Fishermen's children | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Fishermen's children

Fishermen's children
Submitted by David

Let me join these two smiling gentlemen in wishing you Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Boys

What: Fish.

(If you're thinking "But isn't it the year of the horse?", the connection between fish and Chinese New Year is explained below.)

Who, When & Where: This photo was sold-as-seen, so I don't know anything about it. Can anyone recognise which of Hong Kong's fishing villages is shown here?

If we know that, the buildings in the background will help date it. In particular the one on the left, which is still under scaffolding:

Buildings

Trivia:

Back to those fish...

At the start of the new year, auspicious 4-character sayings are very popular. I've already used "Kung hei fat choy", and another one you'll often see and hear is "Leen leen yau yu": 年年有餘.

The direct translation is "Year Year Have Surplus", meaning something like "May there always be abundance in your life".

The last character sounds the same as the Chinese word for fish, so fish appear in many Chinese New Year decorations, suggesting the abundance that they sound like.

I hope the year of the horse brings you an abundance of good things.

Regards, David

Reference: A082

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Thursday, January 1, 1970
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Comments

Submitted by 80sKid on Fri, 2014-01-31 14:49.

could be the buildings in background here, with boatyards in front and the building with the Citizen advert the one in scaffolding in your photo?

http://7seasvessels.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/3-1974-02-029-Aberdee...  

Submitted by harryhktc on Fri, 2014-02-07 01:01.

 Yes, Aberdeen/Ap Lei Chau came immediately to my mind as well - and here are some of David's  fishes ... :)

 

Leen Leen Yau Yu

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Submitted by anon on Sat, 2014-02-01 07:03.

Shau Kei Wan?

There's a boat registration showing M605154.Could that help?

Submitted by David on Sat, 2014-02-01 22:25.

Thanks for the photos and comments. There were a couple more by email:

Cath writes:

I don't think it is Sai Kung so that's one fishing you can eliminate!

And Bob notes:

 I'm going to hazard a guess that it's Ap Lei Chau in the background, and it's not that old, maybe 1970’s, in the top right corner of the top picture you can see a boat on a slipway that has I think the more western hull shape seen widely today. The multi story buildings in the background would fit for Ap Lei Chau at that time, I owned a converted fishing junk in those days and we would have her hauled out on the Ap Lei Chau slipways.

Something that would help is to know whether the photographer is on a boat, or on land. If on land (that's my guess), the land in the background seems too close for it to be Ap Lei Chau? If instead he was looking along a shoreline, with the bay curving round to the left in the background, Shau Kei Wan could be a possibility. I don't have any strong feelings though - hopefully a photo with a match for those buildings in the background will turn up at some point and give a firm answer.

Regards, David

Submitted by David on Thu, 2014-02-06 21:04.

Thanks to Tony Clark for sending in this view of Aberdeen harbour in 1969:

Aberdeen harbour - CNY 1969

Submitted by david88d on Thu, 2015-12-10 22:19.

They were standing on the wooden platform outside No.44 Aberdeen Main Road. Their father was not a fisherman, he was a buyer in Fish Wholesale Market who bought fish for the fish sauce factories and other fish stalls. They lived on a pontoon which you see it on the right side of the photo.

Submitted by David on Fri, 2015-12-11 11:10.

Thanks very much for writing in, it's great to have a positive identification. Did tourists often like to take their photos?

The red marker below shows roughly where they were standing:

Regards, David