The Jumbo Kingdom was established in October 1976 by
Stanley Ho after more than HK$30 million were spent to design and build it. It was originally decorated in the style of an ancient Chinese imperial palace. Ho later purchased Tai Pak in 1980 and Sea Palace in 1982, operating all three former competitors under Jumbo Kingdom.
Tai Pak Floating Restaurant The Tai Pak Floating Restaurant was established in 1952, when Wong Lo-kat (along with three other investors) purchased a boat and transformed it into a floating restaurant spanning in length. Due to Tai Pak's smaller size compared to Jumbo, Hong Kong authorities granted Tai Pak permission to remain as a laid-up vessel in 2022 during negotiations with a potential buyer. It was reported that New Bond Ltd obtained ownership of the vessel in August and intended to renovate the restaurant to serve an Asian-Western fusion cuisine and promote Hong Kong tourism as well as local brands. In 2023, New Bond Ltd said it had not made any final plans for Tai Pak after acquiring it in January and that a former business partner had spoken to the press about proposals that had not been approved by other shareholders. Due to the ongoing litigation that also involves the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, renovation of Tai Pak has been postponed. Tai Pak had its lighting restored in late 2024 and plans to re-open in 2026.
Jumbo Floating Restaurant Wong ordered the construction of a second restaurant, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, by the Kowloon Chung Hwa shipyard, at the price of HK$14 million. On 30 October 1971, It had to be rebuilt after new owners Stanley Ho and
Cheng Yu-ting bought the title to the remaining assets in July 1972. After total expenditure of HK$30 million, the restaurant began operation in 1976. along with a dragon throne, aquarium and a six-storey pagoda. According to the November 2020 Hong Kong
policy address, the operator of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant agreed to donate the vessel to
Ocean Park Hong Kong as part of the Invigorating Island South project. On 12 March 2021, it was reported that the plan to reactivate the restaurant had been shelved. Other proposals to preserve it, such as relocating onto land or converting to a
Bruce Lee museum, were all met with objections. The
Hong Kong Jockey Club did not comment following a suggestion for it to take in the vessel. The
Antiquities Advisory Board stated that because ships are not covered under the
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, they cannot be evaluated for conservation. In March 2022, it was reported that the Ocean Park had refused to take in Jumbo. The government would not invest taxpayer money or offer subsidies either, saying it is "not good at running such premises", drawing criticism from opposition lawmakers. Jumbo's parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises had been operating at a loss with the pandemic devastating tourism and catering industries, while fees for inspections, repairs, licensing and berthing still needed to be paid. Parties approached by the company all cited high maintenance costs as a reason to turn down its offer to donate the restaurant.
2022 capsizing According to Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises (ARE), the Jumbo Floating Restaurant had been unprofitable since 2013 and had accumulated losses exceeding HK$100 million as of 2022. Because its operating licence with the
Marine Department was due to expire, and there was no berth available, ARE decided to have the restaurant towed out of Hong Kong and wait for better prospects. At roughly 11pm on 31 May, the kitchen boat of the restaurant began
listing following a hull breach. It happened as preparations were being made to tow the restaurant. The restaurant barge was eventually towed out of Hong Kong on 14 June, though the kitchen boat and Tai Pak were left behind. Its destination was Cambodia according to the Marine Department, but this has not been confirmed by ARE. The company said that before the tow, the restaurant was inspected, hoardings were installed, and all relevant approvals were obtained. Amidst speculations that the boat had sunk, the Hong Kong Marine Department requested a report from ARE, which issued a statement saying that the tug and restaurant were still in the waters and that it had always used the term "capsized", not "sunk". In August, the
Maritime Safety Administration of
Hainan said the boat had keeled over and was trapped on a reef near
Sansha. In March 2023,
Oriental Daily News reported that there was plan to lift Jumbo's kitchen boat. It had partially sunk in the
Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters shortly before the main restaurant barge was towed away. Tourism lawmaker
Perry Yiu Pak-leung said the loss was of the city's heritage, adding that the "government, conservationists, historians and the commercial sector should be working together to protect" historic sites but everyone had "stalled too long." In 2021, the same tugboat,
Jaewon 9, was involved in an incident where the vessel that it was towing sank after the towing line broke. Commentators from the fishing and shipbuilding industries said that a safer method would have been using a
semi-submersible ship, like the ones that transported Sea Palace to
Manila Bay and
Tsingtao. The market availability of such vessels is low, however, and the price for their service can be prohibitive. The chairman of Yun Lee Marine Group said he does not know of any owners of semi-submersibles in Hong Kong. Some pointed out that the restaurant is top heavy due to its multi-story superstructure and that towing it outside to the high seas should have called for extra precautions. Others argued that as long as the boat itself can be proven as seaworthy, the specific method of transport is secondary. A digital, three-dimensional model of Jumbo has been created by a student, Shiu Ka-heng. He fed photographs of the boat's exterior into a computer program that transformed them into models viewable using
virtual reality goggles. Shiu hopes to archive pieces of Hong Kong history, such as the
State Theatre that is undergoing revamp, and said that anyone can use his online platform to turn images into virtual models.
Sea Palace In 1991, Sea Palace was renamed "Jumbo Palace". Shortly after the
1997 Asian financial crisis, it was sold for US$8 million and towed to
Manila Bay. Rebranded as "Jumbo Kingdom Manila", much of the original ancient Chinese imperial palace style renovation was retained. The highest level was turned into a large dance floor, and a resident band was hired. It was intended to undergo reconstruction, including an underwater structure that prevents up and down movements in water, and reopen in May 2014 catering primarily to wedding events, but renovations were still incomplete as of 2021. Local residents have attempted to tour the closed boat on their own, despite the rusting hull and a safety perimeter put in place to deter visitors. A member of the city's
SASAC said that because of how complex the structure of the boat is and the absence of some supporting facilities, the operator has not been able to reopen the restaurant. ==Attractions==