This shop in Yaumatei sells supplies for ships: gauges, hoses, pulleys, ropes, lamps, motors, pumps, life jackets, floats, and many other things I cannot name. There used to be a lot of these shops but few remain now.The street corner where the shop is used to be the south-east corner of the Yaumatei typhoon shelter. The shelter has now been filled up to become the West Kowloon reclamation area; and the typhoon shelter has been pushed several hundred meters west of where it was. Such is Hong Kong. At a cursory glance, things seem to be the same. Yet at a closer look, everything is different already. The typhoon shelter is not really “the” typhoon shelter.
Here is a another interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new: (a) one of the remaining small fishing boats, keeping alive the fishing tradition; (2) one of the many boats that collect refuse from the habour, helping to make it look clean; and (3) a pleasure boat made to look like a sailing junks, keeping up the pretence that these distinctly Chinese boats still exist in Hong Kong.
2 comments:
Hi Stephen,
I saw this post some 4 years later. Does the shop still exist or did it fall into the hands of property developers? I would love to visit the shop. thanks! Sophia
Dear Sophia, I don't know for sure. I suspect it should still be there. At least the building is. If I remember correctly, it is on Man Cheong Street, near Ferry Street. I am in the USA at the moment. Cannot really check it now. Please let me know if you can find it.
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