Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Time Warp: Hong Kong in 1950

Dear Readers, I recently scanned some of the family negatives and slides. To continue with the Hong Kong theme of the last two articles, here are some scenes from 1950.

A short history will help set the stage. During World War II, Japanese Imperial forces occupied Hong Kong. The occupation was brutal, and, due to starvation, emigration, and mass killings, the population dropped from 1.2 million pre-war to only 600,000 by 1945. Because of its strategic position in the South China Sea, Britain reoccupied Hong Kong after the war, even though most European powers were slowly divesting themselves of their colonial possessions. From 1945-1949, Hong Kong was a rather sleepy outpost of the Empire. But in 1949, Mao Zedong's communist forces occupied all of the mainland, forcing Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government to flee to Formosa (now Taiwan). Soon, huge numbers of Chinese fled to Hong Kong. Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 by Barbara W. Tuchman (1972) provides an excellent background to our difficult relations with China in the pre-war and WWII era.
The photograph above shows Victoria Harbour in 1950 with American aircraft carriers at anchor. Kowloon is across the water on the peninsula. The American fleet was likely intended to send a message to Mao to not dare mess with Hong Kong. This picture may have been taken from Peak Tower, which can be reached with a tram that ascends the mountain.
This is approximately the same scene in 2014. But Hong Kong is no longer a sleepy outpost!
Back to 1950, when the streets were relatively quiet and the buildings mostly less than 4 floors high. This may be the Tsim Sha Tsui residential area. Note the Art Deco design elements. My Hong Kong friend said it is interesting that the sign says "Cuba Dance School."
This may be Lai Chi Kok, at the terminus of bus line 6.
My friend noted the signs which say "Shanghai tailors," "Shanghai herbal doctors," etc. This might be North Point, where many Shanghinese gathered in the 1950's. Notice the cars drove on the left, a legacy of the British development of the road network. That is still true today, while on the mainland, cars drive on the right (as in USA and most of Europe).
This is the Tsim Sha Tsui sports field in Kowloon. The famous clock tower is in the distance on the right.
Repulse Bay is on the south side of Hong Kong Island.
This may be Po Chong Wan, a narrow waterway between Ap Lei Chou Island and the main Hong Kong Island. Today, there are yachts, pleasure craft, and shipyards here.
An early-style selfie. Note the necktie and the British-style knee socks, all very proper for a tropical climate. Recall, once upon a time, travelers dressed well for touring. Even I recall wearing a jacket and necktie in London, Vienna, Moscow, and other capitals.
Jump ahead 64 years, and selfies are still popular. She even has an appropriate tropical hat.

The 1950 colour photograph was taken on Kodachrome film with a Leica IIIC camera and 5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens (still in use 65 years later). The black and white frames were taken on Kodak Panatomic-X film with a Canon IIB rangefinder camera and its 50mm ƒ/1.9 Serenar lens. The Canon was one of the early products of the Japanese industrial recovery after World War II. My dad took these photographs during a long trip from Guam to New York, via Hong Kong, India, Egypt, and Europe.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Come to the Supermarket (in old Wan Chai)

Dear Readers, as you know, I love smells, sounds, colors, and activity of produce/meat markets. You may recall I wrote about the Asan Chowk in Kathmandu in 2011 and the amazing Thiri Mingler in Rangoon in 2014. The Wan Chai market (Chinese: 灣仔街市) in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, is a similar sensory overload. Hong Kong is a much more modern city, so the Wan Chai market is less earthy than the Chowk or the Thiri Mingler, but there is still plenty to see, smell, and sample.
The Wan Chai area is crowded, streets are narrow, and towering apartments and office buildings loom up over the streets. But this is where thousands of families come to shop for groceries. The Wan Chai wet market itself was built in 1937 and was in use for 6 decades. The market has been moved to a new building, while the 1937 building has been converted to a galleria with smart shops.
Wander about through the crowds, and enjoy the views. Find the fish mongers. I can't identify these morsels, but am sure I ate some of them already cooked. From Cole Porter's Aladdin:

They have: sunflow'r cakes, moonbeam cakes,
Gizzard cakes, lizard cakes,

Pickled eels, pickle snakes,

Fit for any king,

You don't want fish or eels? Well, how about a chicken? You can even meet her first, and make friends.
Ah ha, you are a carnivore. Plenty of vendors to supply your needs. I did not see a snake vendor, but I am sure they exist.
A well-lit ground floor area had numerous vegetable and fish vendors.
If you need more protein in your diet, here is a good source.
Dried herbs? Anything you want is available.
Incense is another popular product. People buy incense before they go to temples or cemeteries. The bundles in the lower photograph are used to ask for wealth blessings in temples. The Chinese characters on the packages, 旺財, mean prosperity.
This is a Chinese dried goods store. The bottles mostly contain dried sea food: abalone, scallop, fish stomach (fish maw), sea urchins, shrimp, cuttle fish, conch, kelp, and more. They are all delicious when cooked properly and are good for you (of course). The tan flat objects hanging from the ceilings are fish maw. My Hong Kong friend said the total value of the products in this photograph represents millions of HK$.
Finally, if you overindulged, a dispensary can probably sell you some bicarbonate.
When we were in town in October of 2014, street protests, known as the Umbrella Revolution, were still ongoing. This is in front of the Sogo Department Store on Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay. The bus and tram routes were disrupted for months, and local merchants lost business because their shops were blocked or their customers were frightened. Conditions were pretty calm when we were there, but there was significant violence later in the year.

Hong Kong is fun but maybe a bit overwhelming if you are not used to major urban areas. This was my first visit to HK since 1958 - yes, I'm that old. My friends Irene and Philip were gracious and generous hosts.

Photographs taken with a Fuji X-E1 digital camera or Nexus 4 phone.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Up the Down Escalator, Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a fascinating city with steep hills and challenging topography. Mid-Levels is a semi-plateau area on the west side of Hong Kong Island with a commanding view of Victoria Harbour and steep, windy streets. The photograph above is the view from my hotel window (A Room with a View - sorry, E.M. Forster). Midlevels has been settled for over a century, and some of the older British government buildings are up here.
Question: What is the most efficient way to reach the government centers, markets, and businesses at sea level? The traffic is so dense, a bus or taxi can take a long time. Ingenious solution: Take the escalator. This Central–Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system was a clever solution to move people up and down the mountainside and not increase traffic congestion. It was built in 1993 and runs 800 m, with elevation change of 135 m. In the morning, it runs downhill, and then reverses for the afternoon uphill commuter traffic. It is not one long unit but rather a set of 20 escalators and 3 inclined moving walkways, connected by footbridges.
There are some interesting sights along the escalator route. One of these is the historic Jamai Mosque, (Chinese: 些利街清真寺), at 30 Shelley Street, Mid-Levels. Just exit the escalator near the top of its run and enter a secluded courtyard, a pocket of vegetation and quiet surrounded by immense apartment buildings.
Return to the escalator and continue downhill. You get an interesting elevated view of the nearby streets and shops. The lower photograph shows the view down Shelley Street (named for the author?).
Down below, people are shopping and going about their daily chores.
You can see into some of the shops, such as this bespoke tailor. I remember how in the 1950s, gents would be fitted for suits, which would then be delivered to their hotels in only one or two days. My dad had a couple of silk suits from Hong Kong.
These ladies really really seem to be enjoying their pedicures. Hmmm... I wonder if they also have the little fish that eat dead foot skin?
After their toes are ready, I suppose they can visit this store and buy appropriate undergarments. You can buy anything in Hong Kong.

Photographs taken with Fuji X-E1 and Panasonic G3 cameras and a Nexus 4 telephone.

Monday, December 28, 2015

On the Waterfront: Movie Stars of Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Victoria Harbour is one of the great natural anchorages of the world. It is sheltered from the worst of typhoons and, at least before super-sized vessels came into use in the mid-20th century, was a natural deep-water port. As stated in Wikipedia, "The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent development as a trading centre."
The original British settlement of 1841 was on Hong Kong Island, while the Kowloon Peninsula, on the mainland side of the waterway, became a colony in 1860, followed by the New Territories further inland. Great Britain gained a perpetual lease to Hong Kong island 1842 when the Treaty of Nanking ended the first Opium War with China. At that time, many in Britain felt the country had been duped by the Chinese because Hong Kong was sparsely populated and far from any of the centers of imperial Chinese trade. But after Britain proclaimed Hong Kong to be a free port in 1842, the colony grew and flourished, eventually becoming the great center of finance and commerce that it is today.
Hong Kong (Kodachrome, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens)
The Kodachrome slide shows Victoria Harbour and Kowloon in 1950, before the waterways had been subject to extensive landfilling (often called "reclamation," as if something in nature needs to be reclaimed). The U.S. fleet is showing its presence. The Communists under Mao Tse-tung (or Zedong) had just completed their occupation of mainland China, and I am sure the United States was saber-rattling to warn Mao to not even dare think of invading the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.
Today the Kowloon waterfront is a refined and popular tourist attraction, especially the Avenue of the Stars. 
Bruce Lee is here along with other Hong Kong movie stars. You can be a film director, too. (Trivia note: Bruce Lee, like yours truly, was a former University of Washington student.)
This is a popular destination for visitors from the mainland. I did not realize it before my 2014 trip, but residents of the mainland need a visa or permit to travel to Hong Kong - they can't just drive in or take a train on a whim. We noted that the ladies were typically immaculately and fashionably dressed, while the gents often looked like Bubba came off the farm and took the bus to Hong Kong.
This is the clock tower, near the ferry terminal. Take the ferry across the harbour and watch the scenery unfold as you cross to Hong Kong Island.
Sampans in Hong Kong Harbor, 1 Oct 1950. Only a year after the Communist conquest of the mainland, thousands of refugees had fled to Hong Kong, settling in Kowloon and on innumerable floating communities. These sampans were highly vulnerable to typhoons that periodically swept across the South China Sea. The small boats are now gone and the setting is much more industrial and sterile. 

1950 photographs taken on Kodachrome film with a Leica IIIC camera and 5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens (still in use occasionally 65 years later). The 2014 frames are from a Nexus 4 phone (sorry). I made the map with ESRI ArcMap software.