Pandemic sinks famous HK floating restaurant featured in 'Contagion' movie

The buoyant behemoth, which at 76 metres long could house 2,300 diners. – Photo: AFP

Hong Kong's Jumbo Floating Restaurant, a famed but ageing tourist attraction that featured in multiple Cantonese and Hollywood films, was towed out of the city Tuesday after the Covid pandemic finally sank the struggling business.

The buoyant behemoth, which at 76 metres long could house 2,300 diners, set out shortly before noon from the southern Hong Kong Island typhoon shelter where it has sat for nearly half a century.