hkskyline
June 5th, 2005, 07:35 PM
Famed junk's replica finds safe harbour
Nick Gentle
4 June 2005
South China Morning Post
It is the only junk known to have completed the voyage from Hong Kong to London, and it now sits in the Maritime Museum in Stanley.
And aside from the fact that it is a fair bit smaller than the original, the 4.6-metre-long model of the historic Keiying, which with its trip to England proved the seaworthiness of the Chinese design, is as accurate a reproduction as can be - from the construction of its hull to the furniture in its cabins.
"Much of this model is based on research work into what the vessel would have looked like," said museum director Stephen Davies, lamenting the fact that very few records of the 800-tonne original survived after it completed its 15-month voyage on March 28, 1848.
"The boat itself was broken up and turned into two ferry boats and some souvenir boxes."
And there was surprisingly little documentation of its visit. Despite numerous visits by royalty and high society, all Mr Davies could locate was a woodcut, a couple of sketches and a photo of dubious provenance on the internet.
It is a common problem.
"Usually, and even until very recently, the Chinese shipbuilders were mostly illiterate and they didn't work from drawings. They would have built it the way their fathers built ships," Mr Davies said.
Captain Tung Yan-tung made numerous trips to Shanghai on behalf of the museum to check on the building of the Keiying and the other 23 models that arrived yesterday.
One of those arrivals was a three-metre-long model of the Seawise Giant, the largest ship ever built. Now known as the Jahre Viking, the ship was built by Hong Kong shipping magnate Tung Chao-yung, father of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Nick Gentle
4 June 2005
South China Morning Post
It is the only junk known to have completed the voyage from Hong Kong to London, and it now sits in the Maritime Museum in Stanley.
And aside from the fact that it is a fair bit smaller than the original, the 4.6-metre-long model of the historic Keiying, which with its trip to England proved the seaworthiness of the Chinese design, is as accurate a reproduction as can be - from the construction of its hull to the furniture in its cabins.
"Much of this model is based on research work into what the vessel would have looked like," said museum director Stephen Davies, lamenting the fact that very few records of the 800-tonne original survived after it completed its 15-month voyage on March 28, 1848.
"The boat itself was broken up and turned into two ferry boats and some souvenir boxes."
And there was surprisingly little documentation of its visit. Despite numerous visits by royalty and high society, all Mr Davies could locate was a woodcut, a couple of sketches and a photo of dubious provenance on the internet.
It is a common problem.
"Usually, and even until very recently, the Chinese shipbuilders were mostly illiterate and they didn't work from drawings. They would have built it the way their fathers built ships," Mr Davies said.
Captain Tung Yan-tung made numerous trips to Shanghai on behalf of the museum to check on the building of the Keiying and the other 23 models that arrived yesterday.
One of those arrivals was a three-metre-long model of the Seawise Giant, the largest ship ever built. Now known as the Jahre Viking, the ship was built by Hong Kong shipping magnate Tung Chao-yung, father of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.