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A typhoon shelter () is a shelter for fishing boats during
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
s. These facilities are often found in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
.


Structure

In its usual form, a typhoon shelter is in the form of a bay or a cove, with a narrow opening for access, as most of the opening to the seas is blocked by a man-made
breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...
.


Usage

A typhoon shelter, as its name suggests, is used by small to medium ships as a shelter against gale-force winds and rough seas during a typhoon strike. It is also used to moor yachts (the shelter in
Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is an area and a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern and the Wan Chai districts. It is a major shopping, leisure and cultural centre in Hong Kong, with a number of major shopping centres. Th ...
in Hong Kong is often used for that purpose) and some typhoon shelters have wharves for cargo.


Life in typhoon shelters

Before the 1990s, there was a fairly large population living on boats in typhoon shelters. Many of them were the descendants of fishermen or boat people. They developed a distinct culture that is different from the mainstream cultures found in Hong Kong. The culture is, by many definitions, a fully developed one, with its own language, wedding rituals and other things such as food, songs and superstitions. The life and culture of the descendants of these fishermen has often been glamourised, and effectively hid the truth of the extreme poverty that existed among these people. Since they often had to go out to sea to fish, the children of a fisherman's family often did not go to school. This created the need for "floating schools", operated by religious organisations, to educate children living in typhoon shelters. Also, as the catch was variable income was not steady. Finally, as it is impossible to establish proper plumbing and garbage collection services among these boats, sanitary conditions in typhoon shelters during the time there were many people living there were less than desirable.


Typhoon shelter crab

''Typhoon shelter crab'' (), a dish served in many Hong Kong Chinese restaurants, is believed to have originated from the typhoon shelters. It is commonly prepared with crab meat, garlic, scallion, red chili and black beans.


Typhoon shelter prawn

Besides typhoon shelter crab, which is very well known throughout the world, the typhoon shelter style is also often cooked with prawn (), especially giant tiger prawns (''
Penaeus monodon ''Penaeus monodon'', commonly known as the giant tiger prawn, Asian tiger shrimp, black tiger shrimp, and other names, is a marine crustacean that is widely reared for food. Taxonomy ''Penaeus monodon'' was first described by Johan Christian ...
'') or mantis prawn (''
Mantis shrimp Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in length, ...
''). The method of cooking is similar to cooking typhoon shelter crab, where prawns are deep fried in aromatic oil, stir-fried with garlic, ginger, shallots, dried chili and black bean.


Present

Hong Kong's status as a fishing city continues to decline; the descendants of the fishermen have moved onshore, and the so-called "Typhoon Shelter" culture is rapidly being lost. The function of typhoon shelters remains unchanged, however, and their existence is still vital to Hong Kong. Some restaurants serving typhoon shelter-style cuisine have moved to shops onshore.


See also

*
Harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
*
List of typhoon shelters in Hong Kong The first typhoon shelter built in Hong Kong was the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, completed in 1883. It was followed by the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter, inaugurated in 1915. The following is a list of typhoon shelters in Hong Kong: Current Dec ...
* Cuisine of Hong Kong


References

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