HF: The SCMP of 17th December 2015 contained an article about the closure of the Hap Wa dai pai dong on the Fu Shin public housing estate (富善邨) which was built on reclaimed land in Tai Po in 1985. If you are unfamiliar with the term dai pai dong it is a type of open-air food stall once very popular in Hong […]
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On Monday October 21st 2013 an explosion destroyed the Ching Yuen Bean Curd factory in Sheung Tsuen village (near Shek Kong, NT). One worker was killed and four others injured when a cauldron blew up in the 80-square metre cubicle that housed the furnaces. The factory contained two stoves, one using diesel, the other burning wood, and it was the […]
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York Lo: Finland, London and Swiss – 3 Ice Cream Brands from the 1960s Aside from Dairy Farm, On Lok Yuen and Yan Chim Kee which have been covered in earlier articles, three other HK ice cream makers from the 1960s were Finland Ice Cream, London Ice Cream and Swiss Ice Cream – all with European sounding names but 100% Chinese […]
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“We’ve had shops there, there, there and here,” says Antony Yu Kai-chiu, director and general manager of chilli-sauce maker Yu Kwen Yick, as he points out various shopfronts on Third Street, in Sai Ying Pun. Yu Kwen Yick has only strayed once from Third Street – and that was for a four-year stint on nearby Second Street. “We’ve always been […]
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One of our earliest articles was Linda Kernan’s, The Vitasoy Story, which was sent out in email Newsletter 6 in May 2013. A recent SCMP article provides further information about the company which was started in 1940 by Lo Kwee Seong as The Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Company. As this suggests, “It’s one of a few classic Hong Kong brands, […]
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Jennifer Lang posted the article, The Aerial Ropeway (1891-1932) and Sanitarium (1893-1932) of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. Here’s a photograph of the lower ropeway (cableway) station posted on the Taikoo and Kowloon Dock Families facebook site. HF: I have contacted this group’s administrator David Yuill. I would be delighted to hear from any other participants. See: Taikoo and Kowloon Dock Families […]
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HF: I have occasionally changed the original script of the following passage in order to aid clarity. ”Pokfulam Village, built over 200 years ago, is one of the oldest living villages in Hong Kong. The earliest written record is found in San On Gazetteer (1819 version). It is believed that the village was founded by some Hakka Chinese (the Chan, […]
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James Chan:This report is from The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia 7th April 1913. It adds information to our other articles about ginger in HK. “There has been a general increase in the export of preserved and candied ginger from China during the past few years, the United States particularly showing a growing demand for this sweetmeat. Exports during the past […]
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York Lo: Behind the Shades: David Miao (繆德維 1912-2006) – the low-profile partner of George Ho behind many high-profile products (Minolta cameras and copiers, Philips radios …) and services (Commercial Radio, ABC Paging) in HK David Miao (right) and George Ho at the 30th anniversary party for Commercial Radio in 1989. As the leading radio station in town, Commercial Radio […]
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Jennifer Field Lang: Aerial Ropeway circa 1911 at the gap on Mount Parker looking down the valley towards the Taikoo Sugar Refinery and Aldrich Bay (Source: Historic Photographs of China, G. Warren Swire Collection, University of Bristol, Image # 20390). In 1891, a 2.3-kilometer long aerial ropeway was constructed from a location near the Taikoo Sugar Refinery (approximately located at […]
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