Hugh Farmer: For over two thousand years the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, to venerate ancestors, in traditional medicine and in daily life. The two most important ingredients in Chinese incense are agarwood and sandalwood. In what was to become colonial Hong Kong local producers brought in agarwood from across southern China as far back as the Song […]
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Hugh Farmer: The SCMP of 10th Feb 2014 contained a letter from Tony Price complaining about the enclosure surrounding the Fu Tei Wan Lime Kiln. This, the kiln, was originally on Chek Lap Kok island but was relocated to its present location beside Tung Chung Battery and close to the old pier. Mr Price commends The Antiquities and Monuments Office […]
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HF: Dr Patrick H Hase has sent a copy of his unpublished paper, Study on Old Trails in Hong Kong: Historical Background, 2011-12, which he has kindly said I can extract parts of and incorporate into articles of interest to the Group. I thought I would start with the section subtitled, Footpaths on Hong Kong Island, which describes the importance of […]
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Hugh Farmer: On a visit to the HK Museum of History on 6th Feb 2014 I noticed this enticing snippet from the Information Services Department 1960s. “Most home utensils such as baskets and strainers were woven from rattan rather than bamboo as in the past. Demand was high for bamboo-made fishing and farming tools, such as fish traps, cages for […]
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Hugh Farmer: These two extracts provide a clear indication of the range of manufacturing and products produced by Chinese in Hong Kong at two periods. It would be of interest to hear a little about some of these goods. “While the expatriate investors set up all the major industrial enterprises , the Chinese community also went beyond handicraft industries and […]
» Read moreDan Water’s article in Newsletter 8, Recollections of a Visit to a Joss-stick Mill in Tsuen Wan, describes the decline of this once important Hong Kong industry. It is highly unlikely there will be a serious revival of the incense mills (though how delightful it would be to visit a reconstructed, working incense water mill above Tsuen Wan or on […]
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