Dairy Farm

I love this photo from the 1950s. It reminds me of the cafes along the perimeter of campus when I lived at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

But according to my friends at Gwulo.com, this Dairy Farm branch was located in Repulse Bay, another favorite place to hang out on the weekends.

There was nothing more refreshing on a steamy summer day than digging in to a cup of Dairy Farm ube (purple yam) ice cream. The Park ‘N Shop or Wellcome grocery stores in Hong Kong always threw in a small wooden or plastic spoon with which to eat the ice cream.

Martin Booth also wrote about his boyhood trips to Dairy Farm in the New Territories in his memoir, Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood. It’s one of my favorite books and one I’ve read several times, never with dry eyes.

Sadly, these Dairy Farm cafes are long gone, but its legacy is present throughout the territory. The old Dairy Farm building in Central now houses the Fringe Club. And Dairy Farm International Holdings is stronger than ever, operating in Hong Kong 7-11 convenient stories, Wellcome grocery stores, Ikea, Mannings, and Maxim’s, among others.