OLD HK
“Fragrant Harbor.” Ironic these days.
410. Sha Tau Kok
The quiet town in the Closed Area that’s home to Chung Ying (“China-England”) Street, which starts in one territory and ends in the other. It was once a famous shopping street for mainlanders.
411. The Kadoorie Estate
The hyper-colonial estate, home to film stars, industrialists and luscious gardens.
412. Cemeteries for everyone
There are cemeteries for Jews, Hindus, Gurkhas, public servants who died in the line of duty, and Eurasians.
413. Operation Yellowbird
The operation that got more than 400 Chinese dissident leaders out of China after Tiananmen Square. Participants included celebrities, businessmen—and triads.
414. Rednaxela Terrace
Just up the hill from Caine Road, the story goes that the name “Alexander” was copied right-to-left, and it stuck.
415. The discovery of bubonic plague
In 1894 the bacterium responsible for the bubonic plague was isolated right here in Hong Kong.
416. The Boundary Stones
The seven stones that defined the boundaries of the City of Victoria on the island. All but one still stand.
417. The genesis of the minibus
The 1967 riots had both KMB and CMB bus unions on strike, and so triad-run vehicles sprang up to meet the demand. The government soon licensed them.
418. The Hongs that made Hong Kong
The business houses that have survived and forged the history of Hong Kong: Jardine Matheson, Swire, Wheelock, Hutchison Whampoa.
419. Lyndhurst Terrace’s secret past
Bai fa gai, “flower arranging street,” was full of flower shops that sold flowers to the customers of the area’s numerous western brothels.
420. Cheung Po-tsai, pirate
At his height, the scourge of the South China Sea controlled up to 50,000 men and 600 ships. An 1809 defeat by the Qing authorities in the waters of Chek Lap Kok led to his capitulation the year after. The government made him a captain in the navy.
421. The gentrifying of Sai Ying Pun
Originally an encampment for the first British troops in Hong Kong. Later, it was popular for its brothels. These days it’s a mix of delis, cha chaan tengs, posh restaurants, auto shops and wet markets.
WORLD WAR II
422. Gin Drinkers’ Line
The line of defence against the Japanese invaders in the December 1941 Battle of Hong Kong. It was meant to hold for at least six months, but sparse defences meant that the line fell after three days.
423. Shing Mun Redoubt
The command post for the Gin Drinkers’ Line contained tunnels named after London streets to aid navigation.
424. Lamma’s “Kamikaze Caves”
Intended to conceal speedboats for suicide missions against British ships. One’s a quick walk from Sok Kwu Wan.
425. Pinewood Battery
307 meters above sea level, this building on the Peak was the highest of all Hong Kong’s coastal defense batteries. It’s easily reached from Lugard Road.
COLLECTIVE MEMORIES
426. Watching planes land at Kai Tak
Jumbo jets reached “checkerboard hill” and banked 47° right, just 200 meters above ground. From the plane, wingtips brushed the washing lines of Kowloon.
427. Article 23 protests in 2003
Protesting the anti-sedition law got the bill withdrawn, and Regina Ip left the country. That’s what we call a “twofer.”
428. Anti-national education protests
We’ll brainwash ourselves, thanks.
429. Tiananmen Square vigils
Because it matters. Very much.
430. Regina Ip’s hair
Regina “Broomhead” Ip Lau Suk-yee changes her hair with her fortunes. Remember when she came back with her post-Stanford bob?
431. Yumla
The bastion of Hong Kong’s music scene was forced shut by rising rents… and then returned to the same renter after no one would take it on. But the legendary beer garden hasn’t been the same since.
432. Kowloon Walled City
In 1987 this triad-ruled enclave housed 33,000 people in 0.26km2. Was there any more wretched hive of scum and villainy?
So long, easily accessible Star Ferry.
434. Queen’s Pier
So long, easily accessible junks.
435. Rickshaws
There were once 3,000 red two-wheelers in the city. Now only two licenses remain.
436. Channel V
It’s not the same, post-YouTube. Where are you now, David “The Wu-Man” Wu?
437. Lap Sap Chung
Arthur Hacker’s red-spotted green litterbug monster took on a life of his own.
438. “Hot dog” KMB buses
The last of the non-air-conditioned “hot dog” buses—so named because a two-minute summer bus ride was like an hour in a sauna—were phased out in May 2012.
439. Lai Chi Kok amusement park
Once the largest amusement park in Hong Kong (complete with monorail), the park was closed in 1997. It’s now home to several housing estates.
440. M at the Fringe
M at the Fringe opened in 1989 and pioneered fine dining in Hong Kong.
It closed after 20 years.
441. Bottoms Up
The TST location of this girlie bar was immortalized in the Bond film “The Man with The Golden Gun.” It later moved to Wan Chai, before closing in 2009.
442. The hovercraft to Macau
A TurboJet just doesn’t cut it.
443. The old Queen’s Theatre
The third incarnation of Hong Kong’s last old-school cinema closed in 2007. It’s survived by a name: Theatre Lane.
444. (Unlucky number, skipped)
445. Porn cinemas
Kowloon’s Kwun Chung Theatre was Hong Kong’s last porn cinema. It closed on March 15, 2011, after 17 sticky years.
446. The old car ferry
Nowadays they only exist in the form of the excellently named Dangerous Goods Vehicular Ferry Service, and as sightseeing/dining cruise boats.
447. Shaw Studios
The Clearwater Bay studios are a legendary site in Hong Kong film history. Sadly they’re now vacant. Surely some kind of museum, guys?
448. Becoming a Hongkonger
The British government’s “Touch Base” Policy meant that if you could evade the patrols and make it south of Boundary Street, then you could register for an HKID card.
449 The Beatles played Hong Kong
The Fab Four played two shows at the Princess Theatre in Kowloon on
June 9, 1964. The band was mobbed at the airport, but the high ticket prices ($75, a week’s wages) meant that the gig’s crowd was mostly expat. The Princess is now the Mira Hotel.
450. Daimaru
The most iconic of the Japanese department stores. So iconic that 15 years after closing up shop, it’s still used as a red minibus destination.
451. Tiger Balm Garden
Built by Burmese-Chinese Tiger Balm tycoon Aw Boon Haw, the garden was one of the first theme parks in Hong Kong. It was home to pagodas, plants, and some really, really weird statues. It was demolished in 2004.