Vertical Gardens Growing Next to Shop Houses in Chinatown

Chinatown is no longer just a street with low shop houses from the past. A large mixed-use residential building stands next to Yue Hwa, which transformed an old hotel into a department store, and The Majestic, which still shows traces of its theater past. Northward, the curved green terrace of PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering rises. As you walk south, the heights of the city change dramatically with restored public buildings, connected public housing, and a hotel with a red vertical garden.

This list is a walk that compares the reuse of buildings and their scale from public walkways, rather than an internal tour. Hotel room floors, residential floors, and business facilities are not open for casual viewing, and there is a separate entry procedure for the observation deck. To capture the entire building, avoid entering private property or driving areas, and plan sufficient time for north-south travel considering sunlight and rain.

Yue Hwa and The Majestic showcase new uses for old buildings, while People’s Park Complex illustrates the era of large-scale developments that combine commerce and residence. The two Maxwell Chambers buildings exemplify public architecture restored for business use and PARKROYAL Pickering elevates greenery into high-rise construction. Connecting to Pinnacle@Duxton and Oasia Hotel Downtown compares how public housing and hotels each handle the verticality of the city.

The architecture walk is fundamentally about reading forms and their relationships with the surroundings from the street rather than entering interiors. Check the capacity limits and payment methods for the public observation deck, and do not enter exclusive areas of hotels, legal facilities, or residential buildings. It’s better to split your walk into north and south segments rather than rushing through all points, especially considering strong backlight in the afternoon and waiting at the intersections.