50 years ago
Hongkong (August 13): Key money for apartments and houses and the prices of second-hand cars and refrigerators are soaring in Shanghai as thousands of Chinese of independent means are flocking back to that city from Hongkong according to arrivals from the north yesterday.
This sudden flow of rich Chinese back to Shanghai is said to be specially heavy in the past three weeks when the international situation began to deteriorate.
Informants told Reuter that these Chinese thought, in the event of another world war, Shanghai would definitely be safer than Hongkong.
Many Chinese are of the opinion that the Korean fighting has given further proof that the British colony is indefensible against a determined attack by a numerically superior force.
This revival of demand for premises is helping hundreds of foreigners who are packing up and preparing to leave the Chinese mainland. The foreign exodus is probably at its peak with an estimated 1,000 awaiting either transportations or the necessary visas, these informants said.