Kwong Lai-keng is the founder of Lai Kei Ice Cream (禮記雪糕), Macau's oldest ice-cream parlour. Founded in 1933, Lai Kei began as a roving pushcart vendor before settling into a fixed shop, relocating in the 1960s to its current Holland Garden (荷蘭園) premises on Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida — a nostalgic parlour woven into a generation's memories. Kwong personally developed red-bean ice pops, ice-cream bricks and sandwiches, and designed the iconic twin-braided-girl (孖辮妹) trademark still in use today. The 1970s–80s marked the peak of ice-parlour culture; the brand is now run by third-generation successor Kwong Wing-tsan. The name "Lai Kei" (禮記) comes from the founder's given name "Lai-keng"; the surname is Kwong (鄺).

A red-bean ice pop and a twin-braided-girl logo — in Holland Garden, Lai Kei has kept the flavours of Macau's oldest ice-cream parlour for nearly a century.

Kwong Lai-keng is the founder of Lai Kei Ice Cream (禮記雪糕), Macau's oldest ice-cream parlour. In 1933 he started out with a single roving pushcart, hawking his own ice cream, before settling into a fixed shop; in the 1960s he relocated to the current Holland Garden (荷蘭園) premises on Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, becoming the nostalgic parlour woven into a generation of Macau memories.

Profile

  • Brand: Lai Kei Ice Cream (禮記雪糕)
  • Founded: 1933 (initially a roving pushcart)
  • Premises: Holland Garden, Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, Macau Peninsula; moved in the 1960s
  • District: Holland Garden (荷蘭園), Macau Peninsula
  • Signature: red-bean ice pops, ice-cream bricks, ice-cream sandwiches; the twin-braided-girl trademark

Background

The name "Lai Kei" comes from the founder's name — his given name was "Lai-keng" and his surname Kwong (鄺), giving the shopname 禮記. Kwong was not only the proprietor but a hands-on ice-cream maker: the red-bean ice pops, ice-cream bricks and ice-cream sandwiches were all developed by him, and even the twin-braided-girl (孖辮妹) trademark still in use today was his own design. Kwong Lai-keng's birth and death years are not reliably recorded and are omitted here.

The Brand & Its Legacy

Lai Kei began with a single pushcart in 1933, passed through a fixed shop, and finally settled in Holland Garden in the 1960s. The 1970s–80s were the peak of Macau's ice-parlour culture, and Lai Kei flourished in that era — green-and-white booths, a retro sign and red-bean ice pops forming a shared memory across generations. Today the brand is run by third-generation successor Kwong Wing-tsan (鄺永燦), carrying on the title of Macau's "oldest ice-cream parlour" and its old-time flavours.