Additional information in red Hugh Farmer: Various sources mention the origin of the name of the once heavily industrialised Hong Kong area Kwun Tong. In particular it is suggested that the area was named after the Koon Fu salt yards (官富場), set up by the government to secure central administration of the salt trade and prevent unauthorised salt preparation and trading. […]
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Wanted! Can you spare a little of your time? Translators… We now have two people who have offered to translate Chinese, one Japanese translator and one Portuguese (the Macau connection). Would you be able help with the occasional, brief translation. Chinese naturally, Japanese, but also German, French and Italian. Or…? Contributors If you would like to write on a new subject, […]
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HF: The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) has published a Catalogue of Hong Kong Tunnels (up to February 2015). The list is extensive and as far as I know does not appear in a format which can be “searched”. The tunnels are grouped: 1. Road 2. Railway (MTRC and ex KCRC) 3. Water Supply 4. Drainage and Sewage 5. […]
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James Chan: The following appears in the Hong Kong Museum of History. It would be very interesting to hear more about this traditional industry that has died out. “Traditional New Territories markets had speciality cotton padded quilt shops but many “mountain” goods” and firewood shops also had a sideline in the quilt business. Essentially a seasonal trade a quilt shop […]
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Elizabeth Ride has kindly sent the sketch map and key from a February 1945 BAAG report shown below. Stephen Davies: This was also known at the Boat Pool. gwulo has a map shown in the its link below which shows the Camber as the small basin to the right, ie east, of the main basin. Hugh Farmer: Some mystery surrounds […]
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HF: The first tunnel connecting Hong Kong Island and Kowloon opened for traffic on the 2nd August 1972. However, and I think remarkably, there were at least two proposals to construct a bridge across the harbour, the first more than 70 years before the road tunnel. Tymon Mellor’s article, The Development of the Hong Kong Road Network 1841 to 1940 – […]
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HF: The article, Waglan Island lighthouse – a brief history, contains a brief mention of the Frosty Moller: Stephen Davies: Come the Japanese invasion in 1941, as far as I know, the original lens was broken up and thrown down the cliff into the water and the lighthouse machinery put out of commission. In Tony Banham’s exhaustive campaign narration (linked below), […]
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HF: Indigo was grown at several places in the NT including Tai Mo Shan and Ma On Shan up until the end of WW1 when it was replaced by commercial dyes. James Hayes wrote a RASHKB 1968 article about the weaving of locally grown hemp thread into cloth during the annual visits of mostly male Hakka weavers. This was then […]
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HF: In 2009 the Water Supplies Department published, Stream of Memories, which provides details of 41 “historic waterworks structures as statutory monuments.” These include dams and tunnel inlets, aqueducts and stone bridges, watchman’s houses and staff quarters going back to the initial establishment of a reliable supply of fresh water on Hong Kong Island around 150 years ago. Six locations, […]
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HF: It is worth looking at the Hong Kong Naturalist – “a quarterly illustrated journal principally for Hong Kong and South China” which was published from Jan 1930 until Feb 1941. The journal contain articles on a variety of subjects of interest to us including, oysters, Kowloon waterworks, agriculture in the New Territory [sic] and a couple of mountains where mines are mentioned. […]
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