Tung Po reportedly shuts down due to rental issues

Tung Po, a Chinese restaurant situated in a North Point wet market, will reportedly shut its doors on Friday, as authorities ended its contract due to rental issues. According to the MingPao, a letter from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) revealed that, the authorities accused Tung Po of violating the terms of the lease and issued a "notice of proposed termination of the lease" to the restaurant on 3 August.

Tung Po then submitted a written explanation but to no avail. The department then decided to terminate the lease on 2 September 2022.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, the FEHD found that the four tenants of the four stalls in Tung Po were not operating the stalls as sole proprietors, hence the department issued a "notice of proposed termination of the lease" on 3 August, and the tenant subsequently made an explanation.

The department continued that there was still sufficient evidence to show that the lessee had violated the terms of the lease agreement, so it issued a "notice of termination of tenancy agreement" to each of the lessees on 26 August, terminating the lease agreement and taking back the relevant market stalls. The department added that if the tenant is dissatisfied with the decision, they may appeal in writing to the Municipal Services Appeals Board within 30 days of the issue date of the notice. 

The incident has drawn a total of 854 mentions over the past few days, with 38% negative sentiments, according to social listening firm Meltwater. It also saw the most engaged post on Facebook was generated by MingPao, with netizens saying that it’s a pity that the 30-year-old restaurant is gone for good, while some describing the authorities as “inhumane”.

This comes after the historic Chinese tea houses Lin Heung Lau (蓮香樓) and 蓮香棧 shut down due to rapid fall in sales under the pandemic. According to a statement on Lin Heung Group’s Facebook on 8 August, both 蓮香樓 and 蓮香棧 have confirmed to cease operation as of 8 August 2022, however Lin Heung Kui (蓮香居) in Sheung Wan will continue serving traditional dim sum. The statement concluded by thanking their supporters and consumers for visiting over the years.

Meanwhile, 蓮香樓 and 蓮香棧 also posted a statement on Facebook, explaining that the tea houses were defeated by lost revenues during the pandemic. The tea houses said they regret to announce their closure and wish other tea houses can survive under the adverse economic environment.

(Photo courtesy: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

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