York Lo: Kapok(紅棉)and Golden Gate (金門) – HK Bakery Chains from the 50s and 60s and the family behind them Left: Kapok Bakery in Wanchai in the 1960s with its lighting decorations promoting its Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes; Right: Golden Gate Bakery’s sign (blue and red) on Jordan Road circa 1968. Before the rise of the bakery chains such as Maxim’s, St […]
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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: 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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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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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… Another restaurant that has withstood the ravages of the notoriously cutthroat Hong Kong dining industry is Forum, still one of the city’s best-known restaurants. […]
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The “Castle Peak Pottery Kiln” [青山陶窰] or “Dragon Kiln” [龍窰]) is located at Hin Fat Lane, Tuen Mun, off Castle Peak Road. Information about it can be found in the Antiquities Advisory Board Historic Building Appraisal report N147 shown below. The kiln’s grade 3 status was confirmed on 16th September 2014. However a March 2018 article in the Hong Kong Free […]
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This article was written by Christopher Munn, and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher. The publisher, HK University Press, and author have kindly granted permission for it to be posted here. Thanks also to Christopher for sending the first image of the E-Sing bakery. The second image was included in the original […]
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