Dodwell & Company (天祥洋行) was one of the leading British merchant firms, active in China and Japan during the 19th and 20th century. It was a direct rival to Jardine, Matheson & Co. “It was established in 1858 when W R Adamson and Company (silk dealers) set up in London, with its head office in Shanghai and branches in Hong Kong, […]
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In our Queries and Answers 5 Eric Spain had an enquiry about salt production in Mui Wo. He remembers seeing some RAF aerial photographs which showed salt pans there. [presumably immediately before, during or shortly after WW2?]. Frank Watson and Namussi added information to Q+A 5 which is linked below. HF: Further information can be found in a post I made on gwulo.com […]
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Rose, Downs and Thompson of Hull, UK was a manufacturer of plant for processing edible oils for making animal feeds and was also involved in supplying dredgers and excavators. This company biography suggests that in the first decade of the 20th century the company opened branches in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. 1777 Company established. 1871 Christiana Rose, of Rose and Downs, […]
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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 […]
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York Lo: Makers of Preserved Fruits – Wong Wing Kee, Lee Wah Mui, Hing Ah, Lee Sin Kee, Yam Hop Hing and Koon Wah I wrote an article earlier on the website about the “Five Treasures” of the HK sauce industry. Another traditional Chinese food product industry which is closely associated with sauce is preserved fruit (eg. Dried plums) as […]
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HF: The building that is now known as Western Market was originally the old Western Market (North Block), which was identified by Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) as one of the Declared Monuments in 1990. It is the oldest market building surviving in Hong Kong. Further information about the demolished South Block would be of great interest. As would images […]
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York Lo: Asia Provisions (亞洲辦館) and Asia Cold Storage (亞洲凍房) The Asia Company’s ad in 1960 (HK Police Magazine) Aside from Wang Kee and Wing Sang Cheong covered in earlier articles, The Asia Provisions Co Ltd (incorporated in 1970) and its predecessor The Asia Company (亞洲公司,1925-1970) has been a major player in the food provisions business in HK since its […]
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York Lo: Po Chai Lemonin (普濟檸檬精) Left: “Lemon King” Chan Shiu-chuen; Right: Po Chai Lemonin ad Founded in Canton in the early 1920s by Chan Shiu-chuen (陳少泉, 1903-1968) and moved to HK in the late 1940s, Po Chai Drug Co (普濟藥行) was best known for its Lemonin – a popular pain killer medicine across China and Southeast Asia from […]
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From Tai Ping Koon, which opened in 1860 and served Sun Yat-sen, to Gaylord Indian Restaurant, open since 1972, to the award-winning abalone served in Forum since 1977, these restaurants have stood the test of time. In a city where restaurants come and go with dizzying speed, those which have stood the test of time are few and far between. […]
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Mike T: There’s a lengthy, quite detailed article for Chinese-language readers at the link below. (I can’t read it myself, so have to infer from a poor-quality Google translation.) The author seems to have gotten a tour of the factory in 2011, and provides photos inside and out. I found it quite interesting that their production was once significant enough to […]
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