Christmas exchange gifts are difficult for one reason: nobody wants another mug. An old Hong Kong map solves it, because it carries a year, real place names and a story you can tell before it is unwrapped.
Below, the gifts are sorted by who receives them, with a photograph of each; the last two sections cover sizes and when to order.
1. For friends who have moved abroad
A farewell present should not end when the party does. A map hangs in the new flat and gets looked at every day. The 1888 sheet runs from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan in one long strip, made for a corridor or a stair wall, with the piers, godowns and streets of the north shore set out and place names in the romanised spelling of the day.
1888 Hong Kong Island canvas map, Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan 1888 canvas map of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon
1888 Hong Kong Island, one long strip from the west end to the east.
Island and Kowloon on one sheet, for a living room or a study.
If the parcel has to fly, weight matters: a desk mat, a canvas tote or a keychain costs far less to post than a framed print, and still carries the same map on it.
2. For foreign colleagues and clients
Foreign colleagues may not read Chinese, which is exactly why English place names work in your favour. The 1909 map of the whole territory was printed by the British War Office, and the margin carries the line "Additions, Dec.1909. War Office. Aug.1905."; that gives you something better to say than "this is a map of Hong Kong". For a corporate gift, the carved wooden map is 32 x 32 cm and about 5 cm thick: solid wood cut in layers, ridgelines and shoreline in real relief.
1909 map of the whole of Hong Kong on canvas, printed by the British War Office 3D carved wooden map of Hong Kong with a black metal frame
The 1909 sheet: island, Kowloon and the New Territories on one page.
Carved wood, 32 x 32 cm: relief you can feel under your fingers.
3. For parents and grandparents
They will read a map street by street, looking for the old home, the shop, the way to school. The 1889 plan of Victoria City prints the piers, streets and lot boundaries of Central, Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun, with the race course at Wong Nai Chung Valley on the sheet; Hongkong Electric had not yet begun supplying power, which started in 1890. A desk mat is the practical alternative: used daily.
1889 Victoria City canvas map, Central and Sheung Wan 1900 Hong Kong map desk mat with a natural rubber base
Victoria City 1889: Central, Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun.
The 1900 desk mat: a Hong Kong map in daily use.
4. For children
The first question a child asks is what Hong Kong used to look like. A dated map answers it better than a paragraph: find your own district, count the villages, ask why a place is called that. The chart from the 1819 Xin'an County Gazetteer marks coastal forts, garrison posts and villages one by one; Hong Kong Island and Kowloon belonged to the county then.
1819 Xin'an County coastal defence chart on canvas A4 document folders made from old Hong Kong maps
The 1819 chart: forts, garrison posts and villages marked one by one.
A4 folders in five map designs, for students and tidy desks.
5. Small extras and the tote bag
Buy any product and you can also take one limited gift while stock lasts. The canvas tote is the practical option: the 1866 map of Xin'an County, place names in Chinese and English, and room for an A4 folder or a 13-inch laptop.
The limited gift included with any order while stock lasts Canvas tote and shoulder bag printed with the 1866 map of Xin'an County
Tote bag: the 1866 Xin'an County map, Chinese and English names.
6. Sizes and frames
Canvas prints come in A4 (21 x 30 cm), 30 x 40, 50 x 70 and 60 x 90 cm; the long formats run about 12.5 x 50 cm, 16 x 50 cm and 25 x 100 cm. Above a sofa, behind a desk and along a stair wall take different proportions: narrow walls suit the long strips, and 50 x 70 cm is the safe choice for most walls.
Frames are optional and sold separately. One thing worth knowing: these are restored reprints, so the printed size differs from the original sheet and the scale on the map describes the original only.
7. How to check the year on a map
Before you buy, you can date a sheet yourself: the year is printed under the map title, and the title sits in one corner of the sheet. On the 1889 plan of Victoria City the title reads PLAN OF THE CITY OF VICTORIA HONG KONG. 1889, so the year appears twice on the same line. Where a map carries no printed date, follow the shoreline instead: see how far the waterfront at Central reaches and compare it with later reclamation.
8. When to order for Christmas
Allow 3 to 14 days for us to prepare, pack and hand the parcel to the postal service. For friends overseas, check the destination and the timing first on Hongkong Post international mail (checked 9 October 2026), then order one or two weeks early; transit times differ by destination, and December is the busiest month of the year for post.
Sources
The public sources consulted for this piece, together with our own reading of the maps in the shop, are listed here. Copyright in the sources rests with their authors and institutions; the map images shown are digitally restored versions of the shop's own holdings, not the original scans.
- Hong Kong Tourism Board: authentic Hong Kong souvenirs (checked 9 October 2026)
- Hongkong Post: international mail (checked 9 October 2026)
For the background to individual sheets, see the other articles in this journal; the year, title and scale of each map have been checked item by item.