York Lo: Jaime Chua Tiampo (蔡天普) – Developer of Chungking Mansions (重慶大廈) Left: Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo as a young couple; Middle: Chungking Mansions in the 1970s with I-Feng’s signage still visible on the 3rd floor; Right: Ad for Chungking Mansions in 1960 (WKYP 1960-4-17) Built in 1961, Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui is probably one […]
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Hugh Farmer: When Hong Kong was established as a free trading port in 1841, there was no local currency available for daily circulation. Foreign currencies such as Indian rupees, Spanish and Mexican 8 Reales, Chinese cash coins and British currency were used instead. Coins specially issued for Hong Kong did not appear until 1863 when the first regal coins of Hong […]
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York Lo: Union Construction Co/Union Contractors (華聯建築) Left: Union Contractors founder Kew Chan (Geni); Right: Ad of Union Construction Co in 1950 (HKBCA Yearbook) Earlier in the group, I wrote a series of articles on Shanghainese builders and in Part 7 of the series, the firm Union Contractors was misclassified as a Shanghainese builder as its proprietor Chan Bing-quan(陳炳鈞, 1924-1988) was […]
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To follow the history of the Kwan family is to trace a complete history of Hong Kong graphic design. In 1845 the ‘China Trade’ artist Kwan Chuk Lam, known to the West as ‘Lamqua’ settled in Hong Kong. He was the only known pupil of the English painter G. Chinnery, and had exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy in the […]
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York Lo: The King of Watchbands: Poon Yuen-sang (潘遠生) and Yuen Sang Hardware (遠生金屬) Poon Yuen-sang delivering a speech as chairman of the HK & Kowloon Watch and Clock Merchants Association in 1961. Left to right: Mrs. Gertrude Kwok (郭贊夫人), Poon Yuen-sang, Lau Kam-fat (劉錦發), Lun Tin-lok (倫天樂), Chan Peng-fei (陳鵬飛) (WKYP, 1961-9-10) In the 1950s and 1960s, the HK […]
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York Lo: Yu Yat Kee Watch Co (余日記) Yu Yat Kee Watch’s main store on Johnston Road in Wanchai in 1960 (Paul Almasy, Artnet) Yu Yat Kee Watch Co was one of the leading watch retailers in HK from the 1920s through the 1970s alongside firms, such as Lam Yuen Fong and Budson, which were covered in earlier articles, with […]
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IDJ adds further details about the tunnel from 1911 and that excellent publication The Engineer The image shown is of the Old Beacon Hill Tunnel, South Portal, 1910 This article was first posted on 11th July 2014. Related Indhhk articles: Beacon Hill Tunnel, KCR, longest tunnel in China 1910
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York Lo: Far East Flour Mills (遠東麵粉廠) Far East Flour Mill when it was first completed in 1967 (WKYP, 1967-7-11) Earlier on the website I covered three flour mills which emerged in HK in the 1950s and 1960s – namely Hong Kong, Kowloon and HK Food Products. The last one to cover is Far East Flour Mills, which was opened […]
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HF and IDJ: Neil Pryde, the man, arrived in Hong Kong in 1963 to work as a sailmaker. In 1968 he represented Hong Kong at the Mexico City Olympic Games and in 1970 set up Neil Pryde the company. Neil Pryde Ltd was primarily a sailmaker, supplying sails mainly to yacht builders in Europe. With the emergence of moulded glassfibre […]
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HF: Extracted from Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong-kong, Shanghai and Other Treaty Ports of China, Wright A, Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company Ltd., 1908. A popular delicacy at home is the preserved ginger imported largely from China. The Hing Loong ginger factory in Canton is noted for producing some of tlie finest qualities, the export of which is controlled by Messrs. […]
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