Aberdeen Centre (Aberdeen Square)
Aberdeen Centre was established in 1979 by Hutchison Whampoa Limited. It now is a large private housing estate in the Southern District of Hong Kong, posited at the prosperous city center of Aberdeen. Branches of various Chain stores are also located there, like McDonald's, Waston, and Japan Home Centre. In fact, it used to be the first dry dock in Hong Kong.Dock is a kind of working platform for repairing and building vessels in the shipyard. The dry dock is the most common type in Hong Kong. In 1857, the former Governor, John Bowring requested to build docks in Hong Kong since he was interested in its geographical advantages. In 1858, two sites in Aberdeen were then leased out. One of them was awarded to a Scottish shipbuilder, John Lamont. His name was used as the name of this dock, the Lamont Dock. It was completed in mid-1860. It started operating and servicing merchant or fishing vessels. Many small docks were closed at that time because they could not service large vessels. In 1865, the Lamont Dock and other two docks were purchased by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company Limited. They were combined as Aberdeen Docks and then became one of the biggest docks in Hong Kong. However, in early 1960, a fire broke out between boathouses around a river mouth of Staunton Creek. So the government started conducting land reclamation again to improve people's living environment in 1965. This caused a great change in fishermen's lifestyle. The increasing cost and competitors and the urban modernization caused the fishery and shipbuilding industry to start to decline. More and more fishermen moved to the dry land. The Aberdeen Docks was closed in 1970. To manage the population increase, it was turned into residential land, where now the Aberdeen Centre is located at.
Hoi Wong Temple
Fishermen had to go out to sea to make a living. So most of them believed in the water gods to pray for safety at sea. Go straight and turn left, you will see a small temple near the street, which is the Hoi Wong Temple.The Hoi Wong Temple is about only one meter high and breadth. Information regarding this temple is quite hard to find. Reportedly, it was there a long time ago and was completed in 1950. It was originally smaller, but extended in the 1980s. It was located at a shore-side where fishermen went out to the sea and went on the shore. This is the only temple consecrated to Hoi Wong, one of the Emperors of the Sea. On every year's twelve of December in the Lunar Calendar, people will invite a Taoist priest and place many offerings surrounding the temple, like pastries and fruits, to celebrate the Hoi Wong Festival.There is a rule that people cannot move the location of the temple. In 1979, around the period Aberdeen Centre was established, people tried to relocate the temple because of the city's development. Immediately, a nearby restaurant caught fire. They thought they had made the water god angry. Afterward, nobody dares to move it. That's why it is near the street. It shows the original coastline of this area.
Sampan Ride
In order to achieve full experience as a fisherman, we add a Sampan tour in our tour route.Participants get to enjoy the view in Aberdeen Harbour while visit famous spots in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau while travelling in Sampan.
Jumbo Floating Restaurant
It is located in Sham Wan and is the largest floating restaurant in Hong Kong. The decoration inside and outside the restaurant has spent over 30 million dollars to construct. It is renowned for its seafood and Chinese-influenced designs that mimicked the Ming Dynasty palaces. Before transforming into the Jumbo Kingdom, there were only floating Chinese restaurants in the 1920s. It was opened by local fishermen and sea residents, which targeted local people and close family members, not intended to serve outsiders. When this kind of restaurant started to increase, people from other districts began to come, making this format of restaurants more open to the public. In the 1940s, Yue Lei Tai Floating Restaurant was founded. It was a renowned Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen, and its original purpose was to spread Christan thoughts, build ships, and host weddings for fishermen. Through hosting a wedding banquet, this restaurant gained more popularity and shifted from a restaurant located at the coast to a floating seafood restaurant after the second World War. During the 1950s, Hong Kong's economy started to recover from the war. Leading to people being more capable of affording luxury seafood restaurants. Three Chinese restaurants then cooperated to create the Tai Pak Seafood Floating Restaurant, which only consists of a wooden panel on land, and later changed to a two stories high Chinese palace-like design since their business has skyrocketed. The new designs and format did attract many Western and Japanese tourists to visit. In the late 60s, some investors saw the opportunity in floating seafood restaurants and decided to build the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, which is larger than Tai Pak, planning to make a fortune through using a similar format. It was intended to be located in Shum Wan, Aberdeen, which is its current location. However, before the construction process was finished, a severe fire occurred in 1971. The soldering process enlightened the plastic, wood board, and paint nearby, causing a level 4 fire at the end, which had over 30 people die and 24 people got hurt due to the incident. After the fire, investors including Ho Hung Sun also known as the gambling king took over the development of the Jumbo restaurant. In 1975, the repair was completed after four years and was officially opened in 1976 October. Since the reclamation process was initiated by the government, Tai Pak restaurant had to move to Aberdeen. And later in 2003, the construction started and merged both floating seafood restaurants, attempting to create a new brand image for itself. The opening of the Jumbo restaurant attracted many high-ranked officials and international celebrities(i.e Elizabeth II and Tom Cruise), becoming one of the must-see sites in Hong Kong. Many fishermen in Aberdeen provided fresh lobsters and fish to the restaurant. Unfortunately, this restaurant was closed until further notice due to the current pandemic situation, as workers were reduced from 120 to 60 in 2020.
Kai-To
Kai-To is a small, motorized ferry usually used to serve remote coastal settlements in the territory's outlying islands. Currently, there are 78 fixed kai-to routes. Back in the 1980s, kai-to is operated via motorboat called "water taxi" or "Walla-walla", named after the noise of the motorboat's engine.The service of Kai-To is flexible. Operators can make adjustments to the opening time and frequency of the boats and charges at their discretion. Participants can have a look at the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market and have a taste of traditional boat noodles during the tour.
Hung Shing Temple
The temple was built in honour of the God of the South Sea, Hung Shing. Although there are other temples in Hong Kong worshipping the same god, this temple is famous for the dragon pillars in front of it. The dragon pillars were designed to safeguard the fishermen community in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau, also the fishermen at sea. There is also a superstitious saying that the dragon pillars were built to resist the power of police across the shore in Aberdeen. As the police station was located on the top of the hill in Aberdeen, the residents thought it resembled a tiger opening its mouth, afraid it might bring bad luck to Ap Lei Chau. With the concern of bad Fung Shui, residents decided to build two dragon pillars to resolve the potential crisis.The Hung Shing Festival is held annually on the 13th day of the second lunar month. People would parade in Ap Lei Chau along with Hung Shing and other gods in the Temple. There will be a Cantonese Opera performance for the deities too.
Hong Kong Harbour Mission Church
Hong Kong Harbour Mission Church was formerly a ship promoting Christian thoughts. The church also provided kindergarten and primary education for children from the fishermen community in the past. It is now functioned as a church and kindergarten, providing education for the community.What is a ship promoting Christian thoughts? In the early 20th century, western missionaries came to Hong Kong to preach the gospel. Soon, they have encountered certain difficulties to preach the gospel to fishermen. As most of the fishermen lived on ships and boats most of the time, they seldom lived on the shore. The inconvenience in transportation makes attending assemblies on Sunday become difficult. Moreover, fishermen do not stay in a place for a long period of time, which makes the missionaries' work even harder. Therefore, the missionaries came up with the idea of "Gospel Ship" They would sail in Aberdeen Harbour and invite Fishermen to join the assemblies.
