Life in Hong Kong: Aberdeen

Aberdeen is a town on the south shore of Hong Kong Island. It was originally called Heung Kong Tsai, or Hong Kong Minor. When the first foreigners came, they thought the whole island was called Hong Kong and that is how Hong Kong got its name. Hong Kong means ' little fragrant harbor,' named after trees which were burned as incense for worship, and grew in the New Territories. They were then shipped from Aberdeen and exported to other cities in China. In 1845 the town was named Aberdeen after the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

The promenade along the harbor is very pretty with trees and benches to rest on and admire the view.

Aberdeen is a working harbor with lots of fishing and pleasure boats.

When Dallas was visiting in Oct. he and l spent some time in Aberdeen. There is not a lot to do there, but it
is an interesting harbor and fun to walk along the promenade and watch the fishing boats.

The fishing fleet is not as large as it was in the 70's, as that industry has declined with
over fishing. There are other industries in Aberdeen such as shipyards, textile factories, warehouses and
engineering works, and of course tourists.

The free shuttle boat that goes to the Jumbo Kingdom.

Looking from the promenade to the Ap Lei Chau bridge which connects Hong Kong island to
Ap Lei Chau island (Duck tongue island). It's named this because of its shape. With around 90,000 people residing there it is one of the most densely populated islands in the world.

A sampan bobbing along on the waves.

Come aboard a sampan for a cruise among the boats along the harbor.

One of the sampan operators had his pet bird hanging from this branch.

Our pilot. Many of the operators are older women.

Mending fishing nets.

Spotted a Samoyed dog on this boat. We have had three Sammie's over the years, and some
times miss having a dog. There is one living in our complex, but l feel sorry for it every
time l see it in the summer heat.

The old fashioned straw hats are still worn by many here. These hats are typical of the
Tanka and Hoklo clans.

Fish drying in the sun!

The hat suits him better than me!!

Just liked the Chinese flag blowing in the breeze!

There didn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to where boats were moored!

Ocean going fishing trawlers. Some of these travel as far away as Malaysia and Philippians.

The one on the right is an older sail boat. Like the plants on the other ones deck.

House boats. Around 5,000 people still live on their vessels. At one time over 20,000 Tanka and Hoklo 'boat people" lived in traditional wooden junks. At one point in time these clans were forbidden to live on land or marry land people, and were born, married and died on their junks and sampans. Since the early
20th century they have the same rights as anyone else and gradually they have moved off the
boats into the high rise apartments all around the harbor.

Modern pleasure boats coincide along with the traditional working boats.

So many people living in such a small area!

Checking out the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. We were going to go there for lunch, but the less
expensive cafe wasn't open till 6 pm and we didn't really want to spend $1000. for lunch!