The Real Hong Kong | Me, Jamie, 51 years living in Hong Kong - I know the culture
This is my first blog post for 14 months, Covid regulations in Hong Kong killed the tourism market and I had simply no enthusiasm for posting new material
March 1st 2023 saw the mask mandate cancelled in Hong Kong which was a major barrier to tourism in Hong Kong so now it is all systems go.! it is nice to be back.
The Real Hong Kong
Hong Kong Culture | A personal view
Hong Kong Skyscraper catches fire
Unless stated otherwise all images are taken by Jamie
Images courtesy of the South China Morning Post
Above is the building that caught fire late in the evening March 2nd 2023 and put out March 3rd 2023, it is still not clear where the fire started, the greenish building with scaffolding at the top shown below is how it looked in daylight, my image below was taken on February 21st 2023!
Shades of the Towering Inferno
Let me be clear, Hong Kong has some of the most stringent fire regulations in the world particularly in relation to tall buildings, these regulations came about due to a very small number of horrific fires decades ago.
The building in the image above is the new home of the Mariners Club which was demolished in 2018 | 2019 to make way for this fancy new building which will be a hotel as well as the new home for the Mariners Club, you can see that the scaffolding is at the top of the building so I guess it was expected to be complete by mid 2023
The original Mariners Club prior to being demolished
The famous Mariners Club sign, I hope it will be back at the entrance when the new building is finally complete.
I am always mystified at how a fire breaks out in tall buildings under construction in Hong Kong given the fire regulations in place, these fires are fortunately very. very rare and this is down to the amazing Fire Department here who have an excellent reputation and record in dealing with fires
It will be interesting to see what caused this.
Although the new building will house a luxury hotel we as a family are thrilled that the Mariners Club will re open again in the building
My first visit to the Mariners Club was in in 1972 and as a family we were members, my wife’s family was at the opening in May 1967! and it was possible I crossed paths with the wife when I was a kid and she was a baby! I was a frequent visitor, some of the more interesting facilities included a Church and a Bowling Alley
So, drama over, the Towering Inferno never really came to pass, a few minor injuries in the streets below and knowing Hong Kong, the building will now be completed and opened in record time.
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