This iconic Hong Kong taxi is getting a second life on Toronto's streets

Toronto is, in many ways, a city of myriad cultures, and woven into its fabric is one of the largest Hong Kong diasporas outside the region itself.

Despite being halfway across the world (12,569 kilometres to be exact), it's a place where Cantonese can be heard over piping-hot meals in restaurants, shops, family homes, and where memories of Hong Kong are often carried across the Pacific in much more tangible ways.

In the GTA, more than 668,000 reported Chinese ethnic or cultural origins in the 2021 Census, while nearly 240,000 residents reported Cantonese as their mother tongue. For some, a quick glimpse of a familiar red-and-silver taxi can be enough to bring that connection rushing back.

That's exactly what Stouffville resident Alan Wu hoped to emulate when he revived a nostalgic relic of Hong Kong's streetscape in Toronto. His refurbished 1997 Toyota Crown Comfort, a boxy, red-and-silver taxi that looks like it was transported straight from the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong, now turns heads wherever it goes.

While the storied vehicle is a reminder of a place thousands of kilometres away, for Wu, it represents something much closer to home.

"The Hong Kong taxi is easily recognizable as a part of Hong Kong through it being the standardized taxi in the city, just like the yellow cabs of New York," he told blogTO.

"It is a part of the culture of Hong Kong for its residents and also visitors, as they are part of the cityscape as well as in photos, movies, music videos, and stories derived from Hong Kong."

Wu grew up around the Annex area of Bloor and Christie near Koreatown, and spent much of his childhood in Chinatown attending Chinese school. His father, who is Chinese and from Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada in 1972, while his mother is Irish-French Canadian.

After his parents divorced when he was one, Wu says his father and aunt deeply immersed him in Hong Kong culture and cinema. The region's film industry became internationally renowned during its golden era from the late 70s to the 90s, producing heroic bloodshed, influential action and martial arts films that helped establish it as a major centre of East Asian cinema.

A familiar fixture in these movies was Hong Kong taxis, which appeared in the background of street scenes, and even became part of characters' cinematic journeys.

"The red and silver Hong Kong taxi is iconic as it is everywhere on the streets," Wu explains. "Most people don't have cars but would take a taxi to their destination. A lot of memories, conversations, and daily experiences are made inside these taxis."

As Wu notes, Hong Kong's distinctive taxi system (red cabs serving urban areas, green taxis in the New Territories and blue taxis on Lantau Island) has been part of its cultural identity for decades. However, Hong Kong's fleet recently entered a new era, with modern hybrid and electric vehicles gradually replacing the boxy cabs that have become an unmistakable symbol of the region.

Wu's vehicle, the Toyota Crown Comfort, was introduced in 1995 with LPG-powered versions among the available configurations. By the late 90s and early 2000s, the Crown Comfort became one of the cars strongly associated with Hong Kong's taxi fleet, while earlier generations of Japanese sedans, including Nissan Cedrics and Toyota Crowns, also served as taxis during the 80s and early 90s.

Wu's particular taxi was first imported to Canada in 2011 for Guillermo del Toro's 2013 science-fiction movie, Pacific Rim, conveniently filmed right here in Toronto. The vehicle appeared briefly in a Hong Kong scene, painted in its familiar red-and-silver colours. 

However, when Wu found the weathered vehicle at a Pickering dealership in 2022, it was little more than a shell of the taxi he remembered, with no taxi decals, no roof light, and no taximeter. Wu paid $10,000 for the vehicle and eventually invested another $5,000 into parts, taxi equipment, and other details to bring it back to life.

That's when Wu started an Instagram account to document the vehicle's restoration, and it wasn't long before former Hong Kong taxi drivers, collectors, and other enthusiasts began to reach out.

Over time, Wu amassed authentic pieces of equipment, including government-issued warning labels about smoking and seat belts, which might seem like small details to some, but carry a remarkable amount of nostalgia for those who grew up riding the taxis.

After spending the winter refurbishing the taxi, Wu began driving it around the city in April 2022.

"People were in shock and gasping that there was a real Hong Kong taxi in North America," he said. "Some were chasing the taxi, shouting and smiling from ear to ear."

Wu usually drives the taxi through Markham, Richmond Hill and Chinatown, where the reactions can be especially emotional for those part of the Hong Kong diaspora.

"I wanted to bring some good, nostalgic memories for Hong Kongers given the recent past struggles and increased immigration of Hong Kongers to Canada, especially Toronto," Wu told blogTO.

"Just seeing the taxi, even for me, would be such a strong flood of emotions of the city and its people."

Wu recalls a particularly heartwarming story when a family from Montreal drove all the way down to Toronto after hearing that the refurbished taxi would be appearing at an event. The reason they travelled so far, Wu explains, is because the family's elderly father, who was in a wheelchair, had once been a Hong Kong taxi driver himself, and hadn't seen one in the 25 years after he immigrated to Canada.

"He wanted one last look at the taxi as he was too frail to fly back to Hong Kong. The daughter said the taxi was considered their breadwinner, providing income for their family through the dad driving a taxi back home. I was very touched by their story immensely."

Wu regularly posts on Instagram about the events he plans to attend with his taxi, including festivals, markets, and restaurant openings. The nostalgic vehicle has also been rented for weddings, business promotions, and film shoots.

Other times, Wu simply brings the taxi out for charitable purposes, including during visits to senior homes with large populations of residents from Hong Kong.

"This is my love letter to Hong Kong people, culture, and the city, and it makes me happy to see people so happy to see the taxi, even if for a few seconds as it drives past on the Toronto streets," he explains. 

"It merges my hometown of Toronto with my cultural hometown of Hong Kong, so I find it fits me perfectly."

You can keep up with all of the taxi's journeys on Wu's Instagram, @hktaxitoronto.