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(From left) Ron ten Heggeler, chairman of the Netherlands Hong Kong Society with Jan Wolff who brought the Star Ferry idea to Amsterdam and Jan van der Putten, CEO of Eyes on China
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The world's largest copy of Hong Kong's iconic Star Ferry was launched recently in the heart of Holland's capital, Amsterdam. Measuring 1.35metre long, the grand café of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ bears the name Star Ferry Café.
Themed after Hong Kong's famous iconic ferries which have been carrying passengers across Victoria Harbour since 1888, the cafe is part of a 60 million euro (HK$603) cultural centre.
The idea is the brainchild of Muziekgebouw's artistic director Jan Wolff, a central player in Amsterdam's music world for the last three decades. Visiting Hong Kong a decade ago, he fell in love with the Star Ferry. Sensing a business opportunity, he obtained the legal right to use the name from the privately run Hong Kong company.
Dubbed the "China Club at the IJ" (the IJ is an old sea-arm in the port of Amsterdam), the cafe recently opened to more than 200 guests including artists, academics, leaders of Dutch companies with business ties to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Chinese Community of Amsterdam.
Famous pipa (a classical Chinese musical instrument) player Liu Fang gave her first concert in the new music hall. The cultural centre is billed as a central meeting place for Dutch firms with business links to China.
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