Aberdeen, Hong Kong

3 more images

Already in 1987 I was shocked by all the highrise buildings in Hongkong and specially in Aberdeen. What had been a fisher village has turned into a nightmare of ugly condominiums. Nothing has changed since then. There are just more and higher buildings and a big fish market.

The houseboats have mainly vanished, there are now marinas for luxurious motor yachts and some fishing boats are left. A Sampan ride now means a big motor boat making a tour around Jumbo Restaurant.

You see: I did not like it in 1987 and I did not find reason to change my mind. Maybe I should put this under "Tourist Traps".

But on the other hand it is quite interesting as you learn a lot about living conditions of people in Hongkong.

2 more images

Aberdeen is located on the south west of Hong Kong Island. It is one of the oldest settlements on the island. The place used to be pirate infested but today it offers visitors a glimpse into a contrasting lifestyle between those, mainly fishermen, living in the traditional boat houses and the urban population in modern high rise apartments nearby. Cruising the harbour on a sampan will allow visitors a closer look of the boat houses. There are some 5000 of them moored around the bay but the numbers have since dwindled when many took up the government's offer for rehousing. Aberdeen is also famous for its floating seafood restaurants. One of them is Tai Pak Seafood Restaurant.

The Aberdeen Fishing Village is a chance for tourists to see families living on this famous site in Hong Kong. For just a few dollars, you can go on one of those boat tours (called Sampan - boats with tires on their sides) which will navigate you through the jade-like-green waters of the fishing village.

I looked at the boathouses and the families, specially the kids, living on the boathouses looked back at me! You will see that they really live there and you can even see their home appliances, like their television sets turned on and the mother cooking. It is a somewhat commercialized tour since the tourists do have to haggle sometimes with these Sampan tours, but nevertheless, an unforgettable experience.

If you have the opportunity, you could also try this Sampan tour during the night and picture this – YOU in a boat in a Hong Kong fishing village with the millions of lights from the jungle of tall buildings by the harbor….amazing!

4 more images

The high rises blanket and surround the old style traditions of this bustling fishing village. On our Hong Kong Island tour we had a stop at Aberdeen fishing village and took a ride on a sampan. The sampan was decorated with red lanterns for Chinese New Year and the woman navigating through those busy waterways told us that she had actually made the boat herself. She lives in the village on a small junk boat and makes her living by offering sampan rides around her neighborhood village and over to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant which is lavishly yet ornately adorned with red and gold artwork and tradtional dragon sculptures.

We stopped a bit to photograph the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and just cruised along taking in the sights of the local people on their junk boats and watching them decorate for the Lunar New Year. It was so much fun just seeing how these people live. Families of four and five living on small junks with basically the bare necessities yet they wouldn't have it any other way. There was one boat in particular which had a small black and white tv perched on a wooden table on the deck of the junk and because of this the family was considered to be "well off" because no one else even had a television. Yet, this simple village is surrounded on land by luxury skyscrapers and on the water by luxury yachts.

The families in this village make their living by fishing and selling their catch to the nearby restaurants. They work sometimes 16 hour days and 7 days a week. This is a family tradition held down from generation to generation and is considered a gift. As a result they would never leave their surroundings.

Learning about these people, their lives and being able to visit their homes by way of the sampan navigating its way through the maze of junk boats was indeed an inspiring and wonderful experience

Abeerbeen Harbor has been made famous by movies with the traditional rowing boat of Hong Kongers wearing the conical hats and living in on-the-water fishing village of boats.

You will see the famous Jumbo Boat Restaurant made well known by a James Bond movie. This is a sanctuary for boats during the typhoons. The surrounded area is now so well-built, the slumps of the 60's on the hillslopes have all been replaced by sparkling modern high rises.

It is a fun boating trip not to be missed if time permits.

Aberdeen used to be a quite fishing village. Alas no more. It is a harbour area full of highways and high rises.

It is famous to tourists for the boat people living in the harbour and the floating seafood restaurants such as the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. The boat people are generally associated with the fishing industry, and there are also several dozen expatriates living on boats in the harbour.

I did'nt find all that much to do here but I did take a ride on a junk run by little old chinese ladies.(mine spoke no English) Somehow I managed to find myself on a junk all on my own when all the others were full up (so that got me a few stares). The price was $50 but they start of higher so be prepared to negotiate.

The trip lasts about 30 mins and takes you round the harbour past the boat people and fishing community and past the famous floating Jumbo restaurant.

1 more image

Once a little fishing village , its is now a waterfront studded with hihjrises . Many here however still maintain the old way of life . It is surreal to see the old houseboats with fish hanging to dry aganst such a super modern skyline!

4 more images

But the highlight of the visit to Aberdeen is the trip on a sampan round the harbour (the floating restaurants now firmly belong to 'tourist traps' and are over-priced and poor value for money). Best way to take a trip is to simply walk along the promenade - you'll soon be invited to pay around HK$60 pp for a 30 minute trip by the women who run the boats (and they'll do it for one or ten - negotiate the price though the bigger the group). They're actually good value, and you soon find yourself plying the busy waterways ducking in and out of narrow boating lanes, getting an insight into the busy waters of the harbour and the people who live on the water (although it is now technically illegal to live on the boats, people still do it).