Aberdeen Promenade (Chinese: 香港仔海濱公園) is a small urban waterfront park in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. It is located on the north shore of Shek Pai Wan across from Ap Lei Chau.


Aberdeen, located on the South coast of Hong Kong Island, was one of the first places British troops came ashore in 1841 and was named after the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, George Hamilton-Gordon, British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Its Chinese name is “Heung Gong Tsai” meaning “little fragrant harbour” with “fragrant” being a reference to incense wood for burning in worship which was grown in the New Territories, collected at Tsim Sha Tsui and then sent in junks to Aberdeen for export. The name was later anglicised and Hong Kong became the name by which the whole territory is now known. It currently has a population of about 60,000 and is the largest town on Hong Kong Island. The town is sheltered by the small densely populated island of Ap Lei Chau to which it has been connected by bridge since 1983.

Aberdeen Harbor is on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. It is on the other side of Victoria Peak from the main Hong Kong urban area. Aberdeen is the largest town on Hong Kong Island outside the main urban area, and the harbor was famous as the place where the Hong Kong boat people lived in the 1960s and 1970s. Movies such as a James Bond movie and a Bruce Lee movie were filmed there, so the harbor is recognized world wide. Now, the harbor area is mainly an anchorage for the yachts and pleasure boats of the Hong Kong suburban dwellers in the area. But there are still some famous floating restaurants and local fisherman using the bay, so it is a place to go for seafood on a boat and to see the scenery and the area tourist destinations like Hong Kong Ocean Park.














Local People's Life


Despite modernization, traditional fishing life still prevails. Especially, in Bei Fung Tong Typhoon Shelter, hundreds of junks and sampans, old-fashioned boats serve as floating homes for thousands of people. They crowd in the narrow harbor, dramatically juxtaposed against a modern high-rise building that spreads up the nearby hillsides. If you were lucky, warm-hearted fishers would invite you onto their dwellings, from where you can glimpse the life of the boat-people. If no invitation forthcoming, you can always take a sampan ride yourself. But do place caution and safety first. You should take rides only with licensed operators.





Food

Tasty seafood here may be another attraction in Aberdeen. Jumbo Floating Restaurant and the Tai Bak Floating Restaurant are two of the best seafood boats in Aberdeen Harbor which were originally decorated in the style of an ancient Chinese imperial palace. Guests can take a free ferryboat shuttle to reach them for a feast of delicious seafood. Jumbo Kingdom, Aberdeen's famous floating restaurant, is one of Hong Kong's best-known icons... Looking like a massive floating Chinese palace, the restaurant's interior décor is inspired by the Chinese emperor's palace with wide use of gold and velvet red colors. The kitchen specialises mostly in seafood, prepared in various Chinese styles, but the extensive menu also boasts a selection of meat and poultry specialties…


FREE RIDE TO JUMBO RESTAURANT

Sampan Tour

Most of people who planned a trip to Hong Kong heard about Aberdeen and it's floating restaurants. But the trip on a sampan is perhaps the true highlight of the area. When you go to Aberdeen you can take a daytime tour on a sampan (a boat with tires on its sides) around Aberdeen, which costs HK$50-70 depending of haggle skills. This boat ride around Aberdeen Harbour gives an excellent chance to make a lot of photos of floating restaurants and floating village, and observe the lifestyle of the fishing community that is so different from yours. A ride lasts 25-30 minutes and worth the expenses. You can easily take a sampan from the Aberdeen Promenade. Simply walk along the promenade and you'll soon be invited to pay some money for a ~30 min trip.

Traveling Information

  • Best Time to Visit: Hong Kong is still fairly warm and is drier in October and November. But unless there is a storm, you might like the sea in the summer.
  • Public Transportation: A lot of buses go to Aberdeen including Buses No. 38, 42, 78, 91, 91A, 94A, 95, 595, 7, 37A, 37B, 41A, 48, 70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 90B, 98, 107, 170, 970X, 971, 973 and A10.There are green-roofed minibuses to Aberdeen, including Minibuses No. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4S, 5, 35M, 39C, 51, 51A, 51S, 52, 58, 59, 59A, 63, 63A and 69. There are also red-roofed minibuses that go to Aberdeen.
  • How to get there: You can take the Metro to Central Station and go through Exit A and then walk to the bus station to take Bus No. 7 to Aberdeen. Tours booked through China 
  • Highlights include private transport to Aberdeen.