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In April 2024, we spent two days in Hong Kong, China, during our Around-The-World cruise. The following revised excerpt is from my travel post about this vibrant city.

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Aberdeen Harbor

Once a bustling center of maritime activity, this historic Hong Kong harbor now resembles a watery junkyard. Countless boats—some barely seaworthy, others clearly lived in—are moored in long, crowded rows, tied up side by side.

Amidst this forest of boats sits a reminder of Hong Kong’s more glamorous past: the Tai Pak Seafood Restaurant. Established in 1954, this three-story floating barge was built to evoke a Chinese palace. Alongside its larger sister restaurant, the Jumbo, Tai Pak was one of the city’s premier seafood destinations, frequented for decades by royalty and celebrities—including Queen Elizabeth II, Jimmy Carter, Tom Cruise, John Wayne, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun Fat, and Gong Li. At its peak, Tai Pak could host up to 800 guests, supported by a separate kitchen barge and other service craft.

Sadly, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and later the pandemic marked the end for these extravagant vessels. The Jumbo was sold and towed out of the harbor in 2022, only to sink under mysterious circumstances. The Tai Pak, though sold with promises of restoration, still sits abandoned in the harbor—a silent monument to a bygone era.

Click/ tap HERE to see all my Out-of-Business/Abandoned posts.

Click/ tap HERE to view full-size, no-watermark images at www.ImagesByBill.us

March 3, 2026,
based on a story & images from April 2024

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