Calligraphy & name seals (chops)

Chinese calligraphy remains a practised, living art form in Hong Kong rather than a purely historical one, visible everywhere from shop signage to gallery work, and personal name seals ("chops") remain in genuine everyday and ceremonial use.

Calligraphy as art and as signage

Beyond gallery and museum display (see our arts scene guide), hand-painted calligraphy still appears on shop signs and restaurant menus across the city, a direct continuation of the same tradition rather than a revival for tourists.

Name seals (chops)

A carved stone or wood seal bearing a name in Chinese characters, traditionally used to "sign" documents and artwork by stamping it in red ink — still used today for certain legal and business documents, and commonly bought by visitors as a genuinely personal souvenir engraved with their own name.

Getting a seal made

Small seal-carving shops, some family-run for generations, operate in older shopping streets and markets — a name translated and carved to order is usually ready within a day, making it a practical souvenir to order early in a trip and collect before leaving.

Where to look

Cat Street and the Hollywood Road area (see our antique shopping guide) are reliable places to find seal carvers, alongside some stalls in the older street markets covered elsewhere on this site.