Hong Kong's last authentic junk in troubled waters

BBC News ^ | Justin Harper

[SJackson]

Hong Kong's last authentic junk boat is struggling to stay afloat due to a lack of overseas tourists.

The Dukling normally takes foreign visitors on scenic trips around its bays but these have dried up due to travel restrictions.

Its owner says it is fighting to survive and having to focus on local citizens during the downturn.

Junk boats have a long history in the former British colony dating back to the Han Dynasty.

"The Dukling is the icon of Hong Kong, I am not only running a business on it, I am trying to maintain this treasurable piece of antique for Hong Kong," owner Hazen Tang told the BBC.

"We keep struggling to survive, and we will survive in this tough year," he added.

The Dukling is believed to be the last authentic junk boat left in Hong Kong's waters. Other junks exist but they are replicas.

Its biggest market was overseas tourists but has now swapped its focus onto local Hong Kong citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We treated it as a new opportunity for us to focus more on our local market. We always hope to have more local people to experience a ride on our antique junk," added Mr Tang.

New routes have been extended beyond cruising around Victoria Harbour to local residential areas. And the onboard commentary has also changed.

"Now we focus more on introducing the history of Hong Kong and the olden days when fishermen lived on the boats."

Mr Tang and his crew hope things will pick up in the first quarter of next year if they can survive until then.

"We humans should always learn from the boats. We cannot control the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sail."

[Red Badger]

Don’t tase my junk!......................

[j.havenfarm]

Perhaps they can salvage the business by issuing junk bonds

[a fool in paradise]

Haul it to the junk yard

[abb]

I always thought this craft would be neat to own.

http://www.jamesbondwiki.com/page/Scaramanga%27s+Yacht

[SuperLuminal]

"In general, to be authentic, you have to use same materials the methods the old masters used to build it, right down to their methods of carpentry.

Replicas use modern materials and modern methods of building it. It just looks the same.

Authentic junk boats probably have a certification that says they are authentic."

Seems like the same description could be applied to American automobiles... 😪

[flaglady47]

“[[We cannot control the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sail.”]]

Cool saying!”

I was thinking the same thing. I’ve stuck this phrase into my memory bank, what little is left of it, lol.