“The exact year in which the flight of grantite steps at the southern end of Duddell Street in Central was constructed is not known, but a series of maps of Hong Kong from the period indicate that they came into existence between 1875 and 1889. According to the records of the Hong Kong and China Gas Co., the four gas […]
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The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) headquarters building, in Central, Hong Kong, took seven years to complete from concept to construction and has become not only the icon for the region’s largest bank but the city of Hong Kong itself. It’s the fourth HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong.(1) The new building was designed by the British architect Norman Foster and […]
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Nicholas Kitto has sent in a PDF file of the book: Corporate Behaviour and Political Risk: Dutch Companies in China 1903-1941 by Frans-Paul van der Putten. This was freely downloadable from the Leiden University website. Unfortunately the images are absent. HF: The book covers in some detail a variety of Dutch concerns in China. Namely:- Chapter 2 Banking: Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) […]
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“This well-known firm of engineers and shipbuilders was founded in 1897 by Mr. W.S. Bailey, who began business as a consulting engineer and importer of steam pumps and engineers’ requisites. In 1900 Mr. Bailey was joined in partnership by Mr. E. O. Murphy, and the present works [1905] at Kowloon Bay were established…”(1) Chinese Navy Gunboat Kien Yu Forced […]
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Ben Line Agencies (previously Ben Line Steamers) is a Singapore-based shipping agency, operating across Asia. As of 2013, the company had over 110 offices and 2000 employees. Ben Line Agencies operates four specific areas: Port Agency, Liner Agency, Offshore Support and Project Logistics services. The company in its previous form was founded in Scotland in 1825 under the name of Ben Line. […]
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Additional information plus several images added. Special thanks to IDJ. Contributors: Amelia Allsop, HF and IDJ. Amelia kindly personally sent the two drawn images shown here and gave permission for other images to be used in this article. Amelia was, at that time, the Manager – Research and Business Communications, at the Hong Kong Heritage Project. In 1903 China Light […]
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HF: As demonstrated below Hang Tai & Fungs Company Ltd were the Hong Kong agents for several well known products. I don’t know when the company operated from and to. However, the very similarly named, Hung Tai & Fung (Tobacco) Company Ltd, was formed on 20th November 1952 and dissolved on 30th December 1994. Further information about either company would […]
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IDJ has sent this 1997 article published on behalf of the HK Academy of Engineering Sciences and HK Institution of Engineers. “In 1989 Hong Kong Electric pioneered the introduction of mechanised tunnelling to Hong Kong, accepting the only bid that proposed the use of a tunnel boring machine for the construction of a 5.7 kilometre, 5 metre diameter cable tunnel […]
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“In the course of a recent research through some old records, the name of another of Hongkong’s pioneer firms was noticed, that of Gibb, Livingston and Company, who came here in the first year of the Colony’s foundation. The firm can indeed claim to be one of the oldest in this part of the world, at they commenced business in […]
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Macao Dragon Company Limited (Chinese: 巨龍船務有限公司; Portuguese: Dragão Gigante Transportes Marítimos, S.A.) was a start-up ferry company that offered services between the Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal, in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, and the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal in Taipa, Macau. It operated four 65m and 63m highspeed catamarans vessels powered by MTU Friedrichshafen engines using waterjet propulsion, which could accommodate up to 1,200 passengers. Operations of the company began on July 10, 2010. As of September 2010, […]
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