HF: Patrick Hase and James Hayes have kindly given permission to post their article, Traditional Tea Growing in the New Territories. KC Iu was also co-author but regrettably I have been unable to contact him. The article was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol 24, 1984. It has three sections, each written by one […]
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IDJ has sent this photo and accompanying short article about the demise of Dragon Kilns in Hong Kong. The technique as shown in the image looks more like hand-to-hand warfare than the manufacturing of bowls and cups. Was the white bucket used to extinguish the fires if things got a little out of control…? Such kilns were certainly found at […]
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James Hayes has kindly given permission to post his 1968 RASHKB article about the weaving of locally grown hemp thread into cloth during the annual visits of mostly male Hakka weavers. This was then used to make clothes, quilts, mosquito nets and other items of use in the New Territories in the 19th century. The practice appears to have ended […]
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York Lo: From Tea to Real Estate and Soy Milk and back to Tea – the six-generation saga of the family of Kwan Fan-fat Group picture of the Kwan family at the wedding of Kwan Fan-fat’s youngest son Kwan Kam-pui at the Kam Ling restaurant in Kennedy Town in 1949 (WKYP, 1949-7-10) Earlier on our website, we covered real estate […]
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Vaudine England has kindly sent a link to what she describes as a typically 1900-era directory of the European empires in the east. The author was D Warren Smith. We have already posted the following extracts from this account, Part One – Industries in Hong Kong, Part Two – Shipyards in Hong Kong, and Part Three – The Peak District […]
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HF: At Yan O Wan (also Yam), the bay just west of Sunny Bay MTR station on the north Lantau coast, you can still see large vertical tree trunks embedded in the sea floor. If you are in Hong Kong have a look next time you are on your way to the airport, Tung Chung or Disneyland by road or […]
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HF: While walking up Hatton Road above the University of Hong Kong, on The Peak on Monday 22nd January 2018, I came across the signs below about the Myrobalan tree, also known as Emblic and Yau Kam Chi or Phyllanthus emblica (Euphorbiaceae). This can be added to our small but growing list of HK trees that were traditionally used to […]
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HF: See added extract from a report at the end of this article regarding suggested reason for the final demise of the salt industry in Tai O which had probably been in existence (at least in HK) from about the 3rd century BC. 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of Shek Pik Reservoir on Lantau island. It was […]
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HF: Salt has apparently been produced in the San Hui/Wong Ka Wan area since the Qing Dynasty. This map shows the original coastline of the Tuen Mun area. Reclaimed land is indicated by grey. San Hui is at the north-east most point of the original bay. The article below was published in The Hong Naturalist , January 1940 The third […]
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HF: I am very happy to offer a little publicity to Lindsay Varty and the recent publication of her book, Sunset Survivors: Meet the people keeping Hong Kong’s traditional industries alive. This has been receiving excellent reviews and I understand from Lindsay that the first print has already sold out. Lindsay first contacted me in March wondering if she could […]
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