Sai Wan Swimming Shed
Hong Kong's last surviving wooden pier swimming shed, open since dawn for elderly sea swimmers.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Sai Wan Swimming Shed in Hong Kong traces it back to 1911, when a dozen bamboo-and-iron sheds like it let working families slip into the harbour for a few cents, and forward through the pollution and reclamation that closed them one by one. It follows the shed's own closure by the 1980s and the neighbours from the Kaifong Welfare Association who petitioned to bring it back under the Admiralty Swimming Club. You'll hear about the Chinese name's origin and the earlier benevolent society behind it. The dawn swimmers arrive before five; the photographers take over by sunset.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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