We continued our sampan cruise through Aberdeen Harbor and were treated to more enjoyable waterscapes as well as cityscapes. I love harbors and as you can well imagine, shot several photos. A highlight was seeing the Jumbo Floating Restaurant up close.
Aberdeen (/æbərˈdiːn/ (listen)) is an area on southwest Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Southern District. While the name "Aberdeen" could be taken in a broad sense to encompass the areas of Aberdeen (town), Wong Chuk Hang, Ap Lei Chau, Tin Wan, Wah Kwai Estate and Wah Fu Estate, it is more often used to refer to the town only. According to the population census conducted in 2011, the total population of the Aberdeen area is approximately 80,000.
Aberdeen is famous not only to tourists but also to Hong Kong locals for its floating village and floating seafood restaurants located in the Aberdeen Harbour. The Tanka people, who used to live on boats in the Aberdeen Harbour, are generally associated with the fishing industry, and there are still several dozens of them living on boats in the harbour.
This town is named in memory of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1852-1855) and former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1841-1846). The statesman's title referred to Aberdeen in Scotland. Hong Kong's "Aberdeen" is also the name of a harbour and a housing estate:
Aberdeen Harbour is the harbour between Aberdeen (town) and Ap Lei Chau, and is one of the nine harbours in Hong Kong. It is known for its view and is a popular tourist spot. During the fishing moratorium and typhoon weather, the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters have provided a parking spot for fishing vessels owned by local fishermen.
Aberdeen Centre is a private housing estate located in Aberdeen town, owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited company. The twenty buildings (blocks), providing 2,788 private apartments, have provided a home for Hong Kong middle-class families for more than thirty years.
History
Starting from the Ming Dynasty, "Hong Kong" became the original name for the presently-named Aberdeen village. In the early 19th century, foreigners who landed near Aberdeen Village mistook the name of the village "Hong Kong" for the whole island. When the foreigners eventually realized their mistake, the name "Hong Kong" was already commonly used to refer to the entire island.
In Cantonese, Aberdeen is known indigenously as Hong Kong Tsai which means "Hong Kong Minor", "Son of Hong Kong" or "Little Hong Kong". It is believed that Aberdeen is where the name of Hong Kong (more accurately transcribed as Heung Kong) originates. Heung Kong Tsuen (香港村, "Hong Kong village") on Ap Lei Chau was mentioned on Ming-era maps. Another walled village called Heung Kong Wai in Wong Chuk Hang was also founded during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. Hong Kong means "fragrant harbour", and it was Aberdeen where incense trees (Aquilaria sinensis) from the New Territories used to be brought for export to other cities in China. One alternative Chinese name was Shek Pai Wan (石排灣).
At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Aberdeen Town was 1,314. The number of males was 951.
In the Second World War, during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945), the Chinese name of Aberdeen, Hong Kong Tsai, was transformed into Japanese as Moto Hong Kong (元香港), meaning "The Origin of Hong Kong".
Moored in the harbour between Wong Chuk Hang and Ap Lei Chau, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant was a popular tourist spot. Designed to resemble a floating palace of imperial China, it had attracted over 30 million visitors since it opened in 1976. According to the parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises (ARE), as of 2022 the Jumbo Floating Restaurant had been unprofitable since 2013 and had accumulated losses exceeding HK$100 million. At roughly 11pm on 31 May, the kitchen boat of the restaurant began listing following a hull breach. It happened as preparations were being made to tow the restaurant. The restaurant barge was eventually towed out of Hong Kong on 14 June, though the kitchen boat and Tai Pak were left behind. Its destination was Cambodia according to the Marine Department, but this has not been confirmed by ARE. The company said that before the tow, the restaurant was inspected, hoardings were installed, and all relevant approvals were obtained. On 18 June 2022, while being towed in the South China Sea, the restaurant experienced bad weather and began listing. Despite rescue efforts, it fully capsized the next day near the Paracel Islands in waters over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep. In March 2023, DimSum Daily reported that there was plan to lift Jumbo's kitchen boat. It had partially sunk in the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters shortly before the main restaurant barge was towed away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo_KingdomFood
The family-run Shan Loon Tse Kee Fish Balls Restaurant (山窿謝記) served Chiuchow-style fish ball with soup noodles for 65 years until it closed on 31 March 2012 due to rising fish prices and staffing problems.[9] The Tse Kee Restaurant served famous guests such as Christopher Patten, former Governor of Hong Kong (1992-1997); Donald Tsang, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong (Head of the Government) (2005-2012); Henry Tang, former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong (2007-2011); Tony Leung, a famous actor; Chua Lam, a well-known food critic; and Eason Chan, a celebrated singer. Tse Kee Restaurant helped make "Aberdeen Fish Balls Noodles Culture" (香港仔魚蛋粉) well-known.
Six Jau Laus (Cantonese restaurants, 酒樓) such as The Tao Heung and The Foo Lum are located in the neighborhood of Aberdeen. A traditional Cantonese restaurant called Chau Kee (周記) is located on the Aberdeen Main Road. The noodles restaurants group Nam Kee (南記) started in Aberdeen in the early 1980s, promoting the "Aberdeen Fish Balls Noodles Culture" (香港仔魚蛋粉). The Nam Kee has two restaurants in Aberdeen, along with thirteen others in Hong Kong. There are several other Chinese noodles restaurants located in Aberdeen Centre as well.
Fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, KFC, Yoshinoya, Fairwood, Café de Coral and Maxim's MX are located in Aberdeen Centre, along with Cha Chaan Teng (Hong Kong-style fast food restaurants) such as Tai Hing Restaurant (太興) and Tsui Wah Restaurant.
Japanese restaurants such as Genki Sushi, Watei (和亭) and Sushi Express; Thai One, a Thai restaurant; and Viet's Choice (越棧), a Vietnamese restaurant, are also located in Aberdeen Centre. The Pacific Bar is located in Aberdeen Centre as well, serving mainly foreigners living in 'Aberdeen Centre', the private housing estate.
Tourism
Aberdeen Promenade, located right next to Aberdeen Harbour on the Aberdeen town side, as well as the Ap Lei Chau Bridge and Aberdeen Channel Bridge, are famous places for tourists to take photographs of Aberdeen Harbour. The two areas attract many tourists.
The route of Big Bus Tours Hong Kong includes Aberdeen Praya Road, where tourists can take photographs of Aberdeen Harbour on open-top buses.
Sampans (junks) can be hired by tourists for a tour of Aberdeen Harbour.
Aberdeen attracts many tourists as it is in the vicinity of Ocean Park, also located in the Southern District, near the Aberdeen Sports Ground, which is the other famous theme park apart from Hong Kong Disneyland.
In 1973, the Hollywood martial arts film Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee, used Aberdeen Harbour as a filming location for the scenes where the principal characters assemble on Han's junk for the sea journey to his island.
In 1987, Aberdeen harbour appears in multiple shots in the TV miniseries of James Clavell's Novel, "The Noble House", starring Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan's character travels to and meets with a Chinese triad leader, "Four Finger Wu" on his junk in the harbour. The two discuss kidnappings, lines of credit, and call ancient favours and debts.
In 1991, the American action film Double Impact, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, includes an escape scene that was shot on the fishing vessels in Aberdeen Harbour, in which Van Damme swims to another fishing vessel in Aberdeen Harbour and ultimately escapes.
In 2003, the Hollywood movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life showed Angelina Jolie (Lara) in the Aberdeen Harbour on a floating houseboat using the Chinese family's satellite to communicate. This was mirrored to some extent in the 2018 reboot Tomb Raider (film), where an action scene was filmed in/around the fishing village of Aberdeen Harbour.
The Aberdeen Harbour has also appeared in movies such as Jackie Chan's The Protector (1985) and another Hong Kong movie, Infernal Affairs II (2003).
Aberdeen has occasionally appeared in TVB's (a local television station) Food and Travel programs such as Master So Food and Neighborhood Gourmet 2, as Aberdeen is known throughout Hong Kong for its food culture.
For additional images and narrative. Please see my previous posts:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-772991-1.html#13890073https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-773192-1.html#13893955https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-773472-1.htmlhttps://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-773628-1.html#13904088I hope you enjoy these!
Mark
We continued our sampan cruise through Aberdeen Ha... (
