{"id":214571,"date":"2025-09-10T04:15:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214571\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T04:15:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:15:21","slug":"building-a-modern-metropolis-using-a-centuries-old-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214571\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a modern metropolis using a centuries-old technique"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hong Kong
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Every year, in the middle of summer, hundreds of Hong Kong construction workers and engineers walk up some 200 steps to Ching Lin Terrace in the seaside neighborhood of Kennedy Town.\n <\/p>\n

\n There, in one of the city\u2019s temples,<\/strong> they gather and pay their respects to Lo Pan, a legendary Chinese carpenter from the Zhou dynasty and patron saint of builders and contractors.\n <\/p>\n

\n Even in the sweltering heat, workers cram into the tiny temple\u2019s smoke-filled foyer with incense and candlesticks in hand. Bowing several times, they chant slogans in honor of the construction deity\u2019s birthday and pray for a stable year of work.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI always tell people that Lo Pan is like our Michelangelo. He is a designer, an architect and an engineer,\u201d said Lawrence Ng, president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub-Contractors Association, which represents the city\u2019s waterproofing, metalwork and scaffolding professionals, among others.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe must pay respects to the workers who came before us, and Lo Pan is our \u2018sifu\u2019 (master).\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Worshipping Lo Pan has taken on a particular significance in today\u2019s precarious economy, Ng said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the city has seen a decline<\/a> in large scale construction projects, leaving many laborers without steady, long-term <\/a>employment. Among them are the city\u2019s \u201cspidermen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 thousands of construction workers trained in the ancient technique of bamboo scaffolding.\n <\/p>\n

\n On a slope behind Lo Pan temple is a towering residential building covered in a familiar sight to those who\u2019ve walked Hong Kong\u2019s streets: bamboo poles arranged in a distinct grid-like formation.\n <\/p>\n

\"Residential<\/p>\n

\n The crisscrossed structures, in which each pole is fastened with nylon ties, are ubiquitous across the city\u2019s dense, vertical urban landscape. These scaffolds are erected on skyscrapers, hundreds of feet high, and encased in fabric safety nets forming colorful cocoons of green, blue and purple.\n <\/p>\n

\n Smaller bamboo contraptions often poke out of windows, or cover air conditioning units and balconies.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bamboo scaffolding is not only used in the construction of new buildings, but the renovation of thousands of high-rises and historic tenements (\u201ctong lau\u201d) every year.\n <\/p>\n

\n Popular in Hong Kong for over a century, the technique\u2019s origins in Chinese construction date back to at least the Han dynasty, around 2,000 years ago. The method was also widely used in mainland China until government regulations started calling for steel and aluminum scaffolds, in keeping with international norms, in the 1990s.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bamboo, however, remained the go-to material in Hong Kong, and has been used to build some of the city\u2019s tallest skyscrapers, like Norman Foster\u2019s HSBC headquarters and parts of the 88-floor International Finance Centre.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n Aside from helping develop Hong Kong\u2019s modern structures, bamboo has also played an integral role in building temporary Cantonese opera theaters<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n These traditional theaters, made entirely out of the plant, are built on special occasions like the birthdays of local deities or the Hungry Ghost Festival.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

\n Scaffolding has, in turn, become part of the city\u2019s visual language. Being lightweight, customizable and relatively affordable, bamboo stands in stark contrast to its mainstream counterpart, metal.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSteel is relatively stiff and strong, but it\u2019s less flexible than bamboo,\u201d said Goman Ho, a structural engineer at British engineering firm Arup, who has more than three decades of experience overseeing the development of tall buildings in the city, including the 283-meter (928-foot) tall Cheung Kong Center.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBamboo on the other hand, has its own craftsmanship,\u201d he added. \u201cYou can build a lot of beautiful scaffolding in ways you\u2019d never think of.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s culture we need to maintain\u2019<\/p>\n

\n Whether in traditional or modern construction, handling the long poles requires specific skills and intuition, which can take months or years to achieve.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSometimes people spend one, two, three or even four years learning bamboo scaffolding and may not become masters,\u201d said Ho Ping-Tak (no relation), Chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Bamboo Scaffolding Workers Union.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBut with metal, the technical requirements are lower. If you have the strength, you can generally meet the requirements in a much shorter time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Arup's<\/p>\n

\"\u201cBamboo<\/p>\n

\n The largest member of the grass family, bamboo is combustible, susceptible to deterioration and weaker in rain, raising legitimate questions about its durability, Arup\u2019s Ho said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe need to find ways to overcome it,\u201d he said of these challenges, suggesting that poles could be coated with epoxy or plastic solution to prevent erosion.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s culture we need to maintain,\u201d Ho added.\n <\/p>\n

\n But keeping the tradition alive is challenging. The industry comprises an aging workforce \u2013\u2013 many, like 78-year-old Leung Siu Wai, among the dozens of senior bamboo scaffold workers paying respects to Lo Pan, are close to retirement. New talent is also lacking, said Ng.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to get young people to enter,\u201d he added. \u201cYoung people in Hong Kong don\u2019t want to do physically demanding work, or work that gives them an identity they feel uncomfortable with.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Discussions on safeguarding the practice resurfaced earlier this year when the Hong Kong government\u2019s Development Bureau announced<\/a> that 50% of new public building projects erected from March onwards would need to use metal scaffolding to \u201cbetter protect workers\u201d and align with modern construction standards in \u201cadvanced cities.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"Leung<\/p>\n

\n The notice sparked concern among some Hong Kong residents, even though the policy will only impact \u201cone or two new building projects\u201d this year, according to statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n The bureau later confirmed to CNN that only one public project would be affected in 2025. Nonetheless, some residents have taken to social media to lament what they believed to be the beginning of the end of bamboo scaffolding.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is your sign to film bamboo scaffolding while you still can,\u201d wrote a Hong Kong videographer in an Instagram post<\/a> that garnered over 20,000 likes. \u201cTruly one of Hong Kong\u2019s quiet wonders. And soon, it\u2019ll just be part of the past.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The storied building technique has also been celebrated on the global stage, presented as part of the Hong Kong pavilion at this year\u2019s Venice Biennale \u2013\u2013 the world\u2019s largest architecture exhibition.\n <\/p>\n

\n In May, a sprawling bamboo scaffold was built in the courtyard of Venice\u2019s Campo della Tana, as part of a showcase exploring the diverse and often juxtaposing aspects of public space in Hong Kong, with a focus on threatened heritage.\n <\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

\n Its curators said their proposal for the pavilion was finalized in January, two months before the government announced its move to adopt more metal scaffolding in construction.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe were a bit shocked, to say the least, because we had planned for this without knowing (the government\u2019s announcement) was coming,\u201d said Ying Zhou, an architect and one of the curators.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo immediately, we were like, \u2018Oh what does our thing now say?\u2019 It takes on a whole different kind of importance, especially when we bring it to a place like Venice.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Eleven bamboo \u201csifus,\u201d or masters, traveled to Venice to build the structure. Watching them in action, Zhou\u2019s Italian counterparts were, she said, impressed with the way the material was assembled so quickly and precisely \u2013\u2013 without much calculation.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese pre-modern technologies are never recognized in a standardized world, because you have steel, you have concrete, you have numbers that are calculable,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd here we have something that even the Italians are like, \u2018Oh, we need your structural engineer to certify (it).\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Thirty-six-year-old Over Chan, a bamboo scaffold worker who builds structures for external repair work, claims that recent industry-wide discussions about fatal accidents on construction sites have prompted more government intervention. (There were 24 deaths related to bamboo scaffolding<\/a> from January 2018 to August 2025, according to Hong Kong\u2019s Labour Department).\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen I was starting out as a worker, we didn\u2019t even have to wear shirts, but now, we\u2019re required to wear our uniform, have good manners, and so on \u2013\u2013 this ultimately allows us to rise above the competition.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBamboo is not unsafe,\u201d Ho, the chairman of the workers\u2019 union, said, emphasizing the importance of workers fastening themselves to the wooden structures.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine to use metal scaffolding \u2013\u2013 we\u2019re not saying that metal scaffolding is a competing technique, but if (the government) makes an announcement without much explanation\u2026it gives the public the wrong impression that bamboo is unsafe, which has huge implications.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Hong Kong\u2019s Development Bureau told CNN that adopting metal scaffolding in construction is just one of many ways to improve site safety.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cProvided relevant legislative requirements on bamboo scaffolds and metal scaffolds are fulfilled, both types of scaffolds are safe,\u201d the bureau said in an email, adding that the government has \u201cno intention to phase out the adoption of bamboo scaffolds.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Many large-scale construction projects in Hong Kong already incorporate a hybrid of bamboo and steel scaffolding, the union leader Ho said, with metal bars fixed to the ground supporting wooden structures higher up.\n <\/p>\n

\n He estimates that, currently, 80% of scaffolds are created using bamboo, while 20% use metal or a hybrid of materials.\n <\/p>\n

\n Chan, who remains eager and optimistic about the trade, said he has started taking courses on metal scaffolding to stand out in the workforce, despite his belief that bamboo isn\u2019t going anywhere.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOver the past few years, there\u2019s been this feeling in Hong Kong about needing to preserve what\u2019s left of the city\u2019s identity,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n