XN000022-1975-05-06 — Page 19

יי

17

Finally, there were more lighters with young men giving a demonstration of a type of kung-fu ( the siu-mui-fa, a boxing style

of the Choy Lee Buddha Kung-Fu Clan) and a fragment of Chinese opera.

It was "The Triumphant Return" of Madame Fan Li-hua (a Tang Dynasty female field-marshal) after her victory over a rabellious vassal state, with elaborately beautiful costume s、

The boats and junks in the procession, as well as those in the

harbour, were alive with bravely flying coloured flags, fishing nets,

laundry lines, children and dogs On each of them live one or more

families from the time they are born to the time they die. Aberdeen

is home for about 1,600 people on 900 trawlers, 200 liners, 300 netters,

30 seiners and other small craft. Altogether in and around Hong Kong

there are about 9,000 fishermen (with 2,000 dependents who are not

involved with the industry.)

Together with music provided by drums and cymbals, and the

puttering of boats' engines, the scene was one of unforgettable, bustling

movement. As the Queen and the Duke passed throught the lines of boats

the Boat People were cheering. And the rain, which had been drizzling

fitfully, came down in earnest. But the Queen was under cover, first

on "The Lady Maurine" and then on a hover ferry on her way to Queen's

Pier.