The SCMP of 18th April 2013 contained an article of interest. It reported that a Director of Audit’s report had found that sixteen public heritage sites either were not being maintained or had not been used for periods of up to twenty years. The audit considered it unsatisfactory that ten government-graded buildings had been left unattended. One of the sites […]
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HF: Jennie Tang, the granddaughter of one of the five Tang brothers, left a comment about the original Historical Building Appraisal article shown below. It should be noted that Jennie doubts the existence of the third brother mentioned in the Appraisal. When I contacted her she kindly sent further information, and the two photos shown here, especially about her grandfather, […]
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HF: Alfred Herbert Rennie, came to Hong Kong from Canada as the sales representative of the American Company, Portland Flouring Mills. He started the Hongkong Milling Company in what was then called Junk Bay. However, despite backing from several prominent local businessmen his company quickly became mired in multiple problems and Rennie committed suicide while travelling by boat to his […]
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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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York Lo: The “Five Treasures” of the HK Sauce Industry While many industries and its players in HK have come and gone, the sauce industry is one where the players have particularly strong staying power and within the sauce industry, five firms – Pun Chun, Mee Chun, Tung Chun, Koon Chun and Pat Chun- collectively known as “Five Treasures” (as […]
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York Lo: King of Kings (皇上皇) – Ice Cream and Dried Sausages King of Kings (biggest blue sign) next to Chung Yuen Electrical (red sign under the blue Sony sign) on Des Voeux Road Central in the 1960s. Earlier on the website we have covered several prominent ice cream manufacturers from the past such as On Lok Yuen, Finland […]
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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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Hugh Farmer: When I first came to Lamma Island in the early 1990s a powerful odour greeted the visitor as you entered Yung Shue Wan. The smell was instantly recognisable and initially overwhelmingly unpleasant. The manufacturing of shrimp paste. I got used to the odour. Then I began to actually like it. And now I miss it, it’s still made on […]
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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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Hugh Farmer: Does anyone know if this London company had any connection to Hong Kong apart from in its name? This advert is from 1847 courtesy of the superb British website www.gracesguide.co.uk. I don’t know where it was originally published. Note that “Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, Hotel & Boarding House Keepers …may be supplied with packages”. That leaves most of us out […]
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