“Discount the growing throngs of tourists and worsening traffic and not too much has changed for Tai O’s indigenous townsfolk. Shrimp, fish and squid are still laid out to air dry under the sun as they have for generations. But residents from one of the west Lantau town’s fishing villages are beginning to discover an additional use for sunshine through […]
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Charles Gordon Stewart Mackie was a Scottish businessman in Hong Kong and member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Hong Kong. He was born on 9th January 1880 and died on 17th March 1966. C. Gordon Mackie [by which name he seems to have been more commonly known] was associated with China and Hong Kong and head of […]
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Hong Kong Water Supply – Shenzhen Reservoir Tymon Mellor: In the post war Hong Kong, the rapid growth in population and industrialisation brought with it an increase in the demand for water. With improving housing conditions, there was an ever-growing need for additional supply of piped water. Considerable effort had been made to maximise the local resource but continued shortages […]
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Tymon Mellor: Following the completion of Pok Fu Lam Reservoir in 1871, the City of Victoria (modern Central) had a secure water supply throughout the year. However, within a year it was already recognised that the supply would not meet the growing demands of the population. A number of proposals were prepared to develop the Tai Tam catchment and supply […]
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Tymon Mellor: The supply of fresh drinking water to the residents of Hong Kong has always been a challenge, not because the territory is particularly short of water, but because the continuously fast-growing demand has always out stripped supply. The first attempts to address this conundrum were taken in the 1860’s with the construction of the first water supply reservoir […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]
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Tymon Mellor: The acquisition of Kowloon was primarily undertaken as a military exercise, but with it came the responsibility to provide fresh water for the existing population and the new large military contingent. The solution was to establish a number of wells and an associated rudimentary water distribution system, elements of which can still be seen today. The first official […]
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HF: These aerial photographs show the Lok On Pai desalting plant in 1973, 1982 and 2013. The plant opened in 1973 and closed in 1981 so the photos show it in the year of being commissioned, the year after its closure and last year. This article was first posted on 9th November 2014. Related Indhhk articles: Lok On Pai “desalting” […]
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James Hayes has kindly given permission for several of his articles published by the Royal Asiatic Society (HK Branch) to be posted on our website. Here he writes about Charcoal Burning in Hong Kong which was included by the RASHKB in its Journal Volume 11, 1971. James mentions several locations where charcoal was produced, namely:- Kwun Tong Lamma Island Tong […]
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