Picture Post
South China Morning Post photographers have raced to capture Hong Kong's defining moments in the years since the newspaper hit the streets. In this, the publication's centenary year, our researchers are trawling the archives to illustrate a forthcoming book celebrating 100 years of history as seen through the camera lens. Post Magazine provides a preview of some of the most spectacular images.
DES VOEUX ROAD, CENTRAL, July 28, 1967: As the chaos of the Cultural Revolution on the mainland spilled into Hong Kong, the city was terrorised with a rash of bombings and violence. In this photograph, onlookers gather to watch the detonation of a bomb found on a tram island opposite the United Chinese Bank building. During the same incident, a man in the crowd tried to stab a reporter.
Four bombs were found and detonated in Kowloon on the same day. There were 8,074 bomb scares that year - 1,167 of them genuine - and radical leftists placed bombs in tins and cigarette packets, on tram tracks, in cinemas and outside police stations. Despite warnings that read 'compatriots do not touch', 51 people died and many were maimed in blasts from May to December.
The bombing campaign began after a crackdown by the colonial government that drove leftists underground. On June 3, the People's Daily urged Hong Kong Chinese to 'be ready at all times to respond to the call of the great motherland to smash the reactionary rule of the British imperialists'. It was the worst unrest the colony had seen: Red guards waved little red books outside Government House; industrial action sparked street riots; some policemen were hacked to death and leftists died in jail.
