At the east end of the Eight Mountains of Kowloon (九龍群山), dozens granite quarries had been around in the area of today’s Kwun Tong (觀塘) since late 18th century. Mostly operated by skillful Hakka workers from Guangdong, four of the largest quarry settlements, namely Cha Kwo Ling (茶果嶺), Ngau Tau Kok (牛頭角), Sai Tso Wan (晒草灣), and Lei Yue Mun (鯉魚門), were collectively known as the Four Hills of Kowloon (九龍四山). Beside stone quarries, houses were constructed for the miners and their families, and piers were erected along the harbour to export the mined granite to other parts of Hong Kong, China, and even overseas to Japan and Europe. From granite stone in the 19th century to concrete aggregates in the 20th, stone quarrying was once a major industry in East Kowloon. Not until 1967 when the government banned the use of explosives at a time of social unrest that stone quarrying in Hong Kong had officially came to an end. Since then, many former quarries and worker villages have been built over and entirely erased from the urban context. In East Kowloon, not a trace of the historical quarries and worker settlements can be found in today’s Ngau Tau Kok and Sai Tso Wan. Two years from now, Cha Kwo Ling would also get wiped out from the map. With Victoria Harbour’s last stilted houses still standing along the shore, perhaps by reinventing itself as a tourist attraction and seafood designation that Lei Yue Mun may be spared from the fate of brutal demolition a little longer. Sitting across the harbour from Shau Kei Wan (筲箕灣), Lei Yue Mun and Cha Kwo Ling have long been seen as remote and accessible only by boat from Shau Kei Wan. In the latter half of 20th century, roads were finally built to connect Lei Yue Mun with Kwun Tong industrial town. With Lei Yue Mun’s affordable rent, seafood restaurants gradually found their way into Lei Yue Mun, transforming the former quarry settlement into a vibrant tourist destination. The former quarry and ruined structures have since become selfie backdrops for visitors.
Rising 200m above Lei Yue Mun Village, the lush green Devil’s Peak (魔鬼山) offers visitors a pleasant lookout of the surrounding scenery. Long before the arrival of tourists, Devil’s Peak was a crucial military site overlooking Lei Yue Mun Channel and Victoria Harbour. Batteries and redoubts were built between 1900 and 1914 on the peak to guard the eastern gateway of Victoria Harbour. While Devil’s Peak has nothing to do with the Devil, the name does remind visitors that Lei Yue Mun was once home to notorious pirates, prompting the colonial government to name it Devil’s Peak. Today, remnants of the military structures have become popular attractions for tourists and war game players. For anyone willing to climb the stairs up Devil’s Peak would certainly be rewarded with a magnificent view of Victoria Harbour on one side and Junk Bay (將軍澳) on the other. It wasn’t the finest day when we climbed Devil’s Peak. But the hazy sunset over Victoria Harbour was still impressive, forcing us to make a brief stop to take in the scenery. Below the hill, we meandered through the narrow alleys of Sam Ka Tsuen Village (三家村), passed by the pebble beach and small lighthouse where contented sunset watchers were about to leave. Back at Sam Ka Tsuen Typhoon Shelter near the village entrance, neon signs of Gateway Cuisine (南大門), one of the village’s largest seafood restaurant, were lit up to welcome the first customers of a rather peaceful night.
During the pandemic, seafood restaurants at Sam Ka Tsuen Village of Lei Yue Mun suffered a dramatic drop of business. [2020]Dozens of small boats occupied Sam Ka Tsuen Typhoon Shelter. [2020]Adjacent to Sam Ka Tsuen Village, the concrete factory is about to be shut down to make way for new waterfront developments. [2020]At Sam Ka Tsuen Village, fishing by Victoria Harbour is a popular pastime. [2020]In recent decades, most people would associate Lei Yue Mun and Sam Ka Tsuen Village as a seafood destination. [2020]For the younger generation, the pebble beach and lighthouse offer the best selfie spot during sunset. [2020]Even if weather is not perfect, people would still enjoy themselves at the beach. [2017]Due to its low terrain, Lei Yue Mun is prone to flooding during the typhoon season. [2017]When weather is fine, Lei Yue Mun does offer a stretch of waterfront that is less crowded compared to other promenades at city centre. [2020]Across Victoria Harbour lies the easternmost districts of Hong Kong Island, including Shau Kei Wan, Heng Fa Chuen, and Siu Sai Wan. [2020]The former stone quarry and pier area have become a precious piece of outdoor space for all. [2020]People come to the former quarry to take wedding or graduation photos, chat with friends, test out their drones, or just sit down and chill out in the sea breeze. [2020]Behind Lei Yue Mun stands Devil’s Peak. Ruined military structures on Devil’s Peak include Devil’s Peak Redoubt, Gough Battery, Pottinger Battery, etc. [2020]Despite the historical significance, the former military structures on Devil’s Peak are vulnerably exposed to vandalism. [2020]On top of Devil’s Peak stands a redoubt complex. [2020]Visitors love to find a quiet spot at Devil’s Peak Redoubt to chill out. [2020]While Victoria Harbour dominates the scenery west of Devil’s Peak, on the east side lies Junk Bay (將軍澳), another hot spot for new residential developments where decades ago would be considered extremely remote. [2020]Stretches between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, Lei Yue Mun Channel is the eastern gateway of Victoria Harbour and the narrowest gap between the island and peninsula. [2020]Looking west from Devil’s Peak, Victoria Harbour and the distant city centre appears as silhouette in the haze. [2020]Back down to Sam Ka Tsuen, the seafood restaurants are preparing to receive their first customers of the night. [2017]
Despite staying in nearby Tai Hang (大坑) for five years and have regularly taken walks in the adjacent Victoria Park (維多利亞公園), we hardly cross the busy Gloucester Road to visit Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter (銅鑼灣避風塘). Only twice during evening walks did we cross the footbridge from the park to get a closer look at the yachts and fishing boats. Two years ago, in a late summer afternoon, I made a visit to the shelter when there was still light to project beautiful reflections on the placid water. Half an hour after sunset, feature lights of distant skyscrapers lit up one by one, both on the Island and Kowloon side. Near Tin Hau (天后), I walked out to one of the concrete bases of Island Eastern Corridor (東區走廊) via a few wooden planks, to get a little closer of the boats. To my surprise, on one of the fishing boats there were two elderly making dinner on the boat deck. They seemed to have no interest in me, nor anything onshore. It seemed that the boat deck was their living room and kitchen, and the typhoon shelter, their safe haven in the city.
Typhoon shelter (避風塘), a cove separated from the sea with a breakwater and a narrow passageway, can be found in a number of places in Hong Kong. The shelters protect fishing boats and yachts from stormy weather, especially during the typhoon season. In the old days when fishery was still a vital industry for Hong Kong, many fishermen would actually live on their boats. Apart from the time out in the sea, the fishermen would call the typhoon shelters home. Most of these fishermen were known as Tanga (蜑家) or simply the “boat people”. Often referred as “sea gypsies” in the past, the boat people were a group of nomadic people who spent most of their living on boats. They were originated from a minority ethnic group in Southern China over a thousand years ago. Throughout centuries, the boat people spread along the coastal regions and river deltas in China. They had their own customs, rituals, beliefs, cuisine, and dialect. Due to the decline of fishery, poor living conditions, and high illiteracy rate, the boat people of Hong Kong have largely relocated onshore in 1990’s by the colonial government. As descendants of the boat people assimilated into mainstream Hongkongers, their unique culture has gradually faded, except some of their cuisine that still appear on restaurant menus as ”Typhoon Shelter style” dishes.
The city’s first and probably most famous typhoon shelter is Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter. Situated at the eastern limit of the historical Victoria City (維多利亞城), the name “Causeway Bay” is literally derived from the bay with a causeway going across at present day’s Causeway Road (高士威道). The Chinese name “Tung Lo Wan” (銅鑼灣) refers to a bay that shapes like a bronze gong, a percussion instrument dates back to about 200 BC in China. The former shoreline can still be traced from the alignment of Tung Lo Wan Road (銅鑼灣道), the street that separates Causeway Bay and Tai Hang. In 1880’s, the heavily silted bay was reclaimed up to Causeway Road. Beyond Causeway Road, the city’s first typhoon shelter was established in 1883 to serve the surrounding fishing communities. In 1953, another massive phase of land reclamation converted the 30 hectare typhoon shelter into probably Hong Kong’s most well known park, Victoria Park, and pushed the typhoon shelter further north to the present location. Construction of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel (紅磡海底隧道) in late 1960’s and the Central-Wan Chai Bypass in 2009 further defined the boundary of today’s typhoon shelter. Today, not only does the typhoon shelter offer protection to boats of the former fishermen and adjacent Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (香港遊艇會), it also becomes a popular retreat for anyone who seeks a moment of serenity from the sometimes suffocating shopping scenes of Causeway Bay.
From Wan Chai, Gloucester Road winds along the waterfront to Causeway Bay, where Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter lies outside the shopping district and Victoria Park. [2022]Today, Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter begins from the bullet-like vent tower (left in photo) to the east, stretches in front of the overpass of Island Easter Corridor (centre in photo), and ends at the entry of Cross Harbour Tunnel (far right in photo) and Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (just out of photo to the right). Beyond the typhoon shelter lies Victoria Park (greenery in centre of photo), and the skyline of Tin Hau (left), Tai Hang (middle) and Causeway Bay (right). [2020]Opened in 1972, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel remains as the busiest vehicular harbour crossing among the three available today. Beyond the tunnel entrance marks the western end of the typhoon shelter. [2022]Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter begins immediately behind the Cross Harbour Tunnel and Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. [2020]While fishing boats dominated the typhoon shelter back in the 19th century, the yacht club has become the main user of the shelter in recent years. [2022]Fired everyday at noon, a Jardine Matheson staff would fire the Noonday Gun (怡和午炮) at Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, creating a small tourist spectacle passed down as a tradition since 1860’s. East Point, the area that encompasses today’s features such as the Noonday Gun, World Trade Centre, SOGO, Fashion Walk, Windsor House, Lee Garden, Hysan Place, and much of what we would consider as central Causeway Bay, was the former headquarters of Jardine Matheson. Due to series of land reclamation, the gun has been relocated a few times. [2022]The typhoon shelter extends east to Tin Hau, where the elevated highway Island Eastern Corridor starts. [2021]The Tin Hau (Mazu) Temple Boat is one of the largest feature boat in the typhoon shelter. [2021]Looking west to the yacht club and the skyline of Wan Chai and Central beyond, Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is a pleasant spot for watching sunset. [2021]Below Island Eastern Corridor, Sunset beyond the skyscrapers of Wan Chai and Central. [2022]Further away from the yacht club, more boats of the original fishing people would be seen. The skyline of Kowloon can be seen beyond Victoria Harbour. [2020]A small group of former fishermen still prefer to live on their boats. [2020]Some face-lifting works are being done at the sidewalk along the typhoon shelter. [2020]As evening approaches, a tranquil ambience would fallen upon the typhoon shelter, despite the busy traffic on the overpass. [2020]The typhoon shelter offers a much needed tranquility for the city dwellers in Hong Kong. [2020]The typhoon shelter has become a tourist attraction in recent years, as well as one of the last places other than Aberdeen to get a sense of how the former boat people once lived in Hong Kong. [2020]Other than a tourist attraction, “typhoon shelter” has now been known as a cooking style, usually seafood dishes with lots of fried garlic, chilli and green onion. [2014]Postcard of East Point (now Causeway Bay) from 1900, showing the former Kellet Island, Jardine Matheson’s buildings in East Point (now SOGO and Causeway Bay MTR Station) and East Point Hill (now Lee Gardens) at the centre, and beyond, Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter (now Victoria Park). [Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain]Occupying the site of the former Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, Victoria Park is the most popular public park in Hong Kong. Equipped with tennis, football, basketball, handball, volleyball, swimming, running, rollerskating and fitness facilities, the park receives more visitors than the numbers of Hong Kong Park and Kowloon Park combined. [2020]The park is also the city’s main venue to host events, from New Year Fair to Mid Autumn Festival celebrations, and from political rallies to demonstrations. [2020]The 19 hectare park serves as a communal backyard for the surrounding neighbourhoods, including Tin Hau, Tai Hang, and Causeway Bay. [2020]In 2013, a modern aquatic centre was built to replace the former outdoor pool, where I took my first swimming lessons as a kid. [2014]At the park entrance sits a statue of Queen Victoria. Cast in London in the 19th century, the statue was originally erected in Statue Square in Central. During WWII, the statue was transported to Japan to be melted. Luckily it was retrieved at the end of the war and was relocated to Victoria Park in 1955. [2020]Apart from recreational activities and social events, Victoria Park is also a convenient pedestrian link between Causeway Bay and Tin Hau. [2020]Beside the activity areas, there is also a peaceful side in Victoria Park, where people come to sit down for a chat or rest under the shade. In the midst of the city’s main shopping and commercial district and upscale residential neighbourhoods, Victoria Park is essentially the Central Park of Hong Kong. [2020]During our years in Tai Hang, Victoria Park was our favorite place to take an evening stroll after supper. [2019]
Blue Lapis Road 