1890s View along the Praya

When: This photo is taken from a stereoview card, dated 1896:

Where: The line of masts along the right of the photo shows we're on the seafront, or Praya.

We know the 1896 seafront ran along Des Voeux Road, but which section are we looking at?

There's a clue in the line of the buildings on the left. See how it ends abruptly? That marks a corner where the road turns out of sight to the left. Maps show two candidate corners, one near Jubilee Street and one at the junction with Rumsey Street.

The corner near Jubilee Street seems more likely, and the arches on the building in the left foreground confirm it.

They were on the front of the Central Market building [1], the predecessor to the current Central Market. Here's a later view of these buildings:

Who: This area employed a lot of manual workers to load and unload the boats that moored along the sea wall. In front of the market building was a stone pier with steps that made access to boats that bit easier, so this location was even busier.

The pier was mainly used by boats delivering food to the market, but it was used for other deliveries too. In this photo, the group in the foreground are all working on a delivery of bricks.

That man has his carriers loaded and ready to go, while others are loading up:

And there are plenty of spare carriers available if needed:

What: If you can read the Chinese characters, please can you let us know what type of businesses were running here?

The only English words are this sign on the pillar that is closest to us:

The shop sells "Kops Ale", a non-alcoholic drink brewed in Fulham, London, and shipped out around the British Empire [2]. It must have been new to Hong Kong in 1896, as it got a mention in the Hong Kong Daily Press in May that year:

At this time the Temperance Movement [3] was in full swing, so there was a ready market for non-alcoholic drinks like Kops Ale.

Prints of this photo are available to buy in the Shop.

Trivia: The copyright belongs to "Strohmeyer & Wyman", but the card is "Sold only by Underwood & Underwood". At this time the cards were produced by Strohmeyer & Wyman, but Underwood & Underwood were the sole distributors. A few years later, Underwood & Underwood bought Strohmeyer & Wyman's business, merging the two companies' collections of stereoview cards [4].

References:

1. Central Market, 2nd Generation [1895-1937]
2. Kops' Brewery, Fulham
3. Temperance Movement
4. The relationship between Strohmeyer & Wyman and Underwood & Underwood.