Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium

Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium Limited (Chinese: 裕華國產百貨有限公司), often abbreviated as Yue Hwa Chinese Products (裕華國貨), is a retail company in Hong Kong that specializes in Chinese products, with department stores in Hong Kong and Singapore. In addition, the Yue Hwa Chinese Products Group also fully owns Chung Hwa Medicine Company Limited, which manages over a dozen specialized Chinese proprietary medicine and health product stores in Hong Kong, as well as multiple properties in Hong Kong and overseas.[3]

History

Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium was established in June 1959 as Yue Hwa Department Store by Yu Lianqing, a Hakka businessman who returned from Indonesia, a 500 square feet small-sized department store with a hundred odd goods.[4][5] The name "Yue Hwa", literally transcribing as "Fuyu Chunghwa" signified the hope for a prosperous Chinese civilisation.[4] The goods selection was expanded into thousands by the following year.[4]

The flagship department store in Hong Kong, which was located at the junction of Nathan Road and Jordan Road, was opened in 1976. The Jordan flagship stall when opened, was the first in Hong Kong to utilise computerized payment system and escalators at every level of the building.[4] The store, along with its neon signage, was widely recognised as a city icon of Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s.[6]

Business

Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium operates large department stores in both Hong Kong and Singapore. In addition to its department store business, it also runs a chain of Chinese proprietary medicine stores, with branches scattered across Hong Kong Island (now closed), Kowloon, and the New Territories.[5]

Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium deals in a wide variety of goods, including food, Chinese herbs and proprietary medicines, men's and women's clothing, traditional Chinese attire (華服), handicrafts, jewelry, bedding, towels, socks, silk, underwear, leather shoes, travel essentials, electrical appliances, medical equipment, furniture, stationery, sports goods, and musical instruments.[7]

Yue Hwa Chinese Products sells traditional Chinese brands and products such as Hero fountain pens and ink, Chung Hwa pencils, Da Di brand undershirts and school leather shoes, Changbai Mountain ginseng, Tibetan Cordyceps sinensis, and Kweichow Moutai liquor.

Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium frequently organizes various product and cultural exhibitions and promotional events. It constantly introduces and promotes distinguished, high-quality products from different regions of China and from foreign countries, thereby continuing to maintain the unique character of a "Chinese products store." Past cultural exhibitions and promotional events have included the Sichuan Festival, Yunnan Festival, Jiangxi Organic/Green Food Expo, Taiwan Food Festival, Indonesia Festival, Southeast Asian Food Festival, International Porcelain Painting Exhibition, Shiwan Ceramic Ancient Collection Exhibition, Elegant Furniture Exhibition, and many others.

The Yue Hwa Chinese Products Main Store also features a "Tea Art Hall" (茶藝廳) where customers can sample tea and experience traditional Chinese tea culture. Additionally, the main store houses a "Culture Corridor" (文化廊), which introduces various Chinese arts and promotes high-quality products and culture from different provinces and cities across China.

Yue Hwa's Song

In the 1980s, Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium commissioned the famous composer Joseph Koo to write the music, and the celebrated lyricist James Wong Jim to compose the lyrics based on the company's motto, "Yue Hwa Chinese Products, Serving Everyone" (裕華國貨，服務大家). The resulting piece became "Yue Hwa's Song" (《裕華之歌》).[11][12]

See also

• Scarlett Supermarket: Singaporean supermarket which specialize exclusively in Chinese products

External links

• Official website (Hong Kong)
• Official website (Singapore)