The Republican-era Guangzhou and Hong Kong street set covers a different slice of Chinese history — the early twentieth century, when colonial-period architecture, tram lines, and Western-style shophouses coexisted with traditional Chinese commerce. The set recreates the layered urban texture of 1920s and 1930s Guangzhou and Hong Kong: colonnaded pavements, signboards in both Chinese characters and English, Chinese department stores with European facades, and the narrow alleys behind them.
This set is heavily used for productions covering the Republican era, warlord period, and the Japanese occupation — a popular genre in Chinese drama. The level of detail is high, and wandering through the back alleys while a production company sets up its cable lights and sound equipment gives a genuine sense of how period atmosphere is constructed for the screen. The prop food carts, fictional shop facades, and period vehicles scattered around the set make it worth exploring slowly.