Scaffolding Collapse from Typhoon Kills One

Thirty floors of bamboo scaffolding collapsed in Happy Valley

Around dinner time last night the rain started to fall and it continued to rain all day today as Tropical Storm Lionrock approached the city. The Hong Kong Observatory put up the T3 signal and in the morning the heavy rains resulted in a black rainstorm warning around 11.45am, which means people should shelter indoors as quickly as possible.

But that came too late for one 55-year-old woman who was working on the renovations of a high rise building in Happy Valley, as 30 floors worth of bamboo scaffolding collapsed from the heavy rain and strong winds. She and another female construction worker were taken to hospital, but the former died on arrival. 

Rescuers found two women, but one died later

Another male worker was rescued safely from the scaffolding wreckage while two drivers managed to get out before firefighters arrived.

Assistant divisional officer Wong Ka-ho of the Fire Services Department said 18 fire engines and eight ambulances were sent to the scene after receiving a report at 10.16am.

He said firefighters spent an hour and 20 minutes trying to rescue the woman, who was unconscious when they finally reached her.

Wong said the sheer number of bamboo poles and the amount of debris "hampered our efforts to find and rescue her and the passage to reach her was narrow", adding the operation was compounded by the bad weather, with firefighters under threat from further collapse of scaffolding.

One homeowner said the black rainstorm warning should have been issued earlier to suspend building work before people were on-site.

There will be more heavy rain this weekend

"The company concerned should have really cancelled the work day for its staff under these conditions," he said.

Some residents said the scaffolding had been in place for a year to renovate the facades, lobbies and recreational facilities.  

On Twitter there were lots of video clips of flooded streets, a bus driver plowing through flooded roads resulting in dirty water coming into the bus, and water dripping from the ceiling of an MTR carriage.

It's midnight now but Lionrock is expected to be closest to Hong Kong in the morning which means more heavy rains this weekend.

There's another typhoon coming on Wednesday...

An Afternoon of Art

A bronze sculpture of Wu Guanzhong by Wu Weishan (2019)

On my day off earlier this week I went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Last year the museum finally finished a massive renovation that took over four years and HK$930 million. The refurbishment included adding 3,000 square metres of space, though in general the layout of the museum is the same.

Some exhibitions were fascinating, others I admit to going through quickly. These were some highlights for me.

I started from the top floor down, and there are beautiful drawings and paintings of Hong Kong from decades ago by Kong Kai-ming, who is now in his late 80s. Mostly self-taught in drawing and painting using pencil, fountain pen, watercolours and oil, he has captured scenes of the city, some of them long gone now.

Tonnochy Road, Wan Chai by Kong

These include the ramshackle huts that people lived in in Shek Kip Mei, the old Kowloon-Canton Railway Station by the Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui, and old apartment buildings in Wan Chai.

While the sketches illustrate his passion to capture what is in front of him, Kong is not sentimental.

"Everything has its own lifespan and when it comes to an end, it's time to say goodbye. It's the same with old buildings; when they are no longer suitable for preservation, it is time to let them go," he said in an interview in 2018.

The accomplished artist has also taught at the Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts, First Institute of Art and Design, School of Continuing Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Continuing Education at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the Correctional Services Department, not to mention publishing over 40 art books.

On the same floor is an interesting contemporary work by Koon Wai-bong called Crisp air in a bamboo grove. He creates a "bamboo forest" with long strips of silk hanging from the ceiling and on them are bamboo trees painted in a traditional Chinese style in green ink.

There is a slight wind in the room that moves the strips and the atmosphere is enhanced with birds chirping in the background.

Bamboo trees painted on silk by Koon Wai-bong

One floor down in the hallway is Rosanna Li Wei-han's ceramic figurines that are set in everyday Hong Kong scenes. Her figures are chubby and the faces full of expression, while the miniature settings are recreated in detail. When they are looked at with Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island in the background, it really makes these mini dioramas come to life.

Also on the same floor is Kwok Mang-ho, otherwise known as Frog King, an eccentric artist who dresses up in mostly black and red outfits with frog motifs and funny glasses. Quite the character. In the museum he has his own corner, and even a small studio space; if you're lucky you might see him there.

His work is colourful (in Chinese ink and a splash of red) and funny too. A strange character for sure.

On the first floor is contemporary Chinese artist Xu Bing's seminal work, A book from the sky, that took him four years to complete.

Winslow Street scene by Rosanna Li

It takes up an entire room, with three long sheets of paper hung from the ceiling, along with several giant sheets on opposite walls, and then on the floor dozens of traditional Chinese calligraphy books opened at certain pages, others are closed.

What is most ironic about this is that Xu made up some 4,000 Chinese characters that are printed on all this paper all over the room. He managed to persuade printers to not only make the over 4,000 characters, but print them too.

Is Xu a genius for creating a roomful of gibberish? Or is the museum a fool for purchasing such a piece of "art" that either pays homage or satirizes the Chinese literary tradition, where scholars were highly regarded.

Seems like viewers could have numerous interpretations and opinions about this piece.

The exhibition I enjoyed the most was of Chinese painter Wu Guanzhong, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. He died 10 years ago, and since then his pieces have fetched astronomical prices at auction, but thankfully he gifted many of his works to museums, including the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Xu's work features over 4,000 made-up characters

Wu was born in 1919 but while he was studying art at the National Arts Academy of Hangzhou, the Sino-Japanese War broke out and he left Hangzhou, continuing his studies while moving with the academy to places like Jiangxi, Hunan and Sichuan provinces.

In 1947 he won a national scholarship from the government to study in France; his exam paper -- a copy of it in the museum -- was rated so highly because he demonstrated his knowledge of art and the history of art so well.

During his three years in Paris, Wu was drawn to the works of Camille Pissaro, Paul Cezanne and in particular was touched by Vincent van Gogh's work. Wu was impressed by van Gogh's decision of not staying in dazzling Paris, but instead the countryside that inspired his art.

The Dutch painter's life inspired Wu to return to China in 1950, but he found he and his work did not match the revolutionary style of portraying heroic workers, farmers and soldiers.

Wu's The Malan Village in pen and ink

When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, Wu destroyed many of his oil paintings, worried the Red Guards would find them. He was later denounced as a "bourgeois formalist" and banned from painting for seven years. Then Wu was sent down to the countryside, away from his wife and family.

Later in the 1970s he was finally allowed to paint -- once a week. He used that precious time to paint on cardboard and he used a basket as his easel, which was typically for collecting animal dung. Like van Gogh, he painted rural scenes.

He eventually developed his definitive style, moving from realism to beautiful line drawings in ink, meticulously drawn, that later became more and more abstract to dots on the paper.

One particular painting was very interesting, called Leaving youth behind (2009). It's an ink brush painting of lotus leaves and stems that are limp and dying.

Leaving youth behind reflects Wu himself

Wu once said: "Lotus is a popular subject matter in traditional Chinese painting, but those conventional lotus paintings cannot move me emotionally. The interlaced leaves of all sizes in the lotus pond is an intricate maze of straight and curved lines. Even their shadows are engulfed in the leaves, it is difficult to tell whether the leaves are above or under the water. I seem to be an insect under the leaf, being lost in this labyrinth of flowers and leaves."

For this particular painting, Wu recalled while the Gang of Four was in power, he went to Beihai Park in Beijing during the winter and the lake was frozen, but the withered lotus leaves and stalks were not cleared away.

"High and low they stood, their bodies all black and bruised, like a bunch of mummies standing. Qi Baishi has drawn many paintings of withered lotus, but never was there this powerful touch of tragedy. They reminded me of Rodin's The Burghers of Calais. I was driven by a strong urge to draw these frozen lotus carcasses... I even thought for a time that the frozen lotus carcasses were in fact a reflection of me."

The Great Wall has dynamic brushstrokes

His painting The Great Wall (1988) is so dynamic, showing the Great Wall winding its way over mountains and hills like snakes. One can't help but be drawn into the painting and feel the energy of his brushstrokes.

Hong Kong is very lucky to have many of Wu's works for everyone to see and appreciate his life and passion for art.

Last Call for Bamboo Noodles

Shrimp dumpling noodles in soup were delicious at Wing Wah Noodle

Yesterday I passed by Wing Wah Noodle in Wan Chai on the bus and noticed the sign was not covered with white paper saying it was closing so I wondered if it was bought out.

I was right. Today I found out -- a month late -- that Wing Wah Noodle was indeed bought out by a restaurant group called LHGroup, though the shop will be closing in its current location tomorrow.

If you like spicy, the chilli pork noodle is your favourite

LHGroup is run by Simon Wong Kit-lung, whose father started the company 40 years ago with various restaurants including Lucky House seafood restaurant, and other ones whose names I don't recognize.

Nevertheless, while it's nice to know the name Wing Wah Noodle with 68 years of history will live on, will its noodles kneaded with a bamboo pole taste the same? Wong cannot promise the old school way of doing things will continue, only saying the operations will be "modernized"; and some of the menu items will be kept, but not all.

So I figured I should go back one last time. I made my way over there around 8.45pm tonight and walked straight in. It wasn't too busy, but maybe the staff was tired as the food came out slowly.

I tried a bowl of the chilli pork noodle (HK$48) that was quite spicy! The bits of pork were on the tough side, but when mix up with the sauce and the noodles it was quite good.

Walnut soup with glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame

Next I ordered the dumplings (sui gao) with soup noodles (HK$46) and it took a while for them to arrive. By this point there was no more pork knuckle and char siu, so many people resorted to eating wonton noodles. I like their noodles, but not the wontons -- Mak's Noodle's wontons are far superior.

Here the sui gao were fantastic -- most of the dumplings were filled with whole shrimp, wood ear fungus and a bit of minced pork to hold it together in a thin wrapper. There were three precious dumplings in one serving.

Finally I ordered the walnut soup with glutinous rice balls with black sesame filling (HK$56). I had seen a middle-aged woman sitting across from me having a bowl -- she knew the owner -- and I asked her how good it was. She reported it wasn't runny like other ones, not mixed with other things in it, so I decided to give it a go.

It took a very long time to arrive, but when it did, the bowl was piping hot. The walnut soup wasn't freshly ground, but as the woman said, it wasn't runny either, a decent consistency that was a bit more sweet than nutty-flavoured.

The glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame paste were delicious and together with the walnut soup made a nice hearty combination, a comforting dessert.

When regular customers were leaving the restaurant, many told the staff they would come back tomorrow, the last day. The owner, Cheung Tse-sau looks happy to finally pass on the shop to someone else for a pretty penny. Does she care what happens to the name from now on?

She claimed the new owner Wong was "young and sincere"... we'll have to see what he does with Wing Wah Noodle. People will very easily vote with their feet...

Making Bamboo Lanterns

My almost finished lantern! Lots of work involved but fun to do!

Mid-Autumn Festival is in late September, but I already received my first box of mooncakes on Monday! We're in the heat of summer and yet mooncakes are being promoted by restaurants and hotels at the moment.

The frame built and then adding fabric

The Peninsula Hong Kong invited a few of us to learn how to make traditional lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Two years ago I learned how to make one using tissue paper, and this time we used cloth.

Our instructor, surnamed Yeung, is 40 years old and he claims there are only three people in Hong Kong who are considered masters in making bamboo lanterns and lion heads. He explained he is the third generation in his family to be in this field.

 

First we took some bamboo sticks that had already been pre-bent at different points to create a hexagon shape. To hold both ends together, we used strips of tissue paper and a thick glue made with flour to secure the bamboo. We had to do four of these sticks.

Then the lantern started to take shape putting two of these hexagons at right angles to each other and again binding them with the tissue paper strips and glue. Then another was placed on a diagonal to match up the angles to create triangles and then the other.

 

Lots of glue (and sticky fingers) to create this hexagon lantern

Phew! That was hard work!

Now we had to start gluing on strips of fabric onto the frame. We applied a stickier kind of glue that got all over our fingers and needed turpentine to get off -- that's how strong it was. We applied glue on the bamboo frame on one square and then put a white piece of fabric on top and tried to stretch the material onto the frame as much as possible so it wouldn't look flimsy. Afterwards we trimmed the fabric as close to the edge as we could.

Then we did the triangles in yellow fabric and repeated the process. Another major step done.

Next we were encouraged to decorate the lantern by painting the four squares with a bright orange paint and even paint Chinese characters on it. I'm terrible at calligraphy so I just stuck flowers that were cut out for us.

Finally to make the ugly edges disappear, we were given a trimming to glue on all the edges and the lantern instantly looked much better. To finish it off, a fringe trim at the bottom and voila! A lantern!

Just need to add the trim to make the lantern look nicer

When we built the lantern, there was no frame for the candle inside so it's literally only a lantern shell. But it was fun nonetheless! It took over two and a half hours to make it!

Picture of the Day: Bamboo Scaffolding

Skilled labourers making bamboo scaffolding, much like spiders making webs

The other day as I was walking to the bus stop, I saw some men putting up bamboo scaffolding on a building that looks slated for major renovations.

How they put the bamboo up so quickly and safe enough for people to work on is amazing and you have to wonder how they do it.

This practice, which apparently dates back 1,500 years, isn't even done in China, where construction companies there prefer to use steel when building the frame around new buildings.

However, the bamboo scaffolding guys here are like spiders, creating these "webs" of scaffolding several times their size and weight, and making them very quickly and at a relatively lower cost.

There are about 1,700 registered bamboo scaffolders in the city, but like many traditional industries, fewer people are entering the field because of the low pay, adverse weather conditions, particularly in the summer, and regulations have meant younger recruits need to pass tests to get a license.

We can only hope the tradition of bamboo scaffolding continues in Hong Kong -- that's what makes the city of skyscrapers even more astonishing.