Tai Pak floating restaurant, Aberdeen [c.1954- ]

For dating photographs of floating restaurants in Aberdeen in the 1950s

China Mail 27 June 1958

The finishing touches are being made to the Sea Palace, a new floating restaurant at Aberdeen. The exterior design has been taken from the famous Marble Boat in the Summer Palace in Peking.

The completion of the Sea Palace will bring the number of floating restaurants to three. The others are the Yu Lai Tai which is about 6 years old (1952?) and the Tai Pak which has been in Aberdeen for 4 years (1954?)

Hi David,

The marker above showed the existing location of Tai Pak.  But for the one shown in the photos they are of a previous version.  The original location should be somewhere closer to the present day Ap Lei Chau Promenade\Wind Power Park, west of the bridges.

That was before all the reclaimation on both sides of the harbour.

T

I've been looking at a variety of film images of the Tai Pak over the years and can see that it has gone through a variety of versions that break down roughly as: (I'll add images later)

Tai Pak (Original) - (1952 - ????) - this is the small rectangular version with the flat roof that was later moved to Castle Peak Bay sometime between 1960 and 1962.

Tai Pak at Castle Peak Bay, by Philk

Tai Pak (2nd generation - first version) - the first version with the triple pointed roof. It had a large open section on one end of the lowest deck for outdoor dining. This appears to have been in operation between circa '62 and '67 (possibly later).

Tai Pak in 1965 with open lower decking at the end

Tai Pak (2nd version) - The lower deck outdoor areas were enclosed and incorporated into the main structure. This is obvious on images from 1968/9 and shows that it may have created some additional outdoor space on the upper deck.

Lower deck now completely enclosed

Tai Pak (3rd version) - By 1973 the newly created open area on the second/upper deck had been partially filled by some small square extensions to the main structure. Does anyone know what they were, perhaps washrooms?

That Man Bolt (1973) showing the small extensions to the ends of the upper deck.

Tai Pak (4th version)- By 1975, the upper deck open area has been completely covered by a roof, although the sides remained open to the elements.
 

Tai Pak circa 1975, by Philk

Tai Pak (5th version) - This appears to be the last iteration (so far) as the whole upper deck is now completely enclosed. It's not clear when this was done but the following film still is from, China Rose (1983), so early 80s is best guess. This is how the resaurant remained up until its closiure in 2020. I know the Jumbo has been sold to Ocean Park, but it's not clear what has happened to the Tai Pak.

China Rose (1983) showing the enclosed upper deck

If anyone has images of the Tai pak in the intermediary years that can narrow down when the various changes were made it would be appreciated. 

Submitted by kesayian

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Submitted by kesayian

Many thanks. the image with the girl rowing is the Sea Palace. I have noticed this one has also changed a little bit over the years and will try and post some comparisons on its associated page at a later time.