Aberdeen, Hong Kong

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Aberdeen Harbour is located on the South side of Hong Kong Island, and popularly known for the home of the floating restaurant, and the home of the boat people. Sampan boat tours are the best way to explore this world, giving you a close up look at life in the Aberdeen.

The Famous floating Restaurant is called "Jumbo Floating Restaurant". Basicly a beautiful floating tourist trap. The boat people are mostly fishermen who live in the harbour on their sampans, junk boats, and fishing boats. They tie their boats up side by side in rows on the west end of the harbour, that has basicly become a world famous community.

Aberdeen harbour is a must see while in Hong Kong, and is ussually featured on any of Hong Kongs half day tours.

*Aberdeen Harbour was named by Scotish settlers, who named the harbour after their cherished North-eastern city Aberdeen.

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I decided to put the Jumbo Floating Restaurant as a must see, instead of a must eat. Located in Aberdeen Harbour, the floating giant was built nearly 30 years ago, and is one of Hong Kong most famous land marks. I must admit that though it is some what of a tourist trap, it is a site to see.

The best way to see the Jumbo Restaurant in my opinion is by a Sampan harbour tour available from Sham Wan pier, and costing $50HKD per person ( $9 AUD $7 USD ). The ride will take you right pass the restaurant, and stop right infront for you to get those pictures for virtual tourist.

Worth a stop if you are on the southern side on Hong Kong Island...

There are several buses that go to Aberdeen.
We found them more convinient than taxis and extremely easy to use!
Once in Aberdeen (the bus will leave you on a corner and you'll have to walk around the block and to the pier area), walk past all the ladies and guys yelling for your attention to ride on their sampas.
There is a free ferry terminal 1/2 way down the pier that is clearly marked to floating restaurant!
REGARDLESS of what people tell you, the ferry is NOT closed, it will be back in 30 mins maximum!
The restaurant is rather lavish, almost expensive looking but quite the opposite, has very reasonable din sum (and some of the best we had in Hong Kong)
Don't miss out on it!

Aberdeen used to be a refuge for pirates two centuries ago. Later it became a fishing village. Aberdeen has become a modern town as the skyscrapers have risen. Go down to the waterfront and hire one of the locals to take you on a tour in their sampan to see the the floating restaurant.

Many first-time visitors expect they can find many boat-residents living on traditional boats here...yes, there are...but not many, and no other things you can do with it other than the sampan trip. No museum, no "on-site visit" is welcomed.

And don't expect little old-time sampan doing fishing here. There are now mostly motorized huge boats with mechanical fishing tools for deep-water fishing as yield along the coast is not good enough.
And if it is nice fishing season--sorry, you may disappoint. The harbour will only be filled up with large fishing boats when typhoons approach.

So after a little disapointment in the harbour, you get more disappointed on land. There is no decent seafood restaurants here--even not enough Chinese restaurants for local residents! No villagers--in fact, area around Aberdeen is a major ground of the boring public housing estates on the Hong Kong Island. And the town is just an ordinary satellite town.

From a local resident's advice, I don't suggest a visit aimed for root-finding of Hong Kong, which has been a fishing village before being colonized, to Aberdeen. And honestly, due to its lack of attractions or very good restaurants, it's not even a good stop-over for Ocean Park visitors.

Aberdeen is known for its boat people. These people live their lives on boats, according to my guide there are some who never actually set foot on land.

Unfortunatly the government has been reclaiming the land making the harbor area where they live smaller; forcing many to leave their boats and seek more modern habitats.

This is worth the visit at least just to get a sense of how different group of people live in Hong Kong.

It's on every day tour these days. Come and see the group of people in Hong Kong who still live their lives on boats floating on the waters at Aberdeen. The locals called this place "Xiang Gang Zai" in Mandarin or "Hiong Kong Zai" in Cantonese. See a living style so different from you and me.

There is also a large Jumbo seafood restaurant here for lovers of seafood, in a garish opulent floating ship.

So ironical; so Hong Kong.

This is one of the original Hong Kong attractions. My Dad did this on leave in the 70's. You get on a small boat and go around the harbor and its boats. There are a lot. There is a floating resteraunt, there are fishing boats, there are big yachts.