Tymon Mellor: The former mine at, and which was to give its name to, Mui Wo or Silvermine Bay, was arguably one of the most important mines in Southern China at the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed using private money and was a showcase of modern technology. It was hoped this would be the start of a […]
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York Lo: Tabaqueria Filipina, Hwa Ching Tobacco and Colin Mackenzie & Co Tabaqueria Filipina and Colin Mackenzie & Co are two historic firms in Hong Kong with long histories (founded in 1888 and 1915 respectively) in the tobacco and pharmaceutical business and were both controlled by theZung (Chen) family from Ningbo after the War. The family was also known for […]
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York Lo: Wah Ying Cheong (華英昌): from Gold Mountain Firm to Real Estate Empire Incorporated in 1936 but founded earlier in the late 19th century, Wah Ying Cheong is one of the oldest Chinese companies in Hong Kong that had played an important role in the remittance of overseas Chinese as a Gold Mountain guild in its early years and […]
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York Lo: Ching Hing Construction (正興建築): Beyond the Family Feud Left: Ip Ching-ping as vice chairman of the HK Building Contractors Association; Right: Ching Hing’s adin 1955 (HKBCA yearbook) The decades long high-profile family feuds between the descendants of Ching Hing Construction founder Ip Ching-ping (葉正平, 1903-1983)has overshadowed the success of Ching Hing Construction, which was one of the leading […]
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York Lo: Evergreen Motion Picture (永茂電影企業) Left: poster for Evergreen’s “Action Speaks Louder than Words” in 1955 starring Sheung Kwun Kwan-wai and SzemaWah Lung; Right: Poster for Evergreen’s “Honor Thy Father and Mother” in 1953 starring Sheung Kwun Kwan-wai and Cheung Ying-tsoi Evergreen Motion Picture was one of the eight leading independent movie production companies in the 1950s which produced […]
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York Lo: Dickson Construction (德信建築) Signing of a construction contract between Lingnan and Dickson in 1975. Left to right seated: architect Arthur C.S. Kwok (郭志舜), Lingnan chairman Paul S. Lam (林秀樑), Dickson chairman T.T. Yik, Lingnan trustee Edward TT Chan (陳德泰, see article). Standing left to right: Lingnan secretary Yuen Siu-kong (阮兆剛), Levett& Bailey’s Lee Yiu-sang (李堯生),Lingnan trustee Wai Kee-kau […]
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Douglas Lapraik arrived in Hong Kong in 1842 in apparently somewhat straitened circumstances from Macau. Things changed for the colourful Mr Lapraik. In 1863, together with Thomas Sutherland and Jardine, Matheson & Co,. he co-founded the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company (Kowloon Docks) which at its peak was the largest shipyard in Asia. The following article has been extracted from […]
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York Lo: The King of Shoes: Tse Family of Kam Shing and Silver Eagle Arthur Tse with some of his shoes in the 1990s From the 1960s to the 1990s, the family of TseHei (謝熹) earned the reputation of “King of Shoes” through the publicly listed Kam Shing and Silver Eagle, which went public in 1973 and 1992 respectively and […]
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York Lo: Texwood (德士活) and “Apple Jeans”(蘋果牌牛仔褲) In March 2020, Texwood closed its flagship Apple Jeans store on Argyle Street inMongkok after 35 years, leaving only one store in HK in Diamond Hill although the jeans giant remains a major player in the mainland. Founded in 1959, Texwood was one of the major local brands of jeans in HK along […]
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York Lo: Canton Brothers Rubber Co (廣東兄弟樹膠) – China’s and HK’s First Manufacturer of Rubber Shoes Left: Canton Bros poster, likely from the 1930s; Right: Canton Brothers Rubber ad in HK in 1941 (A Century of Commerce) Founded in Canton in 1919, Canton Brothers Rubber Co was the first rubber shoe manufacturer in China and opened its factory in Hong […]
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