Bus fans snap away as CMB grinds to halt
BUS lovers and amateur photographers seized a last chance to record history yesterday, taking snapshots of China Motor Bus vehicles before they grind to a halt tomorrow night.
Many aimed to spend the weekend alongside the familiar blue-and-cream giants.
Wilson Leung Ping-cheung, 25, a senior laboratory technician at Ocean Park, headed for the North Point depot after work, planning to take as many photographs as he could before dark.
'I've been collecting model buses for more than a year now and have more than 10 of them. I came because CMB is going to be out of service soon,' said Mr Leung, who will snap away until the buses stop tomorrow.
Student Tang Fu-keung, 16, has been a bus fan and model collector for years and is equally interested in photography.
'My favourite bus models are Jumbo and Victory Mk2,' said Fu-keung, who has a collection of about 20 models and knows many of the CMB drivers.
He has lived in Aberdeen all his life and was sad to see CMB go.
Another student and photography buff, Terence Choy Chun-yip, 16, came from Sheung Shui to North Point to take his commemorative shots.
'I've only ridden on CMB buses once - when I was six. But since the company is to shut in two days, it's a good chance to take photos,' he said.
'I prefer the older models - buses with no air-conditioning. The newer ones have lost the original touch,' he said.
Food supplies salesman Wu Ping-shun, 39, brought his wife and daughters, aged two and eight, to the depot for a family outing.
'Despite CMB's bad service, this is a historic end. We want to take pictures as mementoes,' said the enthusiast from Pokfulam.
First Bus and Citybus will take over CMB's routes on Tuesday morning, 65 years after the Ngan family started their bus empire rolling.
