Many Chinese live all their lives on floating flat bottomed wooden boats called sampans.
In some cities where space is limited, people live crowded together on sampans in big harbours. Some boats sell goods, other are used for fishing by day, and sleeping on by night.
The word “sampan” comes from the original Cantonese term for the boats, literally meaning “three planks”. The name referred to the hull design, which consists of a flat bottom (made from one plank) joined to two sides (the other two planks). The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like the scow or punt. Pierre-Yves Manguin has pointed out possible Austronesian origin of the word, attested in a Malay inscription from 684 CE.
Sampans may be propelled by poles, oars (particularly a single, long sculling oar called a yuloh) or may be fitted with outboard motors.
Sampans are still in use by rural residents of Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
In the Malay community in Southeast Asia, they also use the term sampan for their boats. Large boats such as sampan panjang, kolek and perahu panjang are used and built by the Malays and Orang Laut living in their coastal villages.
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