China Works. Photo: Grace Young

Porcelain pieces from Yuet Tung China Works in Kowloon Bay, the last producer in Hong Kong of hand-painted porcelain. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Young. Photo: Jonathan Wong

(From left) Former porcelain factory owner Tso Wing-shui, his granddaughter Martina Tso, great-granddaughter Marie Lee and current owner Joseph Tso, at Yuet Tung China Works in Kowloon Bay. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Young in Canal Street, New York. Photo: Christian Rodriguez

How China’s Song dynasty was a great time for the nation but a terrible one for many women

Grand Marshal Zhao Kuangyin is proclaimed Emperor of the Song Dynasty on the battlefield after the Chenqiao mutiny in 960 in an illustration from Hutchinson’s History of the Nations, published in 1915. The coup saw Zhao become leader of one of China’s most prosperous dynasties. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A portrait of Taizu, the first emperor of the Song dynasty. Photo: Historical Painting

Early Spring, a hanging scroll painting by Guo Xi in 1072, is an example of shanshui landscape painting. Photo: De Agostini via Getty Images

Su Shi, often referred to as Su Dongpo, was a talented writer who wrote more than 340 ci poems. Photo: Getty Images

Longquan celadon is a type of Chinese ceramic sometimes called greenware. Photo: Shutterstock

A reproduction of Song dynasty paper money. Illustration: SCMP

Zhou Guizhen, 86, shows one of her bound feet, where the bones in the four small toes were broken and forced underneath the foot over a period of time, at her home in Liuyi village, in China’s Yunnan province, in 2007. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle

Set up in 1928, Yuet Tung China Works produces guangcai porcelain used by luxury hotels in Hong Kong and royal families in Europe


Set up in 1928, Yuet Tung China Works produces guangcai porcelain used by luxury hotels in Hong Kong and royal families in Europe.


How Hong Kong’s last remaining porcelain factory is keeping city’s guangcai heritage alive

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Set up in 1928, Yuet Tung China Works produces guangcai porcelain used by luxury hotels in Hong Kong and royal families in Europe

Set up in 1928, Yuet Tung China Works produces guangcai porcelain used by luxury hotels in Hong Kong and royal families in Europe