I sent this postcard to my grandma in February, 1991 from Hong Kong.
I’m so sorry this card is late. I spent last week in Nanjing, China for the Chinese New Year. I wanted to write to you from there, but I did not come across any postcards. So a postcard of Hong Kong will have to do! While I was in China, I did not speak English. It was often difficult to understand others, but hopefully my listening and speaking skills improved some.
When I look at this postcard, I’m more concerned with Hong Kong’s skyline than a freezing week in Nanjing.
Why? Because the caption on the back of the postcard reads: The new look of Central, Hong Kong.
I’m not sure when this photo was actually taken, but I doubt it was in 1991 or even 1990. Where are I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower and the Norman Foster-designed Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building? The first was completed in 1990 and the second in 1985.
I’d think these buildings would appear in a photo of the Hong Kong skyline once they went up, no matter the angle at which it was taken.
If anyone knows when this photo was shot, please let me know.
i crossed the star ferry enough times to see where the lens is pointing (east) – you can even catch the hopewell centre on the left hand side. in order to have captured either bank, the photographer would have had to have been looking further west, towards the area of garden road /gvt house.
my gut says this is mid 80s but as i didnt live in hk then, it is pure gut speculation based on how it did look in 81!
Thank you! Of course I defer to you, my Hong Kong expert!! This is a small section of Central and even Jardine House/Connaught Centre is out of the frame. I noticed Hopewell Centre, too. I guess since that’s not exactly on the waterfront, I just assumed the banks would be visible in the photo, too, if they were around then. I’ll post it on Gwulo to see if anyone has an idea. I definitely bought it in 1991, but that means nothing!!
it would have been taken after 1982 which is when the far east finance centre was completed – the gold 50 floor building, nicknamed ‘amah’s tooth’.
i don’t think the banks would have featured from the angle this was taken as they would have been further over to the right.
Thanks! Not even the Bank of China? When I look at photos from the 90s, I see the Bank of China in all of them. HK Bank doesn’t always show up.