Preserving Hong Kong’s Industrial Heritage
Rediscover stories from Hong Kong’s industrial past, published on this date in previous years.
A Bygone Industry in Hong Kong – Rickshaw Makers’ Stores By Fung Chi Ming The rickshaw is long out of date, but in days past it was a widely used form of urban transport. For public hire and for private use, it also created new employment. The first rickshaw in Hong Kong was of Japanese construction. But, as time went […]
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York Lo: The Tam Brothers behind Wai Yee Co, King’s Shirts and Yau Sun Shoes From the 1920s to 1970s, the families of two brothers – Tam Lap-chiu and Tam Lap-kee – were active in both the manufacturing and retail of garments and shoes. Old timers might recall their retail outlets on Des Voeux Road Central in Sheung Wan. Tam […]
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On the 25th October 2023 Jim Ting left the following comment – ”My mother was the personal assistant of W.H. Eddie Hsu in the late 1970s until 1982 when we decided to emigrate to the U.S. She had fond memories of her time working there and every so often I still hear her telling these stories.” York Lo: A Century […]
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HF: Tymon Mellor wrote the article, Shatin – first powered flight in Hong Kong 1911, linked below, about the first powered flight which took place at Shatin on 18th March 1911. Charles “Chic’ Eather’s website mentions Charles Van den Born and this momentous event. Charles Van den Born, the Henry Farman Company’s test pilot and instructor, had arrived on the steamer Donai. […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article about the river steamer Tak Shing, which was the former “fire-gutted” steamer Sai On, see already posted article below. Phil Kenny has kindly sent two images below of the Tak Shing. HF: I have retyped the original newspaper article to aid clarity and searches. Where obvious mistakes have been made I have indicated […]
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IDJ: In Hong Kong until around the mid 1990s, curious observers and old men with nothing better to do were a familiar sight gathered at gaps in construction sites fences where amongst the usual activities they could observe a practise possibly unique to Hong Kong. Husband and wife teams constructing large diameter, hand dug piles, known as caissons were common […]
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York Lo left a comment below our article, Lui Che Woo – King of Hong Kong Quarries – two newspaper articles, linked below, which adds additional infomation about Lui Che-woo and Anderson Road quarry in an SCMP article. The article begins: Tycoon Lui Che-woo, a pioneer in Hong Kong’s quarrying industry who later built his wealth in the property and casino industries, […]
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HF: The China Daily, HK Edition, of 8th September 2015 contained the second of a planned series of articles about what is seen as an “explosion of interest of material related to the city’s industrial past”. The article by Chitralekha Basu includes…Last July, the Hong Kong Museum of History launched a campaign to collect from members of the public, “manufactured goods, […]
» Read moreHF: This is one of the most early-built factory estates in Hong Kong. It was built between 1960 and 1965. From 1973 onwards it was managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority.(1) Sources: The Hong Kong Memory Project
» Read moreContact the company? Founded in Hong Kong in 1874, Leigh & Orange (L&O) has continued to thrive as a significant force in the markets it serves for nearly a century and a half by providing its clients with a consistent focus on quality. With an unsurpassed depth of experience in a wide variety of building types, the firm prides itself […]
» Read moreHF: Kin Hip Metal and Plastic Factory manufactured metal molds. A key customer was Gold Coin Brand vacuum flask factories. Mrs. Sun took charge of the accounts while taking care of the children at the factory. In doing so, she used an abacus to calculate costs and prepare invoices. On one occasion she undercharged $600 when calculating product prices for […]
» Read moreHF: In the middle third of the 19th century, the clippers which carried cargoes of tea from China to Britain would compete in informal races to be the first ship in London with the new crop of each season. A painting of Ariel and Taeping. Source: wikipedia Tea was introduced from China to Europe in the 17th century, but, as […]
» Read moreHF: Source no 86 http://www.aab.gov.hk/form/new_items_history.pdf [Bonnie Manson: Four years ago I made a journey to visit the grave of Ko Ming Fan who ran the Flat Hill Quarry.] Old Quarry Site Structures Lei Yue Mun, Kwun Tong, Kowloon Hong Kong has been well favoured with its building stones. The high quality, fine-grained granite was commonly used in construction by the time […]
» Read moreHF: Mandarin Oriental is a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, a conglomerate with strong expertise and heritage in Hong Kong and Asia, which was founded in Canton in 1832 by Scottish traders William Jardine and James Matheson.
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