Yearly Archives: 2011

TV commercials from the MTR: do you get their point?

Unlike many other railway operators, Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation buys a lot of television airtime to promote their railway operations. In the last few years their television commercials seem to have a common theme: bouncy pop music with English lyrics, visuals that have nothing to do with railways, and a short Cantonese voiceover at the very end telling the viewer what the entire point of the advert is. Can you guess it from just the visuals?

MTR advert - merry go round Continue reading

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The City of Tomorrow (according to Microsoft)

Microsoft has a thing for producing videos showing their vision of the future is, and their latest effort is no different. Titled “Productivity Future Vision” and made by the Microsoft Office team, the video shows people around the world collaborating on projects with their smartphones, tablet computers, and desktop PCs. For a railfan interested in Hong Kong, the scene from 1:20 onwards is of interest.

Microsoft: Productivity Future Vision, scene at Sai Ying Pun Continue reading

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Fishing the waters of Hong Kong

Wherever you go in Hong Kong, it seems that if you can get to the water, you will see someone fishing. You can find them on the busy waterfront promenades of the New Towns. You can find them on the empty shores of the Outlying Islands. You can even find a few hardy types in tiny dinghies, dodging massive ships in the middle of Victoria Harbour. One thing in common with all these fishermen is the size of their catch: these tiny palm sized fish are someone’s dinner tonight. So why is their catch so small?

Catch of the day for local fishermen at Ma On Shan Continue reading

Posted in Everyday Life | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Rail freight yards in Hong Kong

The other week I wrote about the the demise of rail freight in Hong Kong: so how about we take a look at where the freight trains actually served when they did run.

Rail flat wagons at Hung Hom yard Continue reading

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Kowloon Canton Railway pre-electrification

Finding details of the Kowloon Canton Railway pre-electrification is a tad tricky: when the majority of the content is in a language that you don’t speak it gets a lot harder. None the less, it is possible.

Kowloon Canton Railway KCR - EMD G12 locomotive No. 54

Continue reading

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