This photo was taken on Nov 11 just before midnight, when about 1,500 people gathered at the (now “old”) Star Ferry Pier in Central, some to protest, and some to bid farewell to the clock tower and the pier. It is a place of many HK people’s daily life, where we met our dates and friends; attended weddings and shows nearby, traveled to school or work, shopped and dined in Central or Tsimshatsui. It’s a place with tons of collective memory of HK people, and now it is giving way to yet another valuable real estate development plan. The bells of the clock tower had marked every quarter-hour since 1957. It rang for the last time at midnight Nov 11th 2006, and I’ve recorded it for the memory:
Links: A collage of scenes last night and previous posts about the Star Ferry Central Pier here: Star Ferry, Perfect Match, Boarding the ferry, Clock tower Building Central
i read about it on an i-news yesterday and was sad about it. Thanks Lisi, was just thinking that you might show a photo about it today…
November 12th, 2006, at 10:12 pm #Looks like the authorities are hell bent on wanting to land-fill the entire harbor between the Island and Kowloon. Btw, I didn’t know there’s (pretty soon, was) a clock tower near the ferry on the Island side too.
November 12th, 2006, at 11:16 pm #superbe photo et vraiment tres impressionante cette foule.
superb photograph and really very impressionante this crowd.
November 12th, 2006, at 11:17 pm #Hi Lisi! Neat story…neat shot! But OOoooooo, are those balloons connected to the clock and hovering in the dark? Kinda creeps me out…they look like wierd planets! LOL!
November 13th, 2006, at 12:45 am #Hi Lisi,
I like your shot very much. You simply got it all: the people, the clock… you get the atmosphere. I went there yesterday afternoon and it was very touchy and a little bit funny as well, because nearly every second face has a lens quite in front of it:))
November 13th, 2006, at 12:45 am #Btw: I love your blog. You bring the fascinating and somtimes strange sides of HK nearer to foreigners like me. Thank you.
oh, i was there too, snapping away like mad… we’re goona miss it.
November 13th, 2006, at 1:19 am #sad to see it go, lots of great buildings gave way to new developers, what a shame.
November 13th, 2006, at 2:10 am #very nice you recorded the last bells so we can hear it.
I did like the shot as soon as I saw it …Very intriguing and rich atmosphere… When I red the story I felt very mooved… and being abble to actually earing the bells was a great great moment ( I had to explain to my daughter what was happening…)
November 13th, 2006, at 4:26 am #THANK YOU, Lisi, for sharing with us this touching moment…
Strange that so many people would turn out to hear the clock chime one last time, geee they must hold an important place in Honk Kong’s cultural history!
Curly’s Photoshop
November 13th, 2006, at 5:00 am #so many people there! if the place holds such a tremendous sentimental value, I think it should be kept and maintained. oh well, perhaps the real estate is much more needed. Nice shot as always, lisi!
November 13th, 2006, at 10:29 am #thank you for recording the bells of the clock. I felt for a moment like being there.
November 13th, 2006, at 1:44 pm #Very interesting and sad story, progress, you know. Fine shot.
November 13th, 2006, at 3:04 pm #Michelle, I have added extra photo, links and the sound of the bells recorded when they rang the last time.
Ame my dear friend, those are glares, not very rare but not intended to scare
w, you didn’t know? I bet you didn’t take the Star Ferry often or did you just hang around Ladder Street all the time?
a and b3108, welcome and please come often and let me know what you think
Olivier, you’re always so nice!
Mizziz Jones, the bells must have caught your daughters attention
Curly, yes, it is a special place for many people as you can see some of my visitors were there too.
Jazzy, Santy, carroll and zsolt, thanks very much and I hope I won’t be showing another similar post again.
November 13th, 2006, at 6:11 pm #I should have been more observant, the clock was clearly highlighted in one of your posts. Really glad you recorded the scene and sound. Nice job!
November 13th, 2006, at 10:06 pm #Great memento for you personally, as well as a great thing for DP, Lisi. Thanks.
November 17th, 2006, at 3:00 pm #I was there when I visited HK in 2004. I was sad to hear it was closing and I won’t be able to visit it when I’m in the city again next week….
August 14th, 2007, at 6:30 am #