杏花樓 1870-2

A John Thomson photograph. It appears in a book “Illustrations of China and Its People: A Series of Two Hundred Photographs with Letterpress Descriptive of the Places and Peoples Represented”. Volume I, published/created 1873-1874. The book is held in the Yale University Library and can be accessed at: https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_03083_001/?st=gallery

The description of the scene begins with “This is an after-dinner gathering on the verandah of a Chinaman’s house. The entire domestic circle smoke tobacco….”

Reading the text, a restaurant setting is not mentioned. May be Hong Kong but Hong Kong is not given as the location of the photograph.  That said, the scene of opium smoking in a restaurant appears in a different photograph and on a previous page of the book. 

Comments noted. The original photo and the ornate building under reference are also held by the Wellcome Collection upon purchase in 1921.
 

The former is described as a teahouse which is different from the description given in Thomson’s book. The latter is described as a shop building at: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/rqkvbfdh

Have not found the original description given by Thomson for the photo of the ornate building. 

Yes, it would be nice to connect the two photos as being of the same location but for now in my view there exist discrepancies. 

I would agree a Teahouse and a Restaurant in an 1870s setting would be the same. Further evidence through primary sources will be required whether or not the ornate building and the teahouse photos can be directly linked to the Apricot Flower Restaurant.

A companion photograph showing the same teahouse setting as shown above can be viewed below.

Description

A woman standing on the left smoking a pipe, man and woman sitting smoking pipes, a boy sitting and an older man behind both looking on, all on the verandah of the same building as Thomson's negative number 41. 

Thanks. Will keep note of the locations given. The Facebook link appears to be a dead link.

I've downloaded the higher-resolution copy of this photo from the Wellcome Collection:

If you zoom in there are a couple of English words which suggest it was taken in Hong Kong, or at least one of the Treaty Ports:

• At the left, on the wall of the pawn shop is  a large poster with 'INTERNATIONAL' at the top and 'COMPANY' at the bottom. The middle looks to have another poster stuck on top of it, and isn't clear to read.
• At far right is an arch. Much of it is hidden but I can see "TELS" - possibly part of "... HOTELS" ?

There are also several signs in Chinese, which may help confirm the building's name and location.

The Location of the building is between was at today's 325 Queens Road Central - currently the Carbo Building. In the high Resolution photo David posted of the exterior of the building a street can be seen in the left foreground just behind the arch of the nearest building (look for the curve in the kerb) - this is Morrison Street.

The two photos taken on the roof/verandah are also of the same building at 325 Queens Road. As well as the similarities in the design of the verandah roof poles and the mouldings on the balcony, in the high resolution photo of the original picture posted by simtang (can be found on Wellcome site - L0055625) there are a number of buildings in the background. The three highest on the right of the photo are identifiable as Dinder, Forest Lodge and Buxley Lodge on Caine Road either side of Shing Wong Street. Other buildings in the background match buildings in HK at the time in other photos although I am unsure of their names, particularly the large on on the horizon in the centre of the photo

 There is a 4th photo held in the Welcome Collection of that is likely the same building. 

I think this is the same building mainly due to the ironwork in the windows matching the ironwork in the exterior shots, however it is impossible to be 100% confident. 

I have no idea of the name of the restaurant/Teahouse as I can't read Chinese.

This was likely taken a few years earlier than the John Thomson photos due to the better condition of the buildings around the teahouse - there is also a verandah running all the way around the top of the building. The angle is slightly different. Unfortunately I do not have a higher resolution copy. It was published in the China Magazine c1868-70. I am unsure what the Hang Fah Low refers to - it is the original caption.

The high-res photo of the ornate building that David has provided shows a few signboards in Chinese that appear readable. I will take a stab in attempting to read them. 

1. The black vertical signboard to the left of the pawn shop is a shop that sells products/cigarettes from Tientsin (Tianjin);

2. The black vertical signboard at mid-bottom of  the ornate building is some kind of money exchange shop and 

3. The white vertical signboard immediately to the right of the black vertical signboard mentioned in 2. is a Chinese bakery with a Dragon-Phoenix name.

Other contributors may be able to assist and provide a better identification of the signboards and other bits of information. But so far, I cannot recognise a name or sign for a teahouse. 
 

Thanks for the building identifications on the slopes. 

"I am unsure what the Hang Fah Low refers to"

"Hang Fah Low" is just a romanisation of the name of the restaurant - 杏花樓 - already mentioned by simtang. A more modern romanisation would be "hang⁶ fa¹ lau⁴"

Thanks for the photograph in the China Magazine that confirms the building and name of the teahouse “Hang Fah Low”.