Games
Sleeping Dogs: The Four Districts of Hong Kong
Sleeping Dogs sends an undercover cop into the Sun On Yee triad across a compact Hong Kong built from four real Island districts. The designers photographed the city for a week and then bent it to fit the story.
This route visits the four districts in turn, starting with Aberdeen, where the story opens. Pins mark whole districts, not mission sites: no source ties a specific mission to a street.
Contains major story spoilers.
Timeline & locations
What do the location labels mean?
- Exact
- The pin marks the actual place where it happened or was filmed.
- Approximate
- The right area — a town, park or district — but not a precise spot.
The story opens here. Wei Shen is a petty criminal in Aberdeen who joins Naz Singh on a drug deal with Four Finger Wu of the 18K. It goes wrong, and Shen is arrested. That arrest is staged: it is part of an operation by Thomas Pendrew and Raymond Mak to slip him into the Water Street Boys, a branch of the Sun On Yee triad. In the real Aberdeen, between the town and Ap Lei Chau, the harbour is known for its floating village and floating seafood restaurants.
Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMap22.24778, 114.15167Visitability not confirmedLocation precision: The game places the opening in Aberdeen without naming a street; the pin marks the district.
Sources
- Aberdeen, Hong Kong
- Locator:
- Introduction; Etymology
- Sleeping Dogs (video game)
- Locator:
- Setting; Plot; Design
- Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Central is the game's business district, and its best-known landmark is a real one. I. M. Pei's Bank of China Tower, at 1 Garden Road, appears in Sleeping Dogs under another name, Mortensen Electric. The game's map is a loose version of the real city, so treat the tower as a landmark you can match, not a mission site.
Visitor guidance: Walk from Central MTR exit J2 through Chater Garden.
Sources
- Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
- Locator:
- Introduction; In popular culture; Transport
- Sleeping Dogs (video game)
- Locator:
- Setting; Plot; Design
- Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
Kennedy Town is one of the four neighbourhoods of the game map, which is far smaller than the real island. A TechRadar piece describes the game's Kennedy Town as clean streets lined with palm trees and shiny, glass-fronted buildings. The real Kennedy Town, at the western end of Sai Wan, is named after governor Arthur Edward Kennedy (1872 to 1877). Since the MTR arrived in 2014 it has been gentrifying, with high-end bars and restaurants replacing older businesses.
Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMap22.28000, 114.12500Visitability not confirmedLocation precision: Sources describe the district's look in the game but tie no mission to a spot; the pin marks the neighbourhood.
Sources
- North Point
- Locator:
- Introduction
- Kennedy Town
- Locator:
- Introduction; Development
- Sleeping Dogs (video game)
- Locator:
- Setting; Plot; Design
- North Point
The game's Hong Kong is split into four districts named after real regions: Kennedy Town, North Point, Central and Aberdeen. The designers did not copy the city: they combined elements from different neighbourhoods and time periods. Art designers spent seven days in Hong Kong and took more than 20,000 reference photos. The real North Point is a mixed-use area in the Eastern District, on the northeastern side of Hong Kong Island.
Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMap22.28722, 114.19167Visitability not confirmedLocation precision: Sources name North Point as one of the game's districts but tie no mission to it; the pin marks the neighbourhood.
Sources
- North Point
- Locator:
- Introduction
- Weaving through the streets of Hong Kong with Sleeping Dogs' designer
- Locator:
- Neighbourhoods
- Sleeping Dogs (video game)
- Locator:
- Setting; Plot; Design
- North Point
