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Po Toi in the 1970s

By coincidence with Dylan's finding the old Mai Po video, I found some old photos of Po Toi last week, something that I've been looking for for several years.

The first two photos were taken in 1973 to commemorate the building of the Po Toi Community Centre (the white building now next to the generator) and the third for the Temple renovation in 1975. Here they are

[img]http://www.geoffwelch46.com/n1973as.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.geoffwelch46.com/n1973bcrops.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.geoffwelch46.com/n1975gcrops.jpg[/img]

The first photo was taken from the concrete path leading towards the temple, looking back to the Community Centre with the school on the right hand hillside.
The second photo looks across the harbour, the restaurant is on the right but at that time it was the village shop.
The third photo was taken from an aeroplane! probably by someone from the RAF who helped construct both the Community Centre and the Temple.

The most noticeable feature is the barren hillsides - very little vegetation, even in the stream area, although some of the fung shui trees behind the path are there. Compare photo 2 and 3 with this modern version

[img]http://www.geoffwelch46.com/n1973crop_compares.jpg[/img]

Not much habitat for migrant birds in the 1970s, at least around the harbour.

I was surprised how few boats there were in the harbour. It seems most of the population had already moved to the Government flats built in Aberdeen in the late 1960s.

[[i] Last edited by wgeoff at 30/07/2013 10:00 [/i]]

Great photos Geoff .. although I am not that old, when my father was still working with the MTRC, we often use to take the company boat out for seafood lunch.  We use to have to take the speedboat and land on the beach, .. I do not remember having a public pier, do you know when that was built.

I also remember that there was a big fire at the seafood restaurant at some stage, probably late 80s or early 90s .. I am asking if my dad has any of the old photos, will post if I get hold of any ...

Hi Wilson

If you mean the pier joining to the restaurant, that has been there as long as I've been going to Po Toi, so from 2005 at least.
There was a big fire, in the 1990s I think, affecting the restaurant and some of the other buildings close by.

I have always thought Po Toi would have been better for migrants in the early years but now, seeing these photos, I don't think so.
There weren't enough trees for migrants to rest and feed, at least around the harbour and I guess also elsewhere on Po Toi.

[[i] Last edited by wgeoff at 30/07/2013 12:27 [/i]]

Po Toi Pier Review

I recall that [b]Po Toi Public Pier[/b] has a plaque saying that the current pier is a replacement for an earlier pier damaged in a Typhoon....

[quote]Original posted by [i]wgeoff[/i] at 30/07/2013 10:07 [url=http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/redirect.php?goto=findpost&pid=58710&ptid=19354][img]http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/images/common/back.gif[/img][/url]
Hi Wilson

If you mean the pier joining to the restaurant, that has been there as long as I've been going to Po Toi, so from 2005 at least.
There was a big fire, in the 1990s I think, affecting the re ... [/quote]

I think I first started going for seafood lunch around 1984 ish ... and there was only a wooden platform connecting the restaurant to the boats (which is still currently there) but the public pier which we use now from Aberdeen/Stanley certainly was not there, or at least it was not in service because we could only access by speedboat due to depth of the water.  The currently one as mentioned by John, would certainly have been a replacement built in the mid-90s by this time, I would have been boarding school and hence coming back less.

its so interesting going back to po toi for the first time in early-2012 as a birder as oppose to just for hiking/seafood ..

Thanks, Geoff, these are great photos of Po Toi. I always enjoy seeing old photos of HK. I think it is worth remembering that at that time probably some of vegetation was cleared for firewood. Birding would have been interesting still. Flycatchers would have still concentrated in the trees that were present.