From the Archive

Rediscover stories from Hong Kong’s industrial past, published on this date in previous years.

The German Speaking Community in Hong Kong 1846-1918 – Part One

HF: Vol. 34 of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch published in 1994 contains a lengthy article about German speakers in Hong Kong and of the companies they were involved in. It was written by Carl Smith. I am familiar with only a small number of these companies and even fewer of those persons working for […]

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Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala, baker, hotelier and founder of the first cross-harbour ferry service (later the Star Ferry Company)

Star Ferry, Golden Star, Commons Wikipedia

This article about Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala was written by Sooni Shroff-Gander and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has kindly granted permission for it to be posted here, but retains copyright over this material from 2012. HF: Regrettably I have been unable to find any image of […]

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BAAG Naval Section Intelligence Summary, late February 1943, ship repair, maintenance and movements

Suma Aka HMS Moth In Service 1942 Wikipedia

Elizabeth Ride has sent the Naval section of a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) Waichow Intelligence Summary (WIS No.21) dated 1st March 1943. This covers shipping movements in and out of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two during late February 1943. These reports also describes time spent by vessels undergoing repairs and maintenance in a number of […]

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Recently Published

FER, The Hongkong-Canton Railway

Peter Crush THE HONGKONG-CANTON RAILWAY The report of Mr. G. W. Eves, Chief Resident Engineer of the Hongkong-Canton Railway construction, on the progress of the work up to December 31st, 1907, concludes with the an­nouncement that barring accident and unex­pected delays the line would be completed by December 1909, so far as the contract work was involved and the line […]

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NEW Henry Charles Forde 1894 superintended cable telegraph from Singapore to Hong Kong

In his introduction to the article 1871 Singapore – Hong Kong Cable on his website, History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications, linked below, Bill Burns writes:- The China Submarine Telegraph Company was set up by John Pender in 1869 to link Hong Kong into his growing network of cable companies. Telcon manufactured the cable and used CS Agnes, Kangaroo, Belgian and Minia to lay […]

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Wo Fat Hing Distillery production of 玉冰燒酒 (Juk Bing Siu Zau) or 肉醪燒 (Juk Lou Siu)

Mike T: Regarding the Wo Fat Hing Distillery I’m guessing the type of wine specifically made there was  玉冰燒酒 (Juk Bing Siu Zau) or 肉醪燒 (Juk Lou Siu), as they mention pork being placed in the wine as part of the process. Wikipedia says that it’s, “…a Cantonese rice liquor with over 100 years of history, made with steamed rice. After distillation, […]

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Henry Charles Forde 1894 superintended cable telegraph from Singapore to Hong Kong

In his introduction to the article 1871 Singapore – Hong Kong Cable on his website, History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications, linked below, Bill Burns writes:- The China Submarine Telegraph Company was set up by John Pender in 1869 to link Hong Kong into his growing network of cable companies. Telcon manufactured the cable and used CS Agnes, Kangaroo, Belgian and Minia to lay […]

» Read more