"I want to hang an old Hong Kong map at home, but I don't know where to buy one or which sheet to choose." That is one of the questions we get most often. This guide takes it item by item: year, size, material, gifts and shipping.
Three decisions before you buy
First, purpose: wall decoration, desk items, or a small gift. Second, year: the early colonial decades, the late nineteenth century, or the early twentieth. Third, size: which wall, and how far away you will be standing. Settle those three and choosing the sheet becomes quick.
Choosing a year: what each sheet records
Our earliest sheet is the 1595 Guangdong coastal chart from the Yue Da Ji, in which Hong Kong appears in a coastal-defence setting; the 1819 Hong Kong coastal map from the Xin'an County gazetteer marks harbours, garrisons and islands. Then come the early colonial Hong Kong Island sheets (1841, 1843, 1845), whose shoreline sits a long way from today's. The 1860, 1866 and 1874 sheets of the Xin'an County area record the New Territories before the lease. The 1888, 1889 and 1890 sheets fall in the years of the Peak Tram and the Praya reclamation; by 1900, 1909 and 1919 the street grid and the railway are fully drawn; 1924 and 1935 cover Kowloon and the New Territories between the wars.
If you want to see how one district changed — Sai Kung, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po or Tiu Keng Leng — start with our then-and-now articles, which list the place names visible on the sheets, and pick your year from there.
Size and frame: what fits the wall
Canvas maps come in six sizes: A4 (21 × 30 cm), 30 × 40 cm, 40 × 60 cm, 50 × 70 cm, 60 × 90 cm and 80 × 120 cm. The long-format sheets (1866, 1888, 1889 and 1595, for example) also come in 25 × 50 cm and 50 × 100 cm, among other proportions. Frames can be added in natural wood, black or white.
In practice: A4 and 30 × 40 cm are enough above a desk or along a corridor; 50 × 70 cm and up suit a main living-room wall; long-format sheets work on narrow walls and stairwells. Leave 10 to 15 cm of margin when you measure the wall, and the whole thing sits more easily.
Material: a digitally restored canvas print
To be plain about it: what we sell is a digitally restored version of a historic map (cleaned, losses filled, recoloured) printed on canvas — not an original antique map and not a raw scan. The historical dates and place names quoted here come from public official sources, and the printed product is a different size from the original sheet.
Desk items and small gifts
Beyond wall prints: mouse pads (old maps and drain-cover designs), canvas tote bags, A4 folders, Kai Tak luggage tags, the Yuen Long student-ticket keychain, and a 3D wood carving of Hong Kong with a metal frame. Every order can include one limited-edition keepsake gift.
Shipping and preparation
We ship within Hong Kong and overseas, with preparation and packing taking about 3 to 14 days. If you need to change an address or add a frame, tell us before dispatch.
Frequently asked
- Is it a genuine antique map? No. It is a digitally restored print on canvas, not the original.
- Can I frame it myself? Yes; you can also add a natural, black or white wooden frame at checkout.
- Where should a first-time buyer start? Most people begin with a territory-wide sheet (1900 or 1935, say), because the whole of Hong Kong is visible at once, then add the district they lived in.
- Do you ship overseas? Yes — Hong Kong and overseas, with preparation and packing taking about 3 to 14 days.
- How do I pick a size? Measure the wall width first and leave 10 to 15 cm of margin; for viewing from three metres or more, 50 × 70 cm and up is the safer choice.
Related products
- Vintage Hong Kong canvas map collection
- 1900 Hong Kong Island & Kowloon canvas map
- 1935 territory-wide vintage canvas map
- 1909 territory-wide canvas map
- Vintage Hong Kong mouse pad collection
- Home décor: tote bags, luggage tags, wood carving
References
This guide draws on the public sources below, with our own reading of the maps (place names, dates and coastline). Copyright in the cited material belongs to its authors and institutions; product images are digitally restored versions of our own copies, not raw scans.
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