Stephen Davies: My favourite early, short-lived, Hong Kong shipyard is the German Ulderup and Schlüter, which only seems to have operated from c.1900-1914. It had the actual shipyard in Shamshuipo and an office at 21 Connaught Rd, Central. They became the local agents for the Swedish Bolinder marine diesels (Bolinder Rohölmotoren – strictly semi-diesels) – two strokes that for the first […]
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Stephen Davies has researched the many small shipyards which existed along the Wanchai waterfront from shortly after the colony of Hong Kong came into being up until the early years of the 20th century: These shipyards had a tough time during this period especially during HK’s first 20 years. Businesses came and went because of fluctuating demand thanks to some […]
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York Lo: Wing Tai Cheung (榮泰祥木廠) – Timber Merchant and Saw Mill Ad for Wing Tai Cheung Co in 1958 (HKBCA yearbook) For most of the 20th century, Wing Tai Cheung operated by three generations of the Kan family was one of the leading timber merchants and saw mills in Hong Kong with branches across Hong Kong and Kowloon and […]
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Rico Lee: ‘Just encountered a rare short documentary about “French technology in the Far East” on ina.fr featuring an aluminum production plant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, construction of Shek Pik Reservoir, and the Jatiluhur Dam in Indonesia. All the result of French involvement.’ The Shek Pik-related part was clipped and reposted by Save Lantau Alliance to rally support against development of Lantau […]
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York Lo: Stanley Kuo (郭正達, 1923-2009): King of Threads, Textile Industrialist and Credit Card Pioneer Earlier on the website, we covered the aluminum pioneer Wah Chong founded by the Kuo family from Shanghai. Stanley Kuo Cheng-dai, the eldest son of Wah Chong founder K.Y. Kuo, had achieved success independent of Wah Chong as the co-founder of successful businesses in three […]
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York Lo: Min Ngai: Leading Maker of Singlets and Vests from the 1920s to the 1960s Left: Ad for Min Ngai in 1941 (A Century of Commerce, 1941); Center: Min Ngai’s booth at the 15th HK Product Expo in 1958 on the right, on the left was Amoy Canning’s booth; Right: Ad for Min Ngai Huat Kee in 1958 (WKYP, […]
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Stephen Davies/Hugh Farmer SD: The largest vessel I know for certain to have been built at the Ah King yard, in 1938/39, was the wonderful exploration junk Cheng Ho, 100ft long and with the most marvellous history. She was built for Ann Archbold, daughter of the founder of Standard Oil to amazingly extravagant specs (some of the interior shots are […]
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Ian Wolfe has sent a photo from an unknown source. Ian: It’s undated but the time taken should be before 1949. The Green Island plant with an interesting aerial ropeway can be seen here – Tower A is approximately at the present ELDEX building,[location shown below], while pylons B,C,D,E and F stretches the ropeway towards the coastline and ended up going […]
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Earlier in the group, we have covered several major torchlight manufacturers such as Sonca (formerly V.K. Song & Co), Sunbeam, Nam Jam, Tang Fun Kee and Everlight. But the first torchlight manufacturer in HK was Sing Chow Electric Factory, which was founded in 1920 by Nanhai natives Chan Ting-yu (陳定宇), his older brother Chan Shek-hou (陳碩候) who returned from Peru […]
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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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