School: Po Kok Secondary School
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

7 students, ages 14-17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 21, 2003. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): n/a

Classes and Teachers: Teachers:Jess Chu, Funnecal Koo / Classes : Form 3 Classes

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.pokok.edu.hk

1. Description of Our Community

Hong Kong is perched on the south-east coast of China. With its magnificent harbour, steep peaks and surrounding islands, Hong Kong is a geographically interesting city. The territory is divided into four main areas -- Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the outlying islands. In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to the embrace of our motherland, China and became Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong has always been internationally known as Gourmet Paradise. It is a melting pot of the East and the West. Almost all the different styles of Chinese cooking are represented here.

The history of food is elaborated in this project. Much traditional food is adapted and modified by the later-on generations. Therefore, the food develops a Hong Kong taste that can only be tasted here.

By looking into different stories of food, we find that Hong Kong people are very hard-working. They did not give up easily even during the 40’s and 50’s when Hong Kong’s economy was sluggish. We think that Hong Kong people can still face the hardship nowadays.

2. Summary of Our Project

The frenetic pace and long hours of working life in Hong Kong make eating out a necessity for many people. Therefore, it is not strange to find restaurants crammed with customers. Six special types of restaurants will be illustrated, namely, Chinese restaurants, tea bistros, Dai Pai Dong, cart noodle shops, herbal tea shops and congee shops. The stories behind these food shops, undoubtedly, give the older generation sweet memories.

We will also take an insight into Hong Kong’s style cuisine. In the second section, street snacks, dim sum, festival food, preserved food, barbecued food and other specialties will be elaborated. As a quick and easy reference, each food is rated by our members on the degree of attractiveness. The ratings are shown as stars above each comment. Up to 5 stars will be awarded.

Interviews with four foreigners are included. They were asked about their opinions on food in Hong Kong.

A bulletin board system is also included. Any questions and comments about Hong Kong’s food and our website are welcome. Photos of the team members and our teachers are put in the website. We also share our reflections on doing this project.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

There are more than 300 computers in school, mainly resided in special rooms such as the library, computer laboratories, language laboratory and D & T room, etc. There are two 6 Mbps Internet connection lines in the school which are in the ADSL technology. We are going to change the connection lines into two 10 Mbps Ethernet technology so that both the upstream and the downstream connections can be enhanced.

The website will be held in the school Web server which runs in Microsoft IIS.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

There are several problems we had to overcome. First is searching for information. We went to Kowloon City to take photos of various street foods. While many shop owners were very nice to help us, a few of them were not friendly.

As students in a Chinese-medium school, we do not have a great mastery of English. At first, we were quite worried to enter this competition as English is the language we had to use. The two group members who are better at the language help the script writing. Besides, we got help from the teachers and our friends at the editorial work. We also find it hard to translate some Chinese terms into English. Library books can give use some clues.

Time is also a great problem. We were told to do the project last October, which means that we got only six months to finish the website. We seized every opportunity to do the project. So, we went back to school during the Christmas and Chinese New Year holidays. Even though many members went to visit their relatives during the New Year holiday, those who are free also went to school.

Workload from school is quite heavy. We have great pressure from study. We still need to finish other homework and assignments during the holidays. Some sacrifice could not be avoided.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Hong Kong offers a great variety of excellent cuisine to tempt every taste and please every palate. We hope that the completion of this web page can let people appreciate the food.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

Hong Kong is a charming city where the choice of culinary indulgence is limited only by imagination and the inclination. As a part of tourism campaign, “The Best of the Best Culinary Awards” is organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board annually to identify the examples of Hong Kong’s classic and representative dishes. The prize-winning dishes and details of the winning restaurants will be published and available locally and internationally. Our website is in line with that. By showing people the delicious Hong Kong food in the website, we would like help further expand Hong Kong’s international reputation as a paradise for food lovers.

This project is similar to what we usually do at school. Apart from doing worksheets, workbooks and other drilling exercises, we are also required to do cross-curriculum projects.

We learnt how to work as a team. We trust, rely on and tolerate with one other. In order to make the project successful, team spirit is very important. We also find that our interpersonal skills are improved. Apart from the knowledge we get from the textbook, we also need to acquire these social skills which are useful to us.

Besides, we have acquired new IT skills, for example, Dreamweaver and Flash.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Hardware description

(1 ) Intel Pentium IV computers

(2) 6 M Internet connection

(3) 2 digital cameras

Software description

(1) Macromedia Flash 5.0 (Flash version)

(2) Macromedia Dreamweaver 4.0 (HTML version)

(3) Adobe Photoshop (to edit photos/ pictures)

(4) Microsoft Word (to edit content)

(5) FTP Surfer (to upload Web Site)

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

In order to know more about the ingredients of street snacks and other specialties, we went to food stalls in Kowloon City and talked to the shop owners. Most of them were very helpful and provided us with much useful information. We also asked them for permission of taking photos. Besides, we interviewed two NETs (Native English-speaking Teachers) and two Eltas (English language teaching assistants) in our school, asking them about their opinions on Hong Kong food. We were grateful for their help. We designed questions, raised questions, video-taped and edited their opinions. Our parents and teachers were impressed by our efforts as we devoted our leisure time to undertake this project. We also showed our project to our fellow classmates. Fortunately they gave us positive response. They were impressed by our design, graphics and some interesting stories of the food.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

Hong Kong is a food-lover’s heaven and its food is always introduced to foreign countries. We were raised and having been living here for about fifteen years, but how much do we know about Hong Kong’s unique food? Thus, it is worth having a better understanding of both our community and the food.

We have learnt that we should treasure what we are given as many stories of food tell us that our ancestors led hardships during 40s and 50s. We are lucky that we have given an exciting range of choices nowadays. From the project, members of our community will know what exactly makes the food so fantastic.

The origins of street food stalls show that how Hong Kong people care for one another and unite in harmony through local delights and cuisines.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

When doing the project, we interviewed shop owners and expatriate teachers. We also visited many different eating places and street food stalls. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to them as they accepted our interview and provided us with useful information.

Moreover, we would like to extend our gratitude to our supportive parents. Our classmates and friends also gave us many great ideas.

Besides, we especially thank our English teacher and Computer teacher. The former helped editing whereas the latter provided us with technical support. They also gave us valuable advice and guidelines. Of course, we would like to thank every member who has made contribution to the completion of the project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Even though we spent a lot of time doing this project, we actually found the process enjoyable and fun. Lessons were learnt and some surprises were made.

First of all, we learnt that teamwork is very important in undertaking the project. Sometimes, we have arguments, but overall speaking, we work cohesively.

We know that in order to thank people who refill our cup when going to yum cha in the Chinese restaurant, we tap the table with three fingers of the same hand. However, we do not know why. We discover the story while doing some research. Actually, it can be traced to a Qing Dynasty emperor who used to travel incognito. Once he went into a teahouse with his companions. He took his turn at pouring tea so as to preserve his anonymity. His companions wanted to kowtow for the great honour. Instead of allowing them to reveal his identity, the emperor told them to tap three fingers on the table. One finger represented their bowed head and the other two represented their prostrate arms. In the future, we can tell this interesting story to foreigners.

One day we went to Kowloon City to get information. When we went to a food stall to buy a snack, we forgot to pay. But the shop owner was too busy to realize it. When we discovered it, we went back and paid the food. Luckily, we were not scolded. Some shop owners thought that we were reporters of a television programme. They thought that they would appear in the television. On that day when we were busy taking photos, buying and eating snacks, we did not realize that we had already eaten too much. That night, we were too full to have dinner!