EVERYTHING WHAT YOU NEEDTO DREAM...
Shau Kei Wan
KNOWLEDGE OF Shau Kei Wan
Shau Kei Wan (ç²ç®•ç?£) or Shaukeiwan, Shaukiwan is a town in Eastern district, Hong Kong. Literally, Shau Kei means a pail, and Wan implies that the town is developed along the coast. Nowadays it is a relatively densely populated town compared with some developing areas.
The name Shau Kei Wan comes from the bay where the town is located. The bay is so named because its shape looks like a Shau Kei (rice basket). The bay had another name in the past - Ngor Yan Wan (Harbour of Starving Men). It is said that there was a ship of people forced to dock by a typhoon. They landed hoping to buy some food and found that there was no agricultural products at all in the place. They left almost starving. The name of the bay is changed to Aldrich Bay. It is named after a British navy captain who worked there. Shau Kei Wan is now the name of the town, while Aldrich Bay is the name of the bay. On maps in 1950s, Buffalo Bay is also marked, together with Aldrich Bay.
There is another story behind the name of Shau Kei Wan, which could be translated into "Pail Bay" directly in Cantonese. It is said that in the late Southern Song Dynasty, a man named Cheung Chun met a fairy who gave him some treasures together with a pail. As he sailed back to Kowloon with the navy, the pail fell into sea, just off the coast of the area now known as Eastern District.
A sadder story tells of a boatwoman, Chu Tee, who was widowed soon after getting married. She gave birth to a son, Ah Ha, after her husband's death. Ah Ha was a good boy who tragically lost his sight after catching smallpox. When he was 15, his mother fell ill. To support the family, Ah Ha became a beggar, sitting on the waterfront every day with a pail, until one year he disappeared in a violent storm. Only his pail was ever found. Chu Yee missed her son so much that she went insane, but Ah Ha's filial deed was immortalised in the name of Shau Kei Wan.
In the early 1700s, a foreign merchant ship took shelter at Shau Kei Wan from a storm. Since no inhabitants were there, the crew nicknamed this bay the "Starving Men's Bay".
In the middle of the 18th century, several families who lived by stone mining moved into this area. At that time, there were no houses on Shau Kei Wan's bank because the stonemasons usually lived in boats and their families lived in the mainland.
In the middle of the 19th century, more and more boats were berthed in Shau Kei Wan. Stonemasons began to build houses in stone mines. Pirates were around. At that time, the local population was only 1,200, roughly 5% of today's population. In 1860, to enable the police to seize pirates more efficiently, Governor Macdonnell dismantled some houses, opened up a street named Shau Kei Wan Main Street East near the seaside, set up wharfs and built stores and houses along the street.
By the early 1900s, the environment and public security in the area had been much improved and it attracted more people. Many fishermen also dwelt in Shau Kei Wan during non-fishcatching time.
After World War II, Shau Kei Wan gradually developed into an important fish-trading market.
By the 1960s, government decided to offer better living conditions to fishermen in Hong Kong. Therefore many multi-storey buildings were built in Shau Kei Wan. Estates had also been developed. And now, this area has become a densely populated residential district. It is said that the coast of Adrich Bay suffered a great change since the late 19th century.
The name Shau Kei Wan comes from the bay where the town is located. The bay is so named because its shape looks like a Shau Kei (rice basket). The bay had another name in the past - Ngor Yan Wan (Harbour of Starving Men). It is said that there was a ship of people forced to dock by a typhoon. They landed hoping to buy some food and found that there was no agricultural products at all in the place. They left almost starving. The name of the bay is changed to Aldrich Bay. It is named after a British navy captain who worked there. Shau Kei Wan is now the name of the town, while Aldrich Bay is the name of the bay. On maps in 1950s, Buffalo Bay is also marked, together with Aldrich Bay.
There is another story behind the name of Shau Kei Wan, which could be translated into "Pail Bay" directly in Cantonese. It is said that in the late Southern Song Dynasty, a man named Cheung Chun met a fairy who gave him some treasures together with a pail. As he sailed back to Kowloon with the navy, the pail fell into sea, just off the coast of the area now known as Eastern District.
A sadder story tells of a boatwoman, Chu Tee, who was widowed soon after getting married. She gave birth to a son, Ah Ha, after her husband's death. Ah Ha was a good boy who tragically lost his sight after catching smallpox. When he was 15, his mother fell ill. To support the family, Ah Ha became a beggar, sitting on the waterfront every day with a pail, until one year he disappeared in a violent storm. Only his pail was ever found. Chu Yee missed her son so much that she went insane, but Ah Ha's filial deed was immortalised in the name of Shau Kei Wan.
In the early 1700s, a foreign merchant ship took shelter at Shau Kei Wan from a storm. Since no inhabitants were there, the crew nicknamed this bay the "Starving Men's Bay".
In the middle of the 18th century, several families who lived by stone mining moved into this area. At that time, there were no houses on Shau Kei Wan's bank because the stonemasons usually lived in boats and their families lived in the mainland.
In the middle of the 19th century, more and more boats were berthed in Shau Kei Wan. Stonemasons began to build houses in stone mines. Pirates were around. At that time, the local population was only 1,200, roughly 5% of today's population. In 1860, to enable the police to seize pirates more efficiently, Governor Macdonnell dismantled some houses, opened up a street named Shau Kei Wan Main Street East near the seaside, set up wharfs and built stores and houses along the street.
By the early 1900s, the environment and public security in the area had been much improved and it attracted more people. Many fishermen also dwelt in Shau Kei Wan during non-fishcatching time.
After World War II, Shau Kei Wan gradually developed into an important fish-trading market.
By the 1960s, government decided to offer better living conditions to fishermen in Hong Kong. Therefore many multi-storey buildings were built in Shau Kei Wan. Estates had also been developed. And now, this area has become a densely populated residential district. It is said that the coast of Adrich Bay suffered a great change since the late 19th century.
Chapi