HK$1.2 Million for a Goose Statue in a remote town!

**Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.**
**I have personally completed 2,300+ Private Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.**

**A blog post with a difference**
**Please do visit Hong Kong in 2025 | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong.**
**Hong Kong | Pearl of the Orient**

Learn more | Go here for the Hong Kong Michelin Restaurant Guide which includes the Bib Gourmand Category

Learn more | Time Out Magazine Hong Kong - the best art and entertainment, food and drink, attractions, hotels + things to do

Tours, Experiences and Activities in Hong Kong

Private Tours Cultural Tours Walking Tours Sightseeing Tours City Tours Night Tours Transit Tours Shore Excursions

Book Now

| Cultural Tourism At It’s Very Best |

J3 Premium Private Hong Kong Tours and Experiences

Jamie, Your Passionate Hong Kong Expert & Storyteller

Discover Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient

Learn about the unbiased, real Hong Kong | forget what you read in the press!

Learn more | The day I did a private tour of Hong Kong with a famous princess

The Iconic US$153,845 Goose Statue - Sham Tseng HK

HK$1.2 Million for a Goose Statue in a remote town!

The Goose Statue, HK$1,200,000 / US$153,845 / Sham Tseng Hong Kong

We have lived in Sham Tseng for over 15 years and I get to pass this monstrosity twice a day, trust me, it does not look better with repeated viewing although when lit up at night it manages to look like something from a creepy horror movie by M Night Shyalaman!

Looks more like a duck to many people - I am amazed that the local Tsuen Wan District Council flush with funds from the Government paid this amount of money, essentially to promote one famous Goose Restaurant and it has been mocked mercilessly by the public at large and who can blame them.

The total cost with lighting came to US$153,845 or HK$1,200,000

Below is part of the text from an article in the South China Morning Post regarding the Goose Statue in 2013

“Then there is the HK$1.2 million goose statue in Sham Tseng, which drew much criticism last month. The work, which is said to look more like a duck, is supposed to celebrate the local roast goose dish. The winning design was chosen from competition entries judged by councillors and government officials.”

.. and for me the problem was simple, the design was picked from designs submitted by the general public rather than commissioning a proper artist…..

The Iconic Garden Bakery, Sham Tseng, Hong Kong

I am reasonably objective when it comes to the Government and their decision making concepts, promote Sham Tseng, promote “rural” tourism, personally I think they should have paid homage to the Garden Bakery, an iconic Hong Kong Business since 1926 and I have been stuffing my face with their products for 53 years now.

Another company they could have promoted was the famous and super iconic San Miguel brewery, it was basically 100 yards away from the Garden Bakery and fronted onto the sea.. amazing place.

The Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant, Sham Tseng, Hong Kong

So this is the restaurant that is responsible for the Goose Statue, the iconic Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant which has been around since 1958 and it is in quite an interesting location, next to one of the last remaining squatter villages in Hong Kong and sometimes the river | nullah overflows at high tide (the sea is very close by).

I should point out that there are quite a few other Goose Restaurants in the vicinity of the Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant, in fact there is one basically next door (about a 20 yard walk) which benefits when the Yu Kee Restaurant is full!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are very busy at the Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant, it has it’s own car park which overflows with fancy cars, I guess good Goose is good Goose!

I have eaten in the restaurant twice, I am sure the goose is amazing if you are a foodie, I am NOT a foodie in any shape or form and I simply do not like Goose, way to fatty for me but the people who were with me thought it was really something, so I guess the Goose Statue was worth it after all!

The famous Bellagio Apartments which have been around for over 20 years on the site of the old San Miguel Brewery, shoe box living at prices that would make you gasp, a 900sqft apartment sells for roughly US$1.5 Million! Each block is over 60 floors, so if you are facing the sea you have magnificent views and our little town has plenty of supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants including McDonalds, not to mention outstanding transport links.

Amazingly over a decade ago I was hired by a wonderful American couple who had recently arrived to work in Hong Kong and wanted suggestions on where to live…. based on their requirements and the fact that the husband was going to work at Hong Kong International Airport, I suggested Bellagio as a place to live and they agreed! and moved in a couple of weeks later! We have great transport options to the Airport.

… and yes, we have a small but very nice beach in Sham Tseng

This is the very discreet and almost invisible squatter village 50 yards away from the Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant, there are not many of these villages left in Hong Kong, many of them sprung up in the 1960’s when mass migration from China to Hong Kong was an issue and their proliferation prompted the Hong Kong Government to embark on it’s Public Housing Project which has been remarkably successful, fully 45% of Hong Kong’s population lives in Public Housing today.

Within this squatter village is one Public Housing Residential Block and a couple of makeshift temples!

Over the years I have taken quite a few of my guests to Sham Tseng, it is easy to get to with amazing transport links and gives people an insight into how normal folk live, far removed from the glamour of living atop Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island.

Personally I am always amazed that our little town is | was home to 2 giants of Hong Kong Industry, The Garden Bakery and the San Miguel Brewery and to this day every one in Hong Kong is familiar with Sham Tseng and the famous Yue Kee Roast Goose restaurant

Learn more | Go here for my Sham Tseng images I have taken