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Aberdeen Floating Village 香港仔水上人家 | |
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Floating Village | |
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Country | ![]() |
District | Southern District |
Constituency | Aberdeen |
Government | |
• Type | Local council |
• Body | District council |
• District Council elected member | Pauline Yam (Independent) |
Population | 6,000 |
Aberdeen floating village | |||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 香港仔水上人家 | ||||||||
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Aberdeen floating village is located at the Aberdeen Harbour in the Southern District of Hong Kong. The harbour is known to contain 600 junks and is home to 6,000 people.
Since the 19th century,Aberdeen has arguably emerged as one of the most important fishing ports in Hong Kong. In the 1990s and 2000s,the population of the Aberdeen Floating Village community decreased [1] due both to the rapid development of fisheries in the Guangdong Province and the increase in operating costs of the fishing industry in Hong Kong.
Presently,the majority of the boat people do not permanently live in their boats. Rather,most simply use the boat to fish during the day. Most of the descendants of the floating people have chosen to relocate to high-rise accommodations on dry land. [2]
Prior to the 1950s,salt fish was the major catch sold at Aberdeen. [3] Today,Aberdeen is the only fishing port in the Southern District in Hong Kong. It continues to play an important role in the fishing industry. Over one-third of the fish caught in Hong Kong are caught in Aberdeen port. [3] During the Fishing Moratorium Period (June and July),more than 1,000 fishing vessels are anchored at the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter. [3]
The people living on boats in Aberdeen are mainly Tanka,a group which arrived in Hong Kong around the 7th to 9th century. The word "Tanka" literally means "egg people," so given because ethnic group paid taxes with eggs instead of money. [2] While the term "Tanka" is used by the boat-dwellers themselves,use by an outsider is considered derogatory. [4] Aside from the Tanka,there is another ethnic group in the floating village called Hoklo [5] who originally came from Fujian province. [2] The Tanka and Hoklo ethnic groups have not always historically been peaceful with each other. [4]
While sometimes referred to as "boat people",they are not related to Vietnamese refugees,also known as boat people,who came to Hong Kong by boat in the 1970s. [6]
The total population of boat dwellers in Hong Kong was estimated at 2,000 in 1841, [7] 150,000 in 1963 [8] and at 40,000 in 1982. [9]
Aberdeen's temple to Tin Hau attests to a long tradition of marine and fishing cultures and traditions in Hong Kong. [10] Aberdeen's role as a port emerged between the 14th and 17th centuries when sandalwood (taang heung muk) arrived in junks from Lantau Island and Sha Tin. [10] The waters of Aberdeen served as the intermediary,dispatching the sandalwood into larger boats up the East China coast to major cities in China. [10]
Aberdeen boat people are well known for their floating restaurants which serve fresh seafood caught directly from their own boats. Each floating restaurant serves different types of seafood,each with a unique Cantonese cuisine flavor. Some boat people sell fresh seafood,dried fish and salt fish on their respective boats along the coast. [11]
Dragon boat racing in Hong Kong commenced in the 1900s. The Duanwu Festival,taking place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Lunar calendar is an event of tremendous importance to Hong Kong fishermen. Fishermen believe that rowing dragon boats during the Duanwu festival will bring them luck. Each boat carries with it 48 paddlers. Aberdeen is a pioneer in hosting dragon boat races.
Aberdeen hosts the Dragon Boat race each year. [12]
Although Aberdeen has now been transformed into a semi-commercial district,it has maintained the style of a fishing village. Some of the residents actively engage in boat activities and mainly rely on the boat for daily living. Some common boat people activities include fish salt-processing,washing fish and driving,and serving as tour guides on the sightseeing sampans on the waterfront. [11]
Some boat people are employed at the boat restaurants which sell fresh seafood mainly to tourists. The chefs in the restaurants use traditional methods of cooking fresh seafood to provide tourists with a taste of Aberdeen. [11]
Some boat people drive and serve as tour guides for sightseeing sampans on the waterfront. When people are walking along the shore,the boat people invite them for boat travel to some small islands nearby or the surrounding area for 20 to 30 minutes. [11] The tour guides introduce the scenic and special points of those areas to the tourists during the ride. The ride costs $50 to $80 Hong Kong dollars. [11]
At least once a day,boat people drive their boats out to the surrounding areas to catch fish. The catch is handed over to the wholesalers in the Fish Marketing Organization (F.M.O) for further wholesaling,or simply sold directly to wet markets or seafood restaurants. [11]
There are many other people in Aberdeen who neither live nor work on boats. [13] Most of these people consume fresh seafood from small-scale fish boats,or go to seafood restaurants to dine. There are two famous floating restaurants in Aberdeen:the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and the Tai Pak Floating Restaurant. [13] In addition to restaurant-going,non-boat people also go to the marine parks at the waterfront to exercise and socialize. [13]
Trawling is the most common method used by the fishermen in the South and East China seas. The type of trawling method used depends on which type of fish the fisherman intends to catch. [14]
For the gill-netting operation,the fish boat pulls a long net at its rear. For the seine fishing operation,fishermen place a rounded net into the sea when they see a school of fish swim by. The long-lining operation consists of the fish boat pulling a string,tagged with little fish,to attract and lure the fish into the string. [14]
To catch shrimp,fishermen use the shrimp trawling operation,during which they throw small bags into the sea to catch shrimp. [14]
Shrimp trawlers are used to catch shrimp using the shrimp-trawling method. However,shrimp trawlers account for a very small portion of trawlers in Hong Kong. Currently,the most common trawlers in Hong Kong are the Hang Trawlers,Sten Trawlers,Purse Seniers and Gill-Netters. [14] All of these local fishing boat junks were mechanized after the Pacific War. [14]
The Fish Marketing Organization (F.M.O) is a self-financed,non-profit organization that provides marketing services to fishermen and fish retailers at the Aberdeen floating village. [15] F.M.O's income derives from the commission on sales and surplus earnings. F.M.O's earnings are used to improve the facilities of the Aberdeen Floating Village. [15] Wholesale fish markets operated by the F.M.O are located along the Aberdeen Promenade.
Every morning the Aberdeen boat people catch fresh fish to make fish balls. These fish balls are used to create the local Aberdeen specialty,"Fish Ball Noodles". Boat people use traditional and other unique ways of cooking the fish ball noodles. Every evening at 6,people from all over Hong Kong come and visit the village to enjoy the delicacy. [11]
The fishing port of Aberdeen has been a major tourist attraction to the local population and tourists alike due its scenery and seafood.[ citation needed ] The Hong Kong Tourist Association and the government of Hong Kong have been active in promoting Aberdeen,which benefits the catering and travel industries in the area. [1] [ better source needed ]
Along the Aberdeen Promenade,there are multiple ferryboats and a lead-way to Ap Lei Chau,Lamma and Po Toi. There are also a series of shuttle ferries to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and sampans for hire for sightseeing activities. [1]
The Jumbo Floating Restaurant was one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Aberdeen. It was a double-story boat, which serves Cantonese–style cooked seafood on board. The Jumbo Floating Restaurant was popular to mostly tourists and locals who bring their overseas business clients and foreign friends for a taste of traditional Hong Kong life. [1] The restaurant was temporarily closed during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020. On 14 June 2022, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant was towed out of Hong Kong to transfer ownership in Cambodia. While in-transit in the South China Sea, it capsized admist stormy weather near the Paracel Islands on 19 June 2022. Its operator has denied describing it as sunk saying "[it] was still in the waters".
Although now Aberdeen has been transformed into a semi-commercial district, it has still maintained the style of a fishing village. Riding traditional sampans to cruise around the typhoon shelter or to cross the waters to Ap Lei Chau is a popular activity for tourists. The sampans to Ap Lei Chau are provided with the Octopus Card (the multi-purpose store valued smart card system in Hong Kong). [1]
The Aberdeen Country Park is built around the reservoirs on the southern side of Hong Kong. The Aberdeen Country Park contains leisure trails and promenades. The longest trail can be completed within an hour. The Hong Kong Tourist Association has established an information center in the park’s southern section for the documentation of informative pamphlets, further contributing to the educational sector of the park. [1]
The Tin Hau Temple in Aberdeen was founded in 1851, and it serves the purpose of worshipping Goddess Tin Hau. Every April (23rd day of third lunar month), the temple flourishes with ceremonies for the purpose of celebrating Tin Hau's birthday. During the ceremony, people decorate their boats on the Aberdeen shores and lion dances are performed outside the temple. [1]
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often illegal techniques such as electrocution, blasting and poisoning.
Lamma Island, also known as Y Island or Pok Liu Chau or simply Pok Liu, is the third largest island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District. Lamma Island is a rural area.
The Southern District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the southern part of Hong Kong Island. It had a population of 274,994 in 2016.
Trawling is an industrial method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net, that is heavily weighted to keep it on the seafloor, through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different species of fishes or sometimes targeted species. Trawls are often called towed gear or dragged gear.
Grass Island or Tap Mun is an island in Hong Kong, located in the northeastern part of the territory. Its area is 1.69 km2 (0.65 sq mi). Administratively, it is part of the Tai Po District. There are about 100 people living on the island, and feral cattle are known on the island.
Ap Lei Chau or Aberdeen Island is an island of Hong Kong, located off Hong Kong Island next to Aberdeen Harbour and Aberdeen Channel. It has an area of 1.30 square kilometres (0.50 sq mi) after land reclamation. Administratively it is part of the Southern District. Ap Lei Chau is one of the most densely populated islands on earth, as well as the most densely populated island with a population of over 10,000.
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. A trawler may also operate two or more trawl nets simultaneously.
The Sai Kung Peninsula is a peninsula in the easternmost part of the New Territories in Hong Kong. Its name comes from Sai Kung Town in the central southern area of the peninsula. The southern part of the peninsula is administered by Sai Kung District, the north by Tai Po District and the northwest by Sha Tin District.
The Tankas or boat people are a sinicised ethnic group in Southern China who traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Shanghai, Zhejiang and along the Yangtze river, as well as Hong Kong, and Macau. The boat people are referred to with other different names outside of Guangdong. Though many now live onshore, some from the older generations still live on their boats and pursue their traditional livelihood of fishing. Historically, the Tankas were considered outcasts. Since they were boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as "sea gypsies" by both Chinese and British. Tanka origins can be traced back to the native ethnic minorities of southern China known historically as the Baiyue who may have taken refuge on the sea and gradually assimilated into Han Chinese culture. However, Tanka have preserved many of their native traditions not found in Han culture.
A turtle excluder device (TED) is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.
Jumbo Kingdom consisted of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and the adjacent Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, which were tourist attractions in the Aberdeen South Typhoon Shelters within Hong Kong's Aberdeen Harbour. During its 44 years of operation, over thirty million visitors visited Jumbo Kingdom, including Queen Elizabeth II, Jimmy Carter, Tom Cruise, Chow Yun Fat, and Gong Li. A subsidiary, Jumbo Kingdom Manila, operated in Manila Bay, Philippines, but closed after eight years. Jumbo Kingdom was part of Melco International Development Limited, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It suspended operations in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.
The fishing industry in Scotland comprises a significant proportion of the United Kingdom fishing industry. A recent inquiry by the Royal Society of Edinburgh found fishing to be of much greater social, economic and cultural importance to Scotland than it is relative to the rest of the UK. Scotland has just 8.4 per cent of the UK population but lands at its ports over 60 per cent of the total catch in the UK.
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.
A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The Jumbo Kingdom, formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at sea in 2022. Sometimes retired ships are given a second lease on life as floating restaurants. The former car ferry New York, built in 1941, serves as DiMillo's in Portland, Maine. Another example is the train ferry Lansdowne, which served as a restaurant in Detroit. Plans for Lansdowne to continue in this capacity on the Buffalo, New York waterfront came to naught and it was scrapped in the summer of 2008. A third example of a ship's hull converted for this purpose is Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant in Toronto, which was located on MS Jadran, a former Yugoslavian ship but has since been closed and scrapped. Normac, the first Captain John's restaurant, was moved to Port Dahousie as the floating cocktail lounge Big Kahuna and is now the Riverboat Mexican Grill.
Aberdeen 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.
The fishing industry plays a significant part in the national economy of Pakistan. With a coastline of about 1,120 km, Pakistan has enough fishery resources that remain to be developed. Most of the population of the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan depends on fisheries for livelihood. It is also a major source of export earning.
The Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters of Hong Kong are Aberdeen West Typhoon Shelter and Aberdeen South Typhoon Shelter (香港仔南避風塘). Both typhoon shelters are located in Southern District, between the southern part of Hong Kong Island and the island Ap Lei Chau. They are roughly separated by the Ap Lei Chau Bridge and Aberdeen Channel Bridge. The Aberdeen floating village is located within the shelters.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the fishing industry:
Larvotto is a private housing estate in Hong Kong. It was developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, Kerry Properties and Paliburg Holdings, built and sold by Sun Hung Kai and managed by Kerry Properties. The site comprises 180,000 square feet, including nine buildings and a total of 715 tenements. It is located in 8 Ap Lei Chau Praya Road, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong. The estate is opposite Sham Wan. It got the occupation permit at the end of April 2011.
The Fish Marketing Organisation is a statutory body of Hong Kong, administered by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.