The Peninsula Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hong Kong is a historic luxury hotel at 22 Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It opened on 11 December 1928 and was conceived as a grand hotel for travellers arriving by the adjacent Kowloon–Canton Railway terminus and the ocean liners using the nearby waterfront. Operated by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, it became known as the “Grande Dame of the Far East” and developed into one of Hong Kong’s most prominent social institutions. The hotel also witnessed one of the defining events of the city’s history when British governor Sir Mark Young formally surrendered Hong Kong to Japanese forces there on 25 December 1941. During the occupation it was renamed the Toa Hotel before returning to its original name after the Second World War. A major expansion completed in 1994 added a 30-storey tower behind the original building, including twin rooftop helipads, while retaining the historic façade. The Peninsula is also famous for its fleet of chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces, a tradition that began in 1970 and has made its distinctive green cars almost as recognisable as the hotel itself.

The Peninsula Hong Kong has appeared in Soldier of Fortune (1955), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Dynasty (1981–1989), Everlasting Love (1984), Bloodsport (1988), The Greatest Lover (1988), Noble House (1988), The Dark Knight (2008), Anita (2021), The Goldfinger (2023) and Cold War 1994 (2026). Productions have used the historic façade, entrance, driveway, lobby, restaurants, suites and rooftop helipads, while the hotel’s famous green Rolls-Royces have also featured prominently on screen. In several productions The Peninsula plays itself, making its changing appearance over more than seventy years of filmmaking particularly easy to trace.

In Soldier of Fortune (1955), The Peninsula Hong Kong plays itself and becomes one of the principal locations in the film. American Jane Hoyt travels to Hong Kong searching for her missing husband Louis, a photographer who has illegally entered Communist China and is believed to have been detained. American consular official Frank Stewart arranges a room for Jane at The Peninsula, and much of her early time in Hong Kong revolves around the hotel. Marine police inspector Merryweather meets her on the front steps, while the lobby provides a recurring social space populated by expatriates and other characters. The courtyard returns near the end of the film when Jane and her rescued husband prepare to leave Hong Kong aboard a Pan American Airways bus bound for Kai Tak Airport. Clark Gable, who plays shipping magnate Hank Lee, filmed on location at the hotel, while Susan Hayward was unable to travel to Hong Kong and some closer material involving her was recreated in Hollywood using rear projection. The film consequently preserves unusually extensive views of The Peninsula and its surroundings as they appeared in the mid-1950s.

In The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Peninsula Hong Kong plays itself during James Bond’s pursuit of Andrea Anders. After following Andrea from Macau to Hong Kong, Bond sees her collected by a dark green Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Mary Goodnight recognises the vehicle as belonging to The Peninsula’s famous fleet, allowing Bond to trace Andrea to the hotel. The Rolls-Royce is shown arriving at the driveway and Bond follows her through the entrance before discovering that she is staying in room 602. He later confronts Andrea in her room and forces her to reveal information about Francisco Scaramanga. Only the driveway and entrance material was actually filmed at The Peninsula; Andrea’s room and the adjoining corridors were recreated at the studio. The sequence nevertheless made unusually effective use of a genuine Peninsula tradition, since the green Rolls-Royces seen in the film really did belong to the hotel.

In Dynasty (1981–1989), The Peninsula Hong Kong represents the hotel used by the Carringtons and their associates during several storylines set in Hong Kong. It first becomes particularly prominent during the fourth season, when Blake Carrington travels to Hong Kong while negotiating valuable South China Sea oil leases with Rashid Ahmed. Alexis Colby, Dex Dexter and Tracy Kendall become entangled in the same negotiations, and The Peninsula repeatedly appears as the characters move between meetings, hotel suites and business discussions. The production returned to the Hong Kong setting in later seasons, with Blake, Krystle, Alexis and Ben Carrington again associated with the hotel. Exterior and establishing footage was filmed at the real Peninsula, while much of the dramatic suite material was produced separately. The series is therefore also a useful record of the hotel before the 30-storey tower was added in 1994.

In Everlasting Love (1984), originally released as Ting bat liu dik oi, The Peninsula Hong Kong provides the setting for the chance encounter that brings Pauline Leung and Eric together. Pauline is a young nightclub hostess supporting her family, while Eric is a medical intern unaware of the life she leads at night. The two encounter each other around The Peninsula while helping a foreign tourist with a photograph, and the unexpected meeting begins the relationship at the centre of the film. The hotel lobby and entrance form part of the sequence, placing their first encounter in one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious surroundings and providing a deliberate contrast with Pauline’s far more difficult private circumstances.

In Bloodsport (1988), The Peninsula Hong Kong appears during Frank Dux’s attempt to evade U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command agents Helmer and Rawlins. Dux has travelled to Hong Kong without authorisation to compete in the secret Kumite tournament, prompting the military to send the two agents to retrieve him. When they catch sight of Dux, he bolts and a chase begins through Tsim Sha Tsui. The sequence passes directly in front of The Peninsula on Salisbury Road, where Dux runs across the busy street and vaults over the central traffic barrier before continuing his escape. The production does not use the hotel as Dux’s accommodation – the fictional East Lake Hotel was filmed elsewhere – but the Peninsula façade and street frontage are clearly recognisable during the chase.

In The Greatest Lover (1988), originally released as Gong zi duo qing, The Peninsula Hong Kong is central to the misunderstanding that launches the story. Qian Jin, an illegal immigrant newly arrived in Hong Kong, intends to meet his friends at a modest establishment whose name he interprets as the “Peninsula”, but a taxi instead delivers him to the considerably grander Peninsula Hotel. Completely out of place in his surroundings, Qian wanders into a high-society gathering and becomes involved with wealthy businessman Big Mouth Sze. Sze sees potential in the uncultured newcomer and later hires image consultant Anita to transform him into a sophisticated gentleman capable of taking revenge on women who humiliated Sze. The hotel’s luxury therefore provides both the setting and the joke behind Qian’s accidental introduction to the wealthy world that will reshape his life.

In Noble House (1988), The Peninsula Hong Kong becomes the Victoria and Albert Hotel, where American businessman Linc Bartlett and executive Casey Tcholok stay after arriving in Hong Kong. Their visit places them at the centre of a struggle involving Ian Dunross, tai-pan of Struan & Company, rival trading interests, banks, organised crime and the uncertain political future of Hong Kong. The Peninsula appears repeatedly throughout the four-part miniseries, with its façade, driveway, entrance, lobby and green Rolls-Royces all incorporated into the story. At the beginning of the second part, Dunross arrives at the hotel to collect Casey and Linc before dinner, giving particularly clear views of the original entrance and lobby. Because filming took place six years before the 1994 expansion, Noble House (1988) also preserves the appearance of the old low-rise Peninsula immediately before its most substantial architectural transformation.

In The Dark Knight (2008), The Peninsula Hong Kong provides the rooftop helipad used for Lucius Fox’s arrival in Hong Kong. Bruce Wayne sends Fox to the city under the pretence of conducting business with Lau’s company, while his real purpose is to place technology inside Lau’s heavily secured office that will allow Bruce to locate him. A helicopter lands on one of The Peninsula’s twin helipads and Fox steps out to be greeted by company representatives before continuing to his meeting. The subsequent scenes with Lau were filmed primarily at The Center in Central, while Bruce Wayne’s Hong Kong rooftop material was filmed at Two International Finance Centre. The Peninsula therefore contributes specifically to Fox’s arrival rather than representing Lau’s headquarters. The helipads had been added only fourteen years earlier as part of the hotel’s 1994 tower expansion.

In Anita (2021), The Peninsula Hong Kong appears during the biographical story of Cantopop singer and actress Anita Mui. The production recreated Hong Kong across several decades of Mui’s life and was granted access to a number of important real locations despite the considerable changes the city had undergone since the 1980s and 1990s. At The Peninsula, Anita meets film executive Leonard Ho for a conversation as her career develops beyond music and into the Hong Kong film industry. The sequence uses the real hotel rather than a reconstructed interior, allowing one of the city’s most enduring symbols of celebrity and high society to appear naturally within a film about one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars.

In The Goldfinger (2023), The Peninsula Hong Kong provides several of the luxurious surroundings occupied by businessman Henry Ching, whose spectacular rise and collapse are loosely inspired by the real Carrian Group scandal. The production was given unusually extensive access to the hotel, filming in restaurants and other interior areas as well as the Presidential Suite. The most important Peninsula scene brings Ching, played by Tony Leung, face to face with anti-corruption investigator Lau Kai-yuen, played by Andy Lau, inside the Presidential Suite. Their confrontation places the two central adversaries together in surroundings that emphasise the enormous wealth and status Ching has accumulated. The film also uses other areas of the hotel during sequences illustrating the extravagant world surrounding his business empire. The Peninsula reportedly grants film crews access only rarely, making the use of its Presidential Suite particularly notable.

In Cold War 1994 (2026), The Peninsula Hong Kong was among the first locations used during principal photography of the prequel to Cold War (2012). Set three years before the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty, the film follows young police officers M.B. Lee and Peter Choi as the kidnapping of a powerful businessman develops into a struggle involving police factions, wealthy families, organised crime and the departing British colonial establishment. Filming at The Peninsula began in June 2024 with Daniel Wu, who plays Peter Choi, and production photographs show him working on an upper level of the hotel overlooking Victoria Harbour. The real Peninsula was particularly suitable for a story set in 1994, since the hotel was already one of Hong Kong’s best-known institutions at the time and its new tower was itself completed that year. The precise boundaries of the Peninsula material within the finished film are less clearly documented than its use in productions such as The Goldfinger (2023), but the hotel is confirmed as one of the production’s Hong Kong locations.

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