Nov28
Spectacular photos of working boats and houseboats in Hong Kong’s harbours
Boats of Hong Kong – click on the images for a larger photo
Hong Kong resident and photography enthusiast Matthew Atkin has kindly sent me this collection of his stunning shots – I guess the fact that he’s also my brother had something to do with it!
I’ve never been to the Far East (though will have to save up to travel there now my brother ands his family have set up residence), but I’m struck that while Hong Kong’s tower blocks seem very familiar, nothing else seems at all like anything I know, including the hills, the boats and ships and even the colour of the sea. I think Matt shot these images using his Leica camera, so I’m confident that the colour rendition here is accurate.
I’d like to say that these boats are junks and sampans and that some of the images of small boats include yulohs but I can’t, for neither Matt nor I can give these craft and their components their proper names. If anyone would like to help, please use the Comment link below.
Thanks for the photos Matt – I’ll post some more in a few days.
2 Comments »Barges and wherries, Culture: songs, stories, photography and art, Locations, Modern boatbuilding, Motor yachts and boats, River boats, Sailing ships, Small boats, Techniques, Uncategorized, Working boats
Julie Dec 11th 2009 at 09:23 pm 1
My friend Mark, who lives in Hong Kong, has just emailed me with the following information about these pictures:
The main boat with the three brown sails is a modern Chinese Junk based on the old Chinese Junk design. I believe it is owned either by the HK Tourist Board or possibly one of the hotels. I will endeavour to find out. In any event it is not a working Chinese Junk but is used for tourists. I haven’t seen an original Chinese Junk in HK waters for some years. The majority of the other boats are sampans. These are the rather stubby boats with green tarpaulin roofs. The others are working barges of some description.
Catching up with the traditional boat blogosphere – recent stuff from some peers « Chine bLog Feb 17th 2010 at 03:05 am 2
[...] Spectacular photos of working boats and houseboats in Hong Kong’s harbours – First picture of a junk is a good one. I remember these harbors – nice boats, but tight quarters! [...]