It is often acknowledged that Jorge Álvares was the first Portuguese to have landed in China. In 1513, his ships arrived in a place known as Tamão, whose exact location is still controversial. The Portuguese met more obstacles in establishing regular trade relations with China than in India and Southeast Asia due to the heavy …
The featured image is the receipt from a shop in Penang for an order of rock sugar. Rock sugar 冰糖 (Cantonese: bing1 tong4) is a kind of crystalized sugar extracted from sugar cane. It is less sweet than granulated white sugar, but it is often used in Chinese dishes and desserts. In Chinese, there is …
When Granville Sharp (1824–1899) arrived in India, he joined the Commercial Bank of India. On 2 November 1858, he married Matilda Lincolne Sharp (1829–1893) in Bombay, India. Not long after their wedding, the Sharps arrived in Hong Kong on 25 December 1858. After working for a short time in the Hong Kong office, Sharp left …
After the landing of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in Calicut (now Kozhikode), India in 1498 and upon his return to Lisbon with news of future profits of the spice trade in the subcontinent, Portugal quickly organized more expeditions to conquer India before its rival Spain. In order to secure a permanent presence in …
The early 20th century was the golden era of postcards. Not only did travelers buy postcards as souvenirs, but strangers also exchanged postcards in order to know more about other cultures. For example, the featured image above was a postcard sent from the then British Cape Colony to a Portuguese living in Hong Kong in …
The modern world is not unfamiliar with different types of mixing – mix-and-match in fashion, crossover in music, fusion in food… you name it. However, mixing different languages seems to irk many people, as it is often seen as a sign of inadequacy. Whichever form of mixing is the case, it requires contact or clashes …
An aspect of Chinese lives that Western writers of the 19th and 20th century often described was gambling. During his service in Singapore, J.D. Vaughan a variety of ways that Chinese gambled and mentioned that the Chinese had “an inherent love for gambling”.1 Chinese gambling games take many forms and show different degrees of sophistication. …
The third day of the Chinese New Year is also known as 赤口 (Cantonese: cek3 hou2). Traditionally, it is believed that quarrelling will easily occur on this day, so it is not suitable for 拜年 (Cantonese: baai3 nin4) ‘pay New Year visits to relatives and friends’. Some people would go to temples to chin-chin joss …
Situated in southern China, the Pearl River (Zhujiang 珠江) is the third longest river in China. Life and customs along the river were so enchanting that they became a constable object of depiction in China trade art. A popular scene was boats of various sizes and functions – cargo boats, fast boats, Hoppo boats, flower …
“Hong Kong prospère sous le signe de la cumshaw et le sourire des sing-song girls” (Hong Kong thrives under the sign of the cumshaw and the smile of the sing-song girls) was the topic of a 1948 issue of a French magazine. Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation for three years and eight months (December …