Holland Garden

Kwong Lai-keng: founder of Lai Kei, Macau's oldest ice-cream parlour

Kwong Lai-keng

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).