Chinese Red Sail Junk Boats

Red Sail Chinese Junk Boats

-These iconic red sail Chinese boats that are synonymous with ancient Chinese harbors are called Junk boats.
-They are seagoing vessels that have existed since the 2nd century AD
-They were used to carry cargo, travel across the ocean, for recreation and people lived on them.
-Before cloth and canvas was used on junk sails, mats woven from grass and bamboo were used to make sails
-Junks have what’s known as “battened sails which are sails with bamboo reinforcement throughout. This is something that was very much needed travelling throughout the waters around China which often presented powerful storms and typhoons.
-Once the invention of canvas came around the woven sails were retired as water, mildew and rot would eat away at the sails. The canvas ones would last much longer and be much more reliable.
-The iconic red color comes from an additive called tanbark. This tannin was extracted from the bark of oak trees and ground up into a deep brownish red powder which was used to stain the sails.
-During the Ming Dynasty Admiral Zheng He had an army of these boats, around 300 of them.
-He had the largest ones ever constructed, as well as different junks for different purposed.
-His fleet of junks was broken down into treasure ships, horse ships, supply ships, troop transports, fuchuan warships, patrol boats, and water tankers which if you are curious could hold 1 month’s supply of water.
-Surprisingly the largest of these boats were the treasure ships with some accounts stating they were around 400 feet or 120 meters long.
-The Aqua Luna or Cheung Po Tsai was named after a Chinese pirate that lived on Cheung Chau island just off the coast of Hong Kong.
-Aqua Luna is one of the last remaining chinese junks boats which operates in the Hong Kong Harbour
-It took a Hong Kong craftsman 18 months to build using traditional shipbuilding methods with the supervision of a 73 year old shipbuilder.
-The boat launched in 2006, is 28 meters or 92 feet long and holds 80 passengers.
-Nowadays the Aqua Luna takes tourists out on the water with an motor and not the power of the wind. This simply wouldn’t be a reliable form of transportation with paying tourists waiting to get on the boat.
-There is one other boat that was more recently launched in the Hong Kong harbour called the Duk Ling which is a smaller boat carrying up to 36 passengers.
-A ride on these boats range from $25 to $60 dollars depending on the boat and time of day.
-Not all junks look the same, modern junks with an updated design have been found like this one.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship)
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2037409/why-do-hong-kongs-traditional-junk-boats-have-red-sails

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