HONG KONG — On land deep in Hong Kong’s lush green northern suburbs near the border with mainland China, farmer Koon-wing Chan is working to keep a legendary scent alive in the city known as the Fragrant Harbor.
Chan runs Hong Kong’s last commercial plantation of agarwood trees, prized for centuries for aromatic resin used to make incense, perfume and medicine.
He has no hope his sons will carry on the labor-intensive business and also faces an increasing threat from Chinese poachers. But the tree’s rich history that intersects with the lives of his forefathers gives Chan a sense of mission. And the trade in the wood and oil is seriously lucrative.
“It’s very special. There’s no one else that plants these trees,” said Chan, 55, who returned to Hong Kong in 2009 ago to revive the plantation after nearly a decade spent working in Northern Ireland.
“In all of Hong Kong, there’s only one place. This place,” he said.
The trade died out as Hong Kong’s economy modernized and the city became a center for finance, not fragrance.
However, China’s economic boom has brought new life to the market, with demand from newly wealthy mainland Chinese especially strong for bracelets and ornaments carved from the incense tree’s dark, resinous heartwood.
Surging prices are also driving an increase in poaching from Hong Kong’s protected parks.
