5 Salt pans in Mui Wo?

Eric Spain also has an enquiry about salt production in Mui Wo. He remembers seeing some RAF aerial photographs which showed salt pans there. [presumably immediately before, during or shortly after WW2?] Does anyone have any information about the pans and/or these photographs? Eric thinks they may be in a HK government archive.

Newsletter 06

Eric Spain enquired asked whether there were salt pans in Mui Wo around the time of WW2. Frank Watson has found that in a 2005 interview with the then 82 year-old Mui Wo resident Wong Chau-fuk, Mr Wong states “The land beside the pier and the bus stop was originally the sea….there were some businessmen who set up a salt field nearby, but water kept seeping up out of the ground and the salt wouldn’t crystallize. I remember working there with my dad.  After the salt field closed we went back to farming.” Mr Wong was born around 1923, so it looks as if Eric’s suggestion is correct. However, more conclusive evidence is needed. A map showing Mui Wo around the end of WW2?
The above interview is at http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/mui-wo-rural-committees-wong-chau-fuk

Newsletter 07

5. Mui Wo salt pans
Eric Spain asked whether there were salt pans in Mui Wo around the time of WW2. Frank Watson found a 2005 interview with an elderly Mui Wo resident which suggested that this may have been the case. A map from that period might provide conclusive evidence. “namussi” at gwulo.com tried using the Hong Kong government map service www.hkgeospatial.gov.hk but found the earliest aerial photo there of Mui Wo was from 1963. Thanks “namussi”.

The search continues.

The image on the Home Page is a contemporary aerial photo of Mui Wo.

This Q+ A was first published on 12th March 2013,