Legend of Lo Ting

As a way of explanation for forbidding Tanka people from living on land, a myth developed implying they were descended from Lo Ting a half man half fish creature.

In 1997, the British and over to China had people searching for cultural identity, and tales of Lo Ting were reborn through the arts.

Dragon Boating

With links to the boat dwellers of Hong Kong, international competitions are now held annually in Hong Kong and globally.

Traditionally the head and tail of the boat and drum are kept in the Tin Hau temple throughout the year.

  The Tin Hau statue accompanies the boats and is slowly dried out under cloth on return to the temple.

Ancestral worship

Ancestral effigies and religious shrines are carried on every boat, important to the boat dwellers.

Traditionally illiterate with Dan Gā Wá a non-scripted language, these effigies were as important as the written memorialising tablets of those on land.

To the people on the water, both Fish and the elements of water represent good fortune. Statues and models of fish decorate the boats.

Catholic missions

Catholic missionaries, such as Fr Franco Mella in Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter, created floating schools and churches winning converts with free food in overcrowded poverty-stricken communities. The conditions in YMT led to the boat dwellers rehousing, the typhoon shelter closing, and the land reclaimed providing a site for several waterfront high-rise estates in the 1980’s.