Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium Limited (Chinese: è£Âè¯åÂÂç¢ç¾貨æÂÂéÂÂå ¬å¸), often abbreviated as Yue Hwa Chinese Products (è£Âè¯åÂÂ貨), is a retail company in Hong Kong that specializes in Chinese products, with department stores in Hong Kong and Singapore. In addition, the Yue Hwa Chinese Products Group also fully owns Chung Hwa Medicine Company Limited, which manages over a dozen specialized Chinese proprietary medicine and health product stores in Hong Kong, as well as multiple properties in Hong Kong and overseas.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium was established in June 1959 as Yue Hwa Department Store () by Yu Lianqing, a Hakka businessman who returned from Indonesia, a 500 square feet small-sized department store with a hundred odd goods. The name "Yue Hwa" (), literally transcribing as "Fuyu Chunghwa" () signified the hope for a prosperous Chinese civilisation. The goods selection was expanded into thousands by the following year.
The flagship department store in Hong Kong, which was located at the junction of Nathan Road and Jordan Road, was opened in 1976. The Jordan flagship stall when opened, was the first in Hong Kong to utilise computerized payment system and escalators at every level of the building. The store, along with its neon signage, was widely recognised as a city icon of Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1993, Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium expanded its department store business into Singapore with the takeover of Nam Tin Building, a six-storey conserved building along Yu Tong Sen Street which formerly housed The Great Southern Hotel, at a cost of S$25 million. The hotel ceased operations in 1994, and Nam Tin Building was converted at a cost of S$25 million. The property was re-opened in 1996 as Yue Hwa Building, as the first Yue Hwa Chinese Products department store in Singapore.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium operates large department stores in both Hong Kong and Singapore. In addition to its department store business, it also runs a chain of Chinese proprietary medicine stores, with branches scattered across Hong Kong Island (now closed), Kowloon, and the New Territories.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium deals in a wide variety of goods, including food, Chinese herbs and proprietary medicines, men's and women's clothing, traditional Chinese attire (è¯æÂÂ), handicrafts, jewelry, bedding, towels, socks, silk, underwear, leather shoes, travel essentials, electrical appliances, medical equipment, furniture, stationery, sports goods, and musical instruments.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products sells traditional Chinese brands and products such as Hero fountain pens and ink, Chung Hwa pencils, Da Di brand undershirts and school leather shoes, Changbai Mountain ginseng, Tibetan Cordyceps sinensis, and Kweichow Moutai liquor.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium frequently organizes various product and cultural exhibitions and promotional events. It constantly introduces and promotes distinguished, high-quality products from different regions of China and from foreign countries, thereby continuing to maintain the unique character of a "Chinese products store." Past cultural exhibitions and promotional events have included the Sichuan Festival, Yunnan Festival, Jiangxi Organic/Green Food Expo, Taiwan Food Festival, Indonesia Festival, Southeast Asian Food Festival, International Porcelain Painting Exhibition, Shiwan Ceramic Ancient Collection Exhibition, Elegant Furniture Exhibition, and many others.
The Yue Hwa Chinese Products Main Store also features a "Tea Art Hall" (è¶èÂÂ廳) where customers can sample tea and experience traditional Chinese tea culture. Additionally, the main store houses a "Culture Corridor" (æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂå»Â), which introduces various Chinese arts and promotes high-quality products and culture from different provinces and cities across China.
The Main Store is located at the intersection of Nathan Road and Jordan Road in Jordan, Kowloon, situated directly above the MTR Jordan Station. The shopping center occupies a total of seven floors. In addition to the main store, Yue Hwa Chinese Products has also opened over a dozen specialized Chinese proprietary medicine stores and Yue Hwa Health Product Centers across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.
The branch on the Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard previously operated under a different model as the Yue Hwa Travel Essentials "TRAVEL ESSENTIALS" from 2010 to 2013.
Closed branches include those at 1 Kowloon Park Drive on Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Park Lane on Nathan Road, Mirador Mansion, Alliance Building in Central, New Trend Plaza in Fortress Hill, and Telford Plaza in Kowloon Bay.
Yue Hwa Chinese Products operates three department stores in Singapore, with a flagship store located in Yue Hwa Building, in Chinatown.
In 2011, Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium started its online shopping service to provide a more convenient shopping experience for customers around the world.
Online shopping services was launched in Singapore in 2018.
In the 1980s, Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium commissioned the famous composer Joseph Koo to write the music, and the celebrated lyricist James Wong Jim to compose the lyrics based on the company's motto, "Yue Hwa Chinese Products, Serving Everyone" (è£Âè¯åÂÂ貨ï¼ÂæÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ大家). The resulting piece became "Yue Hwa's Song" (ãÂÂè£Âè¯ä¹ÂæÂÂãÂÂ).