Robert Fan Wenzhao, architect, involved in Hong Kong industrial locations

Maureen Fan left a comment below Carles Brasó Broggi’s article Shanghai Spinners: Pioneers of Hong Kong’s Industrialisation. This reads in part: Thank you for your informative article. My grandfather Robert Fan Wenzhao (1893-1979) was the architect who designed the HK Spinners factory at Cheung Sha Wan, including the workers dormitories, a dining hall, a recreation area, basketball and volleyball courts and […]

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Shanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee

Shanghainese Builders 7 York Lo Image 2

York Lo: Shanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee In the first six articles in this series, all the Shanghainese builders profiled were firms that were established in pre-war Shanghai and moved to HK before or after 1949. This article will profile seven Shanghainese builders who were […]

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The Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section) Part 3 – the construction of Kowloon Station

Tymon Mellor: At the turn of the 19th century, railways and steam ships were changing the world and demanding new infrastructure to support them. With the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway – British Section in full swing, attention turned to the location of the terminus station in Kowloon. There were many competing requirements for the location; resulting in the site […]

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South Sea Textile Manufacturing Company Ltd

Double click to magnify twice. Thanks to Carles Brasó Broggi for this image of South Sea Textile Mills which comes from an undated Annual Report from the 1960s. The text reads “Covering an area of about 18 acres, the premises of The South Sea Textiles Mills are situated in the New Territories of the Kowloon Peninsula, about 9½  miles from the island […]

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Dragages Hong Kong – first HK projects, Kai Tak runway extension and Shek Pik reservoir

James Chan: Dragages Hong Kong, is a very familiar company name on signs at major construction projects around  Hong Kong. It’s parent company is Bouygues Construction The company was founded in Vietnam in 1902 as Société Française Industrielle D’Extreme-Orient. It undertook its first project, the dredging and maintenance of a 2,000 kilometre canal system in the Mekong Delta. In 1910 […]

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Sir Thomas Sutherland – first chairman of Hong Kong & Whampoa Dockyard

James Chan: In 1863 Thomas Sutherland became the first chairman of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock. He was 29. The following has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. Both the author Robert Nield and HK University Press have given permission for extracts to be used in this article. Robert Nield: “Thomas Sutherland was the founder of one […]

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The Economics of the Tricycle Industry in Hong Kong – Part Two

Fung Chi Ming: Right after the British re-occupation of Hong Kong, an interim military administration was set up as a provisional authority until the civil administration took over on 1 May 1946. The Hong Kong Government Gazette dated 29 August 1946 announced that “public passenger tricycles”, as they were called, would have to register and be licensed. A schedule of […]

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The history of the Hong Kong electronics industry

Hong Kong's First Satellite Manufacturing Centre

HK: The electronics industry was an emerging industry in Hong Kong in the 1960s. The first electronics factory was established in 1959. Europe and Japan were the world’s pioneers in electronic technology. In the 1970s, the low production costs in Asia attracted manufacture of developed countries to come and set up factories and thus electronics technology was passed to Hong […]

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Kwok Hing Engineering Works, further information

Kwok Hing Engineering Works Name Plate From Nathan Laurent

Nathan Laurent, who lives in Queensland, Australia, has an interest in industrial history. HF: Nathan contacted me “to see if your researchers know anything about a metal manufacturing business that used the name Kwok Hing. My father has a metal working lathe of this brand made in Hong Kong which seems to be from the 1950s.” Below is a picture taken […]

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