The filming locations for "God Eater" and "Infernal Affairs 2" are gone.
Author | Liu Xingzhi
Edit | Zhao Jinjie
Source | Packed Lunch Finance (ID:daxiongfan)
Once the world's largest restaurant on the sea, it sank on its way to Southeast Asia.
Aberdeen Catering Company announced on June 20 that its famous maritime restaurant Jumbo Seafood Boat encountered wind and waves in the waters of the Paracel Islands on the 18th, and tried unsuccessfully to rescue it, and finally turned over in the water on the 19th and sank to the bottom of the sea.
This is the first time that Jumbo Seafood Boat has gone to sea, and this time it has traveled to Southeast Asia to find cheaper repairs and berths.
Jumbo Seafood Boat has been open for 46 years, carrying the collective memories of a generation of Hong Kong people, and when the seafood boat was dragged out of Hong Kong on June 14, many Hong Kong people went to its anchored Victoria Harbour to take photos.
Mainlanders may have heard little about the ship, but most have seen it. Classic Hong Kong films such as "God Eater" and "Infernal Affairs 2" have been filmed here, and the character "Princess Wei" played by Xue Jiayan in "God Eater" has eaten the "eclipsed soul meal" on this ship, and the "Stephen Zhou" played by Stephen Zhou xingchi has also completed self-redemption on this ship.
It was the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, and Jumbo Seafood Boat became a link between the mainland and Hong Kong people's shared fond memories of that era.
However, since 2020, Jumbo Seafood Has ceased operations due to the epidemic and has not resumed operations; Earlier, in 2013, Jumbo Seafood Was No Longer Adequate.
It is worth noting that the Melco Group, backed by Jumbo Seafood, is not having a good time. Melco Group is a listed company under the "gambling king" Ho Hung Sun family, and under the impact of the epidemic, Macau's gaming and tourism revenues have plummeted, with net losses of 5.3 billion yuan and 3.1 billion yuan in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Aberdeen Catering Company said in a statement that the seafood shipwreck site was more than 1,000 meters deep, and the salvage was very difficult, and the collective memory of a generation lost an entity that could be relied on.
From the very beginning of its construction, Jumbo Seafood Boat has had a lot of fate.
As a special form of dining in Hong Kong, "Seafood Boat" originated from the "Songtang Boat" in Guangzhou, which refers to the restaurant opened for fishermen. In the 1930s, Guangzhou immigrants rose up in Hong Kong to open a "Songtang Boat" boom, and with the development of Hong Kong, the "Songtang Boat" business of eating seafood on board was sought after by merchants and tourists, and evolved into a later seafood boat.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong's prosperity began to emerge, accumulating strength for the 1970s to become the "Four Asian Tigers". In the 1950s, Hong Kong's prosperity led to the peak of the seafood boat business, and the typhoon shelter once had more than a dozen seafood boats moored.
One of them is called "Taibai Seafood Boat", which is operated by Hong Kong businessman Wang Laoji. After the Taibai seafood restaurant business grew, in the late 1960s, Wang Lao Jihao spent 14 million Hong Kong dollars to build the largest seafood boat, which later became the Treasure Seafood Boat.
However, on October 30, 1971, six days before opening, a fire broke out in Jumbo Seafood. The spreading fire not only destroyed the seafood boat, but also affected nearby fishing boats, killing 32 people and missing 13 people.
Unable to continue building ships, Wang Laoji took over the bidding king Ho Hung Sun and the rich man Cheng Yu Tong, spending HK$32 million to rebuild and renovate the Jumbo Seafood Boat, which opened in October 1976. On the opening day, Jumbo Seafood Restaurant was free of charge, sensationalizing the whole of Hong Kong.
Jumbo Seafood Boat was once known as "the world's largest seafood restaurant" and stood out among the seafood boats. In addition to the large, Ho hung sun also spent a lot of thought on the design, such as the design of the imitation illuminated palace, the golden hall and the dragon chair arranged on the second floor.
When it opens in the evening, the interior of jumbo seafood is as brilliant as day; From the outside, the treasure seafood boat stands majestically like a sea palace with carved beams and painted red and gold. "Ship Yajin, Green Bird Yellow Dragon's Ship", the scenery that Wang Bo saw on the Tengwang Pavilion in those years may not be so.
In fact, floating restaurants are not unique to Hong Kong, there are similar formats in Shanghai and Wuhan on the mainland, but the prosperity is far less than that of Hong Kong's seafood restaurants, and none of them can become a cultural symbol like Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.
From today's point of view, the palatial luxury style of Jumbo Seafood is not mainstream, but in the 1970s and 1980s, the palatial Chinese design style was quite popular. Celebrities flock to the area, tourists and diners flock to it, and even film directors favor it.
In the 46 years since its opening, Jumbo Seafood Has had more than 30 million visitors, including international celebrities such as Queen Elizabeth II, Jimmy Carter, Tom Cruise, and the films "God Eaters", "Infernal Affairs 2", "Dragon Fight", and "007 Donkey Kong vs. The Tuna", which has become a symbol of prosperous Hong Kong and Hong Kong culture.
The fire before the opening seemed to have laid the groundwork for the fate of the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.
After the "Gambling King" took over, the Jumbo Seafood Boat became very popular, so in the 1980s, Ho Hongshen bought the neighboring Taibai Seafood Boat and the Cape Palace. In 1997, Ho's second son, Ho, spent tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars on reforms and renovations to officially rename The Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Hong Kong as "Jumbo Kingdom".
However, the following year, the Asian financial crisis struck, the "Treasure Kingdom" was temporarily closed, and the Cape Palace was forced to leave the Philippines, and then donated to Qingdao due to poor management.
As early as 1993, Ho sold 86.68% of the stake in Aberdeen Food & Beverage Group from Shun Tak Group to another of his family's companies, Melco International. In 2001, Ho entrusted Melco International to He Youlong.
When He Youlong took over, Melco International only owned the Treasure Kingdom industry, and it had been losing money for four years. After He Youlong took over, he introduced a number of measures, such as the introduction of bunny girl performances to cater to customers, and under his revolution, by 2004, the sales of Jumbo Kingdom increased by 37% year-on-year, and Ho Youlong himself entered the 31st place in Hong Kong's rich list with a value of US$3.4 billion.
In addition to Ho's initiative to change, mainland tourists have also injected new vitality into the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. During the SARS period, the turnover of the Jumbo Kingdom fell by three-quarters. However, in 2003, Hong Kong officially opened up free travel, and "Infernal Affairs 2", which was released in the same year, triggered a boom in mainland tourists.
"Infernal Affairs 2" movie footage, set in the Jumbo Seafood Boat
But these little repairs only gave the treasure seafood boat a "continuation", and did not make it return to the peak. Born in the 1970s, Jumbo Seafood Is Behind the Times in the 21st Century. Hong Kong people who are keen to board the ship to eat are aging, the old facilities and decorations are not attracting young people, and the Jumbo Seafood Boat is gradually declining.
Also moving towards aging is He Hongshen. Ho has a lot of affection for the Jumbo Seafood Boat and has celebrated his birthday on the ship many times. In 2013, 92-year-old Ho celebrated his birthday for the last time at the Jumbo Seafood Boat, and in the same year, the Jumbo Kingdom also began to make ends meet. By the eve of the epidemic, the cumulative loss of Jumbo Seafood Restaurant had reached HK$100 million.
In 2020, the new crown epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Jumbo Seafood. In January 2020, Jumbo Seafood Farm laid off half its staff and significantly shortened its business hours, explaining that "the new operating model will help retain this unique Hong Kong landmark". But just two months later, in March 2020, Jumbo Seafood Was closed and has not resumed since.
In fact, jumbo seafood ships have a chance to continue to exist in another form. After the closure of the jumbo seafood boat, it reached a cooperation agreement with the SAR Government to donate the ship to Ocean Park for operation free of charge as part of the "Jump Hong Kong Island South" plan, but under the severe situation of the epidemic, Ocean Park was too busy to take care of itself, and the donation plan was regrettably shelved.
Aberdeen Catering Group earlier said that the Group had discussed with more than 10 enterprises and institutions to donate Jumbo Seafood Boat free of charge, but no consensus was reached, because of its high maintenance costs, behind the free donation, is the annual inspection and maintenance costs of millions of Hong Kong dollars. After the death of Ho Hung-sun, who was the most fond of Jumbo Seafood, jumbo Seafood Became a Burden for both his family and potential receivers.
After unsuccessful attempts to take over, in June this year, the ill-fated sea restaurant reappeared in the public eye, and it began its first and final voyage.
Jumbo Seafood Restaurant has a glorious history and carries countless people's fond memories of Hong Kong's golden age, but its decline and sinking are not surprising.
Customers patronize the restaurant on the sea, more out of curiosity and punching needs, with the ship as the carrier is a differentiated way of playing similar to the restaurant. In fact, the on-board restaurant format represented by Jumbo Seafood Is highly dependent on the prosperity of commerce, especially tourism.
In Shanghai, the business model of Pujiang River Tour Catering Cruise is similar, and some customers who have consumed on the boat told Box Lunch Finance that the purpose of its consumption is not to eat, but to enjoy the river view; Some Shanghai locals also said that the value of the restaurant on the river is not high, and only in scenes such as Chinese New Year's Eve meals and birthday banquets will they remember to patronize.
The blow of the epidemic to the tourism industry is not only manifested in the decline in passenger flow. During the current round of epidemic in Shanghai, the Pujiang River Tour Catering Cruise has suspended its business and has not yet resumed.
Throughout the 46-year history of Jumbo Seafood, from 1998, 2003 to 2020, every major crisis it has encountered has been behind the objective factors that have been hit hard by Hong Kong's economy and tourism. Lagging behind the times, coupled with the cold winter of the industry, under the combined action of these two factors, Jumbo Seafood Boat eventually slid into the abyss.
It is worth noting that the decline of the Jumbo Seafood Boat is only the tip of the iceberg of the Decline of the Ho Family.
In 2001, when He Youlong took over the Melco Group, Jumbo Seafood Was still the company's main business; Today, Melco Group has become a business empire that specializes in leisure and entertainment, technology, and investment banking and financial services, with a number of hotels and casinos.
In a few years, Jumbo Seafood Lost a total of only HK$100 million, and due to the impact of the epidemic, Melco Group lost more than 8 billion yuan in 2020 and 2021.
Since the death of the "gambling king" He Hongshen, the He family can be described as "the roof leaks in the overnight rain", and the treasure seafood boat sunk in the South China Sea is just a drop of water in this rain.
In May 2020, Ho died, and the battle for the family's inheritance continued due to the lack of a will.
Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, family members still have huge wealth, but they have fallen out of Hong Kong's top rich circle. In the 2022 Forbes "Rich People of Hong Kong, China" list, the He family is on the list of three people, namely 28th Ho Chaoqiong, 33rd Liang Anqi and 46th Ho Youlong.
Among them, He Chaoqiong and He Youlong are the children of He Hongshen's second wife, Lan Qiongyi, and Liang Anqi is the fourth wife of He Hongshen. Judging from the results, the second wife Lan Qiongyi became the biggest winner of this inheritance battle, and among the more than ten children of He Hongshen, the two on the list belonged to the second wife Lan Qiongyi's lineage, which also controlled the core business territory of He Hongshen.
But according to media reports, on June 11 this year, a week before the sinking of the Jumbo Seafood Boat, Lan Qiongmiao died of cancer at sanatorium and hospital at the age of 79.
As the Jumbo Seafood Boat sank during the voyage, there was one less mark of the era belonging to Ho Hung-sun.
Resources:
"Treasure Seafood Boat Leaves Hong Kong, Citizens Cling to It", Sing Tao Daily
"Xue Jiayan Unforgettable <食神>Classic Memories" Sing Tao Daily
"Gambling King He Hongshen's Inheritance Contest Case Sentenced, Second House Eldest Daughter He Chao Qiongsheng; How long do they have to fight for money? Xinmin Weekly
"The largest sea restaurant sank, a symbol of the end of an era" was postponed to finance
"The world's largest sea restaurant, sunk in the South China Sea" modern middle class