Gary Wong#Film Pilgrimage

Wong was born on {{ill|Hau Wong Road|zh|侯王道}} in Kowloon City, Hong Kong,{{Cite web |url=https://www.mpweekly.com/culture/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83/%E4%B9%9D%E9%BE%8D%E5%9F%8E-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1-%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%9C%9D%E8%81%96-210365 |title=九龍城光影印記——昔日為片場重地 目前仍為熱門取景地「電影朝聖」專頁創辦人王冠豪: 九龍城與電影有千絲萬縷的不解緣 |date=26 August 2022 |website=Ming Pao |author=盧乙彬 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} in the 1970s.{{Cite web |url=https://paper.hket.com/article/2814742/%E9%81%94%E4%BA%BA%E5%B8%B6%E8%B7%AF%20%E6%96%B0%E8%92%B2%E5%B4%97%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E5%A0%B4%E6%99%AF%E4%B9%8B%E6%97%85 |title=達人帶路 新蒲崗電影場景之旅 |date=28 November 2020 |website=Hong Kong Economic Times |author=馮柏偉 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} He has Teochew ancestral roots, with his grandfather and grandmother migrating to Hong Kong before and after the Second World War respectively, settling in San Po Kong. Wong grew up in To Kwa Wan and Kwun Tong, spending most of his childhood in To Kwa Wan and attending secondary school in Kwun Tong during the 1990s.{{Cite web |url=https://paper.hket.com/article/2939077/%E6%BC%AB%E6%AD%A5%E5%9C%9F%E7%93%9C%E7%81%A3%E5%B0%8B%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E5%A0%B4%E6%99%AF%E8%B6%B3%E8%BF%B9%20%E5%AF%86%E9%9B%86%E5%BC%8F%E6%80%AA%E7%8D%B8%E5%A4%A7%E5%BB%88%E6%88%90%E6%89%93%E5%8D%A1%E9%BB%9E |title=漫步土瓜灣尋電影場景足迹 密集式怪獸大廈成打卡點 |date=23 April 2021 |website=Hong Kong Economic Times |author=馮柏偉 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} He would also have brief stays in San Po Kong with his grandparents during holidays. He moved to Sha Tin in 1991. He developed a passion for films through the works of Wong Kar-wai, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa, but did not intend to pursue a film-related career. Wong graduated from university with a master's degree in library and information science,{{Cite web |url=https://topick.hket.com/article/2323698/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E7%99%BC%E7%87%92%E5%8F%8B%E8%88%8A%E5%8D%80%E6%9C%9D%E8%81%96%E3%80%80%E5%B0%8B%E5%91%B3%E6%9C%AC%E5%9C%9F%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2%E8%88%87%E4%BA%BA%E6%83%85 |title=電影發燒友舊區朝聖 尋味本土歷史與人情 |date=12 April 2019 |website=TOPick |author=岑志剛 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which initially led him to seek a stable job.{{Cite web |url=https://hkfeature.com/artsculture/%E7%81%B0%E9%A3%9B%E7%85%99%E6%BB%85%E5%89%8D-%E6%B8%AF%E7%94%A2%E7%89%87%E5%85%89%E5%BD%B1%E4%B8%AD%E6%B0%B8%E7%BA%8C%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E8%A1%97%E6%99%AF-%E3%80%8C%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%9C%9D/ |title=灰飛煙滅前 港產片光影中永續香港街景 「電影朝聖」翻開王冠豪的二次人生 |date=21 May 2021 |website=Hong Kong Feature |author=陳萃屏 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh |archive-date=17 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217204003/https://hkfeature.com/artsculture/%e7%81%b0%e9%a3%9b%e7%85%99%e6%bb%85%e5%89%8d-%e6%b8%af%e7%94%a2%e7%89%87%e5%85%89%e5%bd%b1%e4%b8%ad%e6%b0%b8%e7%ba%8c%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e8%a1%97%e6%99%af-%e3%80%8c%e9%9b%bb%e5%bd%b1%e6%9c%9d/ |url-status=live }} He worked as a property manager, assistant librarian, and archivist for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. His interest in filming locations was sparked when he accompanied Japanese friends on a tour of classic Hong Kong film sites, such as Infernal Affairs. Inspired by the experience, Wong began discovering and visiting filming locations in Hong Kong films, documenting them through his blogs. He later befriended the founder of Hong Kong Cinemagic, an English-French bilingual film news website and database, who was impressed by Wong's blogs and invited him to contribute to the site.

After developing a deeper interest in film research, Gary Wong left his job at the Hong Kong Tourism Board two years later and founded the film website Film Pilgrimage in 2010.{{Cite web |url=https://skypost.hk/article/2392710/%E9%B4%BB%E5%9C%96%E9%81%93-%E6%B8%AF%E7%94%A2%E7%89%87%E6%9C%9D%E8%81%96 |title=鴻圖道 港產片朝聖 |date=5 July 2019 |website=Sky Post |author=何尚衡 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} The site operates as both a website and a physical magazine, focusing on filming locations, the history of Hong Kong films, and changes in the cityscape. In 2011, Wong published a non-fiction guidebook also titled Film Pilgrimage, which introduces over 200 filming locations from both domestic and international films, many of which are in Wong's hometown San Po Kong.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mpweekly.com/culture/cu0001/%E4%BF%9D%E8%82%B2-%E5%8A%87%E5%9C%98-%E5%8F%96%E6%99%AF-77197 |title=【新蒲崗將被消失嗎?】影迷新蒲崗朝聖 港產片取景熱點逐格數 |date=22 June 2018 |website=Ming Pao |author=陳詠恩 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} am730 found the book to be an engaging exploration of familiar film scenes, enhanced by the author's personal journeys through various iconic filming locations, and it serves as practical guidance for fans seeking to experience these sites themselves.{{Cite web |url=https://www.am730.com.hk/column/%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%9C%9D%E8%81%96/179991 |title=電影朝聖 |date=12 October 2011 |website=am730 |access-date=26 February 2025 |language=zh}} Wong explained that he aimed to research films from non-traditional perspectives rather than solely from a textual analysis; while scholar {{ill|Tong Ching-siu|zh|湯禎兆}} recognized Wong as one of only five writers in Hong Kong who researched and wrote on international film history.{{Cite book |last=Tong |first=Ching-siu |year=2013 |title=人間開眼──從小說與映像窺視下流日本 |publisher={{ill|Enrich Culture|zh|天窗出版社}} |isbn=9789881680938 |language=zh}}{{rp|10}} In 2014, Wong published Film & Dine, a guidebook about restaurant-related filming locations. In 2017, Wong authored Film Pilgrimage: Taiwan, a sequel documenting filming locations of Taiwanese films. He also began co-hosting guided tours of filming locations with various organizations in the 2020s.

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Category:Living people

Category:People of Chaoshanese descent

Category:Hong Kong film people

Category:Hong Kong writers

Category:Film historians

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)