Lee is as iconic to Hong Kong as that glistening string of skyscrapers, but unlike, say, Elvis Presley’s Graceland, this fallen king’s castle is no monument to his legacy. Mainland Chinese philanthropist Yu Panglin quickly bought the property in 1974 and allowed it to be used as a love hotel: a place where rooms are rented out by the hour to couples, some on illicit trysts, to be sure, but others harried spouses, looking to escape cramped marital quarters — often shared with extended family — for a modicum of privacy.
Yu died in May, leaving the fate of Lee’s Cumberland Road home up in the air. Yu’s grandson Peng Zhibin recently told the South China Morning Post that his grandfather’s estate was “finalizing the legal procedures,” without specifying to what end. Meanwhile, Lee’s fans and family are rallying to preserve the house as a landmark to the late martial arts superstar.
“Fans all over the world hope Lee’s former residence can be preserved and made a gallery to commemorate our beloved star. But there’s very little we can do,” Wong Yiu-keung, who chairs fan group the Bruce Lee Club, told the Post. “Only the landlord and the government can make things happen.”