After visiting the Repulse Bay, we continued our Big Bus Tour to the Aberdeen Harbor. The bus dropped us at the Aberdeen station and then we were soon welcome by a Chinese guy. Then an old lady of 70 years old also approached us and ordered that guy to prepare his sampan. While he was turning on the boat machine, the lady asked us to show our sampan ride ticket. I just found out that she was the owner of the boat. We then boarded the boat and the boat operator warmly welcomed us. He took us around to see the fishing village and the Jumbo restaurant.
Aberdeen is a naturally protected harbor at the southern shore on Hong Kong island for more than 100 years that preserves a large fishing community despite the city modernization around it. Once a haven for pirates, the fishing village now has shrinking population because of modernization and the lack of interest of young people to continue their family business. That is why the sampan ride tour is a good way to peek into the real life of fishermen and their remaining family who live in the village. Normally a sampan ride costs about $HK 60 per person but because we joined the Big Bus Tour, we got the ticket for free. There were some Westerners on the sampan too. Riding on a sampan while traveling around the fishing village, you will see huge wooden boats tied up together in rows, floating homes of the inhabitants, and preserved lifestyle of the fishing people like women washing clothes, men repairing nets, etc. This view is dramatically in contrast with the skyscrapers along the shore. This fishing tradition is so well preserved that you can also see thousands of people building their homes on junks and sampans at Bei Fung Tong Typhoon Shelter.
My boyfriend and I at the Aberdeen harbor
My mother, I and my boyfriend on the Sampan. The word Sampan originally comes from a Cantonese term for “boats”. It is a traditional wooden boat used by the Chinese as a means of transportation. 
The Sampan also took us to the Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant, featured in the 1974 James Bond movie, The Man with The Golden Sun. However, we did not go inside the restaurant. We only passed by it… I wish I could go there again and eat there. People say the restaurant serves heavenly delicious seafood.
Look at the sampan nearby the restaurant. That’s how a real sampan looks like
The sampan ride is a good retreat for those who want to find a slower pace of the city’s life. If you are interested to know about the real lives of fishermen in a big city like Hong Kong, you must not miss this sampan ride. Enjoy the beauty of the Aberdeen harbor and relax!
Sources:
Personal experience and additional information from other online articles
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