Swindon Archive News
Auspicious Swindon
An intriguing name far from Wiltshire
The then manager Lee Kin adopted the name when the family business moved to new premises in 1936. He took three factors into account in making his choice.
The first was the two Chinese characters meaning 'making a breakthrough at the auspicious hour'. The anglicised version of the dialect pronunciation of these characters sounds like 'swindon'.
The second factor was a Hong Kong fashion at the time. ''It was prevalent
for small commercial enterprises in Hong Kong to adopt western names of
well-known cities around the world - London, New York, Paris, Zurich to name
a few,'' said Ms Li.
''And a shop selling almost exclusively books and journals from Britain, it was natural for him to search for a similar-sounding name from the variety of British towns.''
The third factor influencing Mr Lee was his knowledge that Swindon had developed around the Great Western Railway works. For his new shop was in the same district as the train terminus and depot for the Kowloon-Canton railway which connects Hong Kong to major northern Chinese cities.
Mr Lee's choice of name has worked well as the Swindon chain of shops and associated companies is now a leader in its field. There is even a publishing arm focusing on Chinese cultural heritage and custom under the Swindon imprint.
''With hindsight, it is also fortuitous that we bear the name of a city that is the selected headquarters of the best-known high street bookseller and stationer in the UK - WH Smith,'' said Ms Li. ''We are very proud to bear the Swindon name and to serve the local community as well as visitors to Hong Kong for the past 70 years.
''Meanwhile, we would like to extend our warmest welcome to the visitors from the city of Swindon.''
An intriguing name far from Wiltshire
Story and pictures from the Swindon Borough Council newspaper, Swindon News
Numerous Swindon travellers to Hong Kong have come across the Kowloon shop, photographed its exterior and wondered why it bears the name of Swindon. Now one of the company's directors, Daisy Li, has explained.The then manager Lee Kin adopted the name when the family business moved to new premises in 1936. He took three factors into account in making his choice.
The first was the two Chinese characters meaning 'making a breakthrough at the auspicious hour'. The anglicised version of the dialect pronunciation of these characters sounds like 'swindon'.
The second factor was a Hong Kong fashion at the time. ''It was prevalent
for small commercial enterprises in Hong Kong to adopt western names of
well-known cities around the world - London, New York, Paris, Zurich to name
a few,'' said Ms Li.
''And a shop selling almost exclusively books and journals from Britain, it was natural for him to search for a similar-sounding name from the variety of British towns.''
The third factor influencing Mr Lee was his knowledge that Swindon had developed around the Great Western Railway works. For his new shop was in the same district as the train terminus and depot for the Kowloon-Canton railway which connects Hong Kong to major northern Chinese cities.
Mr Lee's choice of name has worked well as the Swindon chain of shops and associated companies is now a leader in its field. There is even a publishing arm focusing on Chinese cultural heritage and custom under the Swindon imprint.
''With hindsight, it is also fortuitous that we bear the name of a city that is the selected headquarters of the best-known high street bookseller and stationer in the UK - WH Smith,'' said Ms Li. ''We are very proud to bear the Swindon name and to serve the local community as well as visitors to Hong Kong for the past 70 years.
''Meanwhile, we would like to extend our warmest welcome to the visitors from the city of Swindon.''
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