Talking To Adam 13 - Part 3

UPDATED 12 FEBRUARY 2016 FOR FURTHER READING...

Cruising Hong Kong In 1985

An Oral Gay History Of Hong Kong 

Written in 2016 For The First Time

A GWM IN HIS MID-60s REMEMBERS:

6. Hong Kong 1985:  Cruising The Streets Of Central
7. Hong Kong 1985:  Cruising Harbour City And Tsim Sha Tsui

NOTE:  We do not encourage any form of public indecency or illegal behaviour.  We are simply reporting one person's recollections from 1985.

6.  Hong Kong 1985:  Cruising The Streets Of Central

1.   Back then, there was a circuit that every gay guy knew about - and it still exists today in a modified form.  How did they know about it..?  They'd spot other guys cruising or they'd find out about it through word of mouth on the streets or in the bars.  The "Central Circuit" was so famous that even Western tourists and US Navy sailors from the 7th Fleet in town for a few days, knew about it.  They guys you would run into cruising on the streets and public toilets of Central were some of the hottest I've seen, even 30 years down the track.

2.   Public toilets are an historical fact of gay life - around the world - for decades and then some.  There's no point being shocked or righteously indignant about it.  It is part of global gay culture and will always be a part of it. Str8 guys are Bi guys were and are in on it too. Just like locker rooms in the gym or gay saunas.

3.   In 1985, Hong Kong was a gay backwater.  Not only was gay sex illegal, but other than the 3 bars (see Part 2), there was really nothing. Technology had not developed sufficiently so there was no internet, no mobile phones, no apps, no chat sites, no free online porn, no instant messaging, no way to upload pics of yourself.  There were no exclusively gay shops, cafes, or saunas, no free gay mags that you could just pick up, no gay pride, no gay advertising, no gay radio station, no gay amateur sports teams, no gay film festivals, no gay STD testing.....nothing.

4.   ......Except the public toilets and the cruising circuit.  Gay men have a high sex drive.  That was their only outlet where they didn't have to sit at a bar and wait to get cruised - or wait for a Police raid.

5.   The circuit started at the toilets of Beaconsfield House in Queen's Road Central, opposite the HSBC Headquarters.***

*** FuelMix says: Beaconsfield House has been demolished and the site is part of Cheung Kong Centre

6.  From there it went up to the toilets on Ice House Street which still exist.  In 1985 that place was notorious, especially after work and late in the evenings. There were lots of white, good looking gym built office professionals and young Chinese guys.  It was so famous back then, that at 9pm in the evenings, you might find 15 - 20 people standing around there.  Considering that Central would be deserted at that time, if a non-gay person walked into that toilet and saw 15 - 20 guys standing around, they would immediately get suspicious.

7.  The circuit continued up to the top of Ice House Street, down the steep stairs next to the FCC and onto Wyndham Street.  That is where you could run into the gym dudes from Aero's Gym (see Part 1). Weekday evenings and anytime on weekends were almost guaranteed.

8.  From Wyndham Street to the corner of Wellington Street where Dateline was - but more importantly where the lane access to Lan Kwai Fong still is.  You know, where they have the steps going up and the toilets.  Back in 1985, the male toilet was completely different to what it is now.  It was a 2 storey building and both the lower and upper levels were very well known to gay men.  There was so much action going on there 7 days a week throughout the day and night. The Lan Kwai Fong toilets were strategically located right in between Disco Disco which was near the top of Lan Kwai Fong, and Dateline. The Police used to raid those toilets frequently because they knew the Disco Disco/Dateline crowd would be in there. With the redevelopment of Lan Kwai Fong,  none of them exist now.

9.  If you still couldn't find anyone interesting, you would continue walking up Wellington Street until the Pottinger Street steps. You'd take the steps down to Queen's Road Central and right there was another toilet built under the steps.  Back in 1985 it was very famous and attracted older guys looking for gym fit younger guys.*** I remember there was a middle aged Chinese guy who liked giving blowjobs to gym guys.  And he had a warehouse in the narrow lane right next to the Pottinger Street Steps.  He would take 3 or 4 guys into that warehouse and give them all blowjobs.  I was one of them and that warehouse hidden in the narrow lane was the perfect location.  I ended up there several times after work or after the gym.

*** FuelMix says: This toilet was demolished

10.   But wait....there's more.  You could check out the toilets on the corner of Queens's Road Central and Jubilee Street.

11.  Then come back up Pottinger Street, turn right on Lyndhurst Terrace and go down the slope into the market stalls and turn right into Gutzlaff Street where there was, and still is, a 2 storey toilet
which I was told was famous since the 1960s.***

*** FuelMix says: This is the area where the Central-MidLevels Escalator crosses Lyndhurst Terrace, just over the SoHo market stalls. It is the intersection of Lyndhurst Terrace, Cochrane Street and Gage Street.  There was no Escalator in 1985. The Escalator was opened in 1993.  As at February 2016, this area is currently a large construction site as part of an urban renewal project.  The market stalls and old shops are being cleared.  The ageing Gutzlaff Street toilets still exist - although it is unclear whether they will survive the redevelopment. 

The Central Escalator Sauna is located on the corner of Cochrane Street and Gage Street and has been at that location since about 1992.

12.  From there you would walk up any one of the lanes onto Hollywood Road and continue towards the toilets on Shing Wong Street and Bridges Street which were incredibly cruisy in 1985. Then continue past the Man Mo Temple down Ladder Street to the toilets there, come back down to Queen's Road Central, with your last stop at the underground toilets at the junction of Queen's Road Central and Wellington Street.

13.  So you can see, this was quite the route, starting from Central and ending near Sheung Wan.  Oh and one more thing.  In 1985, Hollywood Road, Elgin Street, Staunton Street, Bridges Street, Aberdeen Street were nowhere near as developed as they are now.  SoHo had not taken off as a shopping and restaurant destination.  There were tons of old residential buildings with dark staircases, no security gates and the residents were mostly elderly.  If you'd hook up with anyone in the toilets, you could bring them to any number of these buildings and get action in the staircases.  It was completely safe and very exciting.

14.  So.....what shall I tell you about now...?

COMING UP:  
7. Hong Kong 1985:  Cruising Harbour City And Tsim Sha Tsui

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