Three HK bakeries 1864 – Dorabjee Nowrojee’s, The Wanchi and The Colonial, and mention of two other companies
HF: The first mention of a bakery in a Hong Kong newspaper I can find is that of Dorabjee Nowrojee’s in Queen’s road next to P&O Steam Ship Company’s office. The advert, published in 1864, is dated 1860 so it’s rather odd that it suggests a newly opened business. James Chan: The Wanchi Steam Bakery Company and The Colonial Bread […]
» Read moreHong Kong – Macau (Macao) Ferries
HF: Scheduled ferries have run between Hong Kong and Macau since the earliest days of the Hong Kong colony. Ferries to Macau departed from the old Macau Ferry Piers at this location from at least the mid 20th century, although in the 1960s the steamships – Tak Sing, Dai Loy, Fat Shan and the (more luxurious) Macao, would take around […]
» Read moreThe construction of the HSBC building in Hong Kong – images from its architect Foster + Partners
HSBC Main Building (香港滙豐總行大廈) is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong. The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The current building is the […]
» Read moreShanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee
York Lo: Shanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee In the first six articles in this series, all the Shanghainese builders profiled were firms that were established in pre-war Shanghai and moved to HK before or after 1949. This article will profile seven Shanghainese builders who were […]
» Read moreWilliam MacGregor Smith (Wahee, Smith & Co.) c1831- c1907
York Lo has sent the following information about William MacGregor Smith. He was the Smith in Wahee, Smith & Co which in turn became The China Sugar Refinery. Smith is buried in HK cemetery – the tombstone states he was 76 (and was erected in 1907) and was from Scotland. On page 50 of Carl Smith’s book Chinese Christians there is […]
» Read moreSquatter Factories in Hong Kong
HF: Walking through the concrete canyons of Wong Chuk Hang, To Kwa Wan or Kwun Tong, it’s easy to imagine Hong Kong when it was still an industrial powerhouse. Textile mills churned out fabric that ended up in clothing stores halfway around the world; plastic factories made flowers, toys and lampshades that were stamped with that ubiquitous phrase of the […]
» Read moreDragages Hong Kong – first HK projects, Kai Tak runway extension and Shek Pik reservoir
James Chan: Dragages Hong Kong, is a very familiar company name on signs at major construction projects around Hong Kong. It’s parent company is Bouygues Construction The company was founded in Vietnam in 1902 as Société Française Industrielle D’Extreme-Orient. It undertook its first project, the dredging and maintenance of a 2,000 kilometre canal system in the Mekong Delta. In 1910 […]
» Read moreConstruction of new filtration plant, Stubbs Road, Hong Kong Island, 1949
IDJ has kindly sent the following article extracted from the Hong Kong Sunday Herald of 31st July 1949. This adds a new aspect to the history of water supply in Hong Kong on the website which has been to date mainly articles about reservoirs, see below. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article. Modern Filter Beds Under Construction Modern […]
» Read moreShanghainese Builders in Hong Kong (Part Three) – Voh Kee, Chang Sung and Dah Cheng
York Lo: Shanghainese Builders in Hong Kong (Part Three) – Voh Kee, Chang Sung and Dah Cheng Voh Kee, Chang Sung and Dah Cheng were three Shanghainese builders which set up shop in Hong Kong between 1945 and 1949 and remained active in the local construction scene during the 1950s. All three firms have since faded away from the HK construction […]
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