Wen | high baby
In Hong Kong's typhoon shelter harbor, a luxury giant ship is moored. This giant luxury cruise ship has an area of 45,000 square feet and can accommodate more than 2,300 people at the same time.
It is the world's largest seafood restaurant - Hong Kong Jumbo Seafood Factory.
The interior of jumbo Seafood Factory is magnificently decorated like a royal palace. In the past 46 years, it has received more than 30 million diners, including Queen Elizabeth II, international superstar Zun Long, Uberianna, William Horton, Tom Cruise and other dignitaries and celebrities.
Jumbo Seafood Factory is also the filming location for many well-known movies, such as "Infernal Affairs 2", "God Eater", 007 series "Iron Gold Steel vs Golden Gunner", Bruce Lee starring "Dragon Fight Tiger Fight" and so on. Even the scenes of the famous video games "Hungry Wolf Legend 2" and "Resident Evil 6" are taken from this.
Over the past 46 years, it has witnessed Hong Kong's transformation from a small fishing village to a cosmopolitan city, and has also documented the city's ups and downs, as well as its joys and sorrows. It is a business card for the world to know Hong Kong, and even China.
However, just six days ago, on June 18, 2022, the super giant ship, which carries the collective memories of two generations in Hong Kong, accidentally sank to the bottom of the sea at a depth of 1,000 meters.
It's a pity.
Here's how it went:
Because of the epidemic, Jumbo Seafood Factory has been closed for more than two years. Aberdeen Food & Beverage Group officially moved it out of Hong Kong on June 14 for repairs in Southeast Asia. However, on the afternoon of the 18th, when driving to the waters near the Paracel Islands, it suddenly encountered wind and waves, resulting in the hull of the ship into the water.
Although the tugboat company in charge of the voyage has tried its best to rescue it, the giant ship eventually sank to the bottom of the South China Sea at a depth of 1,000 meters.
No one expected that the super luxury giant ship with unlimited scenery would eventually say goodbye to the people who liked it, to the city, and to the glory of its past in such a way.
In the 1930s, there were no restaurants or restaurants in Aberdeen. Therefore, many water people who immigrated to Hong Kong from Guangzhou have set up a "song hall" in Aberdeen.
The song hall is not only eating and drinking, but also acting and singing. Initially, only the wealthier floaters at home would patronize, and reservations were mandatory.
Later, when there were more patrons, the Songtang was renovated and turned into a tall seafood boat.
In the 1850s, there were more than a dozen seafood boats in the typhoon shelters of Aberdeen, and the seafood boat business reached its peak. Whenever it is night, the typhoon shelter will be brightly lit, and the flow of people who come to eat and entertain is endless, most of them rich or expensive.
At that time, the largest was the Taibai Seafood Boat.
In order to stand out from the crowd, the owner of TaiBai Seafood Hash has rebuilt one of Hong Kong's largest seafood boats, which is Jumbo Seafood Boat.
But no one expected that in 1971, before the luxury seafood factory could open, a fire broke out.
The fire burned for more than 10 hours before being extinguished, which not only caused the seafood factory itself to be seriously burned, but also affected many fishing boats nearby, resulting in a tragedy of 34 deaths and 42 injuries.
Later, it was Stanley Ho and Cheng Yu Tong, two wealthy Hong Kong businessmen, who raised a total of 30 million Hong Kong dollars before the Jumbo Seafood Factory was rebuilt. As a result, the "Jumbo Seafood Factory", which was originally scheduled to open in 1971, was postponed for five years.
At the request of the gambling king, the rebuilt Jumbo Seafood Factory was built into a palatial "Royal Palace on the Sea". It is 76 metres long, 22 metres wide and 28 metres high (three storeys high), has a displacement of 3,300 tonnes and an area of 45,000 sq ft, accommodating more than 2,300 guests at the same time, making it the world's largest sea-based restaurant.
The interior decoration of the Jumbo Seafood Factory is modeled after the design of the Chinese court, with a dragon theme. The ornaments and murals alone cost more than 6 million yuan, which is really luxurious.
However, the most eye-catching thing in the seafood shop is the dragon chair in the Golden Ruan Hall. The dragon chair was artificially built and took two full years.
Jumbo Seafood Farm's giant seafood pond houses more than 60 species of seafood and has the largest UV seawater disinfection system in Hong Kong.
Its galley, on the other hand, is set up on another ship. It also has a $18 million wastewater treatment vessel in Southeast Asia.
This top-of-the-line seafood restaurant attracted dignitaries from all over Hong Kong at that time. Being able to hold a banquet at a treasure has become a status symbol.
For the next 43 years, Jumbo Seafood Boat has been standing in Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter and has become an integral part of Hong Kong's culture.
In 2019, due to social turmoil, the treasure was greatly affected. In desperation, they laid off more than half of the staff - the original 130 people, only 60 people remained. At the same time, business hours have been shortened.
However, wave after wave of unevenness has risen again. The ensuing epidemic forced it to close its doors. However, the annual maintenance costs of millions of dollars are a heavy burden for seafood mills.
As a landmark in Hong Kong, Jumbo's plight alarmed the Hong Kong government.
With the intervention of the Hong Kong government, the owner of Jumbo Seafood Mills, Aberdeen Food & Beverage Group, agreed to donate the seafood mills to Ocean Park for free and transform them into a scenic spot.
To this end, the Hong Kong government also allocated a huge amount of money to Ocean Park - HK$5.4 billion.
However, this matter has been delayed again and again. This delay was delayed until June this year. Jumbo Seafood Boat's offshore licence expired and it had to leave Hong Kong altogether.
Before Jumbo Seafood Factory announced its departure from Hong Kong, many Hong Kongers rushed to the neighborhood to take photos. Some people also wrote on their personal social accounts: Wait for you to come back!
However, it did not come back, and it will never come back. Perhaps, it will be abandoned forever at the dark, mysterious depths of the sea thousands of miles away.
Perhaps, one day, thousands of years from now, archaeologists will find the remains of a super-giant ship on the seabed near the Paracel Islands. Then, after research and research, it was confirmed that it was the famous Hong Kong Jumbo Seafood Factory, which sank on June 18, 2022.
By then, the people in this world who had seen this luxury ship with their own eyes would no longer be there. Our descendants can only see its beauty through pictures and words, to understand its past and present lives, and to experience the lamentations and regrets of people today.
Some people say: I have long heard of hong Kong Jumbo Seafood Factory, and I thought that I would have a chance to see it in the future, but now I have no chance. Some people say: I went to the treasure once a few years ago. I didn't expect that it was the first and last time. Others say: It's a shame that the first time I heard about the world's largest sea restaurant in Hong Kong, it was about its sinking.
The world is like this, there are some things that we always want to wait for the opportunity to do, but the result is that there is no chance again. There are some places where we always think we will go back later, but when we go again, it is no longer there. Some things, when we first hear about it, tend to be the last.
Only cherish.
About the Author:
At the age of 15, he wrote novels,
At the age of 38, he was admitted to the Graduate School of the University of Chinese, Hong Kong, and has 20 years of experience in Chinese education.
She single-handedly trained her daughter to become a Bachelor of Honors from the University of Hong Kong.
The World's Number One Master of Education from the University of London School of Education.
Only one year after graduation, the little girl's annual salary has reached 500,000.
Baby sister's parent-child education article, warm and powerful,
Help you to be cheerful on the road to parenting and take fewer detours.
WeChat public account: Meet Baby Sister (ID: gaobaobao-522).