"Hotels" for the dead waiting for repatriation to mainland China | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

"Hotels" for the dead waiting for repatriation to mainland China

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Submitted by ChrisR on Mon, 2011-07-04 22:21

When I was a boy in Hong Kong in the 1950s, there were some strange empty-looking buildings, which according to my Chinese mother were "hotels" where coffins were stored awaiting repatriation to mainland China. Is this just a story or did these warehouses really exist?

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Submitted by moddsey on Mon, 2011-07-04 23:07.

See: http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401015.pdf

Till this day, the funeral parlours are known as "hotels".

Submitted by tngan on Tue, 2011-07-05 00:46.

Hi there,

Are you talking about things like the famed Coffin Home established by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals back in 1899?

Best Regards,

T

Submitted by ChrisR on Tue, 2011-07-05 14:24.

Thanks for the prompt replies. I don't know if it was the Coffin Home - I was about 6-7 years old at the time.

Best regards

Chris

Submitted by tngan on Tue, 2011-07-05 16:51.

Hi there,

If you are interested and if you could read Chinese, TWGH had scanned their archived and compiled a set of compilations and one of them mainly focused on the Coffin Home and its International Service Network.

Until early Jaunary 2011, there was an Exhibition in the Hong Kong Museum of History concerning TWGH.

There was also a movie using the Coffin Home in Pokfulam as the background of one of the main characters.  There is an MV for this movie.  You should be able to recognise the singer as he starred as Kato in the new Green Hornet earlier.

Best Regards,

T

Submitted by Jabberjabber (not verified) on Wed, 2011-07-06 15:27.

Old residents will recall that at sundown each day a man would come out of the coffin home in Victoria Road and bang a gong, to recall the spirits for the night. Wonder if that is still done?