Hong Kong

“ Hong Kong is an island nearly forty miles in circumference, consisting of a cluster of hills rising almost to the dignity of mountains. The gray granite of which the island is mostly composed, furnishes an excellent material for building purposes, and is largely employed for that object, affording a good opportunity for architectural display. A trip of a hundred miles up the Pearl River takes us to Canton, strangest of strange cities. It has a population of a million and a half, and yet there is not a street of over ten feet in width within the walls, horses and wheeled vehicles being unknown. ”

“ Here flutter in the wind the flags of all commercial nations; the English, Chinese, Japanese, American, and German colours fly side by side. The water in the harbour basin is so shallow that the turn of the propeller stirs up the greyish-brown mud from the bottom.
Victoria is the chief town of Hong Kong, and contains nearly the half of the population, which amounts to 440,000 souls, most of them Chinese.
There are five important points on the sea-route to the Far East—Gibraltar, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong—and all of them are in the hands of England. ”

“ The straggling settlement called Victoria built along the Queen's Road was dignified with the name of city, and it was declared on the highest authority that Hong Kong would contain a population 'equal to that of ancient Rome.'" After three and a half years' uninterrupted settlement there was not one respectable Chinese inhabitant on the island. "The European inhabitants, independent of those in the employ of Government, consist of the members of about 12 mercantile houses and their dealers, together with several European shopkeepers. ”

“ Socially the connexions between Hong Kong and China are very close in normal circumstances. There is no marked geographical feature to form a natural frontier, and people on either side of the political border come from the same stock and lead the same sort of lives. Many long residents of Hong Kong still had their family homes in the villages of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and these they visited frequently and sometimes for extended periods. Even where personal ties had been lost, these visits were enjoined by Chinese custom. ”

“ Unprecedented though this moment in history may be, we have the utmost confidence in the abilities and resilience of the Hong Kong people. Britain learnt long ago that Hong Kong people know best what is good for Hong Kong. ”

“ The streets of Hong Kong afford strange local [Pg 85] pictures. The shoemaker industriously plies his trade in the open thoroughfare; cooking goes on in the gutters beside the sidewalks filling the atmosphere with greasy odors; the itinerant peddler, with a wooden box hung from his neck, disposes of food made from mysterious sources; the street barber is seen actively employed out of doors; the milkman drives his goats to the customer's door and there milks the required quantity; the Chinese themselves ignore the article altogether. ”

“ I saw a marriage procession in Hong Kong. A large band of musicians, who succeeded in making themselves heard, were followed by coolies carrying curious looking objects in blue and gilt, which, I was told, represent mythical and historical scenes. A number of very elegant Chinese lanterns and gorgeous looking banners were also carried along. I was told that in such processions they carry roast pig to the temples of the josses, but it is afterwards very sensibly carried off by the participants.
It would be a hopeless thing for a man to go to Hong Kong in search of employment. ”

“ Hong Kong, like Singapore, is an English colony, but with a Chinese population. You can hardly set foot on shore before you are snapped up by a couple of lusty fellows, with straw hats as large as umbrellas on their heads, and who, though in bare feet, stand up as straight as grenadiers, and as soon as you take your seat in a chair, lift the bamboo 367 poles to their shoulders, and walk off with you on the double-quick.
No country which we see for the first time is exactly as we supposed it to be. Somehow I had thought of China as a vast plain like India ”

“ From its special position in the East, Hong Kong is the resort of all sorts of people, from all quarters of the globe. England is of course the most strongly [Pg 87] represented. There are comparatively very few Americans, but plenty of French and Germans, the latter mostly Jews and money lenders. There are numbers of East Indians, Italians, Portuguese, and Spaniards, with here and there a Parsee, making altogether a population which reminds one of Marseilles in its conglomerate character. These several races, mingling with the Chinese, make up an incongruous community. ”

“ House rent is high in Hong Kong, for thirteen per cent, on the actual rental paid is levied for general taxes. Hong Kong is a free port except for a duty on spirits. Even tobacco is allowed free of duty. Rickshaws, one of the characteristic institutions of China, are subject to a wheel tax of seven dollars annually.
Hong Kong is not a city, as many suppose, but an island, thirty miles in circumference. Victoria is the city proper. It is the headquarters for the British military garrison in the Far East, and a governor is sent on from England, with quite an entourage. ”

“ An effort is being made in Hong Kong to compel owners to build differently, so as to make the huddling and packing impossible, for the filth that goes with it invariably breeds disease.
Queen's road is interesting to all visitors. In it is the Hong Kong Club, where the bachelors are to be found, the post office, and greater than all, the Chinese shops. ”

“ About 9 o'clock passed the Ass's Ears, and came to in the harbor of Hong Kong, after a very tedious passage of 14 days.
Hong Kong is an English colony under British rule, and is a very fine city, built on the side of a hill, very high, the top of which is called Victoria Peak, which has a marine telegraph station. There are some very fine granite buildings belonging to the English and Americans and other foreign merchants, Russell & Co., Augustine Heard & Co., Oliphant & Co., Thomas Hunt & Co. It is a very lively city. ”

“ Hong Kong is, indeed, the only spot within the wide limits of the Chinese Sea for such a purpose, although our legitimate commercial intercourse within it extends over a length of 2000 miles. Everywhere else, Manilla and the newly opened ports of China excepted, our crippled vessels or our merchantmen pursued by the enemyʼs cruisers, are met by the exclusion or extortion of semi-barbarous nations, or in danger of falling into the power of robbers and savages. ”

“ Though politically Hong Kong is not China, more than 212,000 of its busy population (about 221,000) are Chinese; and it is preëminently the gate of China. By a wise and liberal policy the British Government has made it the chief emporium of the Eastern seas.
We now take a trip to Canton and cross a bay studded with islands. These are clothed with copious verdure, but, like all others on the China coast, lack the crowning beauty of trees. In passing we get a glimpse of Macao, a pretty town under the flag of the Portuguese, the pioneers of Eastern trade. ”

“ As for every other colony, so for Hong Kong, the Imperial Government, moved by a desire of preventing the recurrence of a frequent source of embarrassment and abuse had, in 1856, wisely determined that the duty and power of the officer, administering a Colonial Government, should be deemed to be such, and no other, as are "defined in Her Majesty's Commission, and the Instructions with which he is furnished." ”

“ Hong Kong was ceded to England in consequence of the war of 1842. The then inconsiderable fishing village is now one of [ pg 401 ] the most important commercial cities of the globe. The harbour is spacious, affording good anchorage, and is well protected by a number of large and small granite islands. The city is built on the largest of these on slopes which rise from the shore towards the interior of the island. On the highest points the wealthiest foreign residents have built their summer houses which are surrounded by beautiful gardens. In winter they live in the city. ”

“ And the women with children strapped on their backs while they steer boats and handle passengers and traffic about Hong Kong! Or leave, if you will, the water-front at Hong Kong and make the hard climb up the steep, bluff-like, 1800-foot mountainside, dotted with the handsome residences of wealthy Englishmen: you can hardly believe that every massive timber, every ton of brick, every great foundation-stone was carried up, up from the town below, by the tug and strain of human muscle--and not merely human muscle, but in most cases the muscles of women! ”

“ Hong Kong, with a population of about 7.24 million in mid-2014, is a small but dynamic city which has earned an international reputation as a leading commercial and financial centre as well as a highly efficient entrepot. ”

“ Mah Chow Wong, that is to say, "Horse-boy Wong,"—for his true name is Wong Akee,—was first known to the British community as a stable servant;—next, as a small shop-keeper;—and, at length, as a rich merchant and ship-owner at Hong Kong.
It is a saying of the Chinese Mandarins, that "so long as a thief does not leave the empire, he can be traced and caught:—but let him once get to Hong Kong, and you lose him for ever." He settles down under the rule of a Bowring, a Caine, or a Bridges, and, enjoying the protection of the Caldwell of the day, pursues his avocations in peace and confidence. ”

“ A correspondent from Hong Kong wrote, “The city is packed with refugees, Chinese, British and Americans. It is terribly expensive. As much as three thousand Hong Kong dollars down payment is required before you can rent a room, and everything else is sky high. It is dreadfully hot, there are few parks or out-of-door places to sit, and almost nowhere to eat. The Communists are everywhere. They have closed most of the bookstores except those run by the Communists, and these carry nothing, of course, except books and magazines about Communism. ”

“ We had been well warned on nearing Hong Kong to keep a bright look-out for Macao piratical boats, and particularly for one large lorcha manned by only such desperadoes as are to be found about these shores; and the captain of which, we were informed—Long Kiang by name—was as great a ruffian as ever figured of old, when Hong Kong was named by the Spaniards the Island of Ladrones, or thieves. ”

“ The{16} harbor alone made Hong Kong the most coveted concession in Southern China. It is spacious and deep enough to hold the Navy of Great Britain, and it is that distinguishing feature and its strategic location that have made it what it is. ”

“ Hong Kong, or Sweet Waters, is an island off the coast of China, east of the entrance of the Canton river. It came into the possession of the British by a treaty with China June 25, 1843. Its length from east to west is eight miles; its breadth varies from two to six miles. The surface is mountainous. There are good places of anchorage in its waters. Violent winds are frequent. The population, which is not far from forty thousand, is mostly Chinese. It is a free port. Among the people in the streets are Parsees from Persia, who deal in the productions of their country ”

“ During the summer months Hong Kong is so hot that those who are in a position to do so seek the mountain top, where a breeze lives all the year round. Level places for buildings are obtained by blasting, and every brick, stone, and bit of household furniture is carried by coolies from the town up to the height of 1,600 feet. ”

“ We sat at one of the little tables on the terrace, where the élite of Macao drank their coffee and liqueurs, and watched the gay groups promenading below. The scene was animated and interesting, thoroughly typical of the way in which Continental nations enjoy outdoor life, as the English never can. Hong Kong, with all its wealth and large European population, has no similar social gathering‐place; and its citizens wrap themselves in truly British unneighbourly isolation. ”

“ I forgot to mention that on the ship there were English army officers and a British doctor who practiced in Hong Kong. By some of the residents of the place, Hong Kong is described as a rendezvous of snobs. For example, "solid" business men were not eligible for membership in some of the local clubs because they are "in trade," while, on the other hand, a clerk in a bank or insurance office is admitted. ”

“ Tall Sikh and Mussulman policemen in blue or red pugris direct the traffic or salute a white‐helmeted European inspector as he passes.
Society in Hong Kong is less official than in India, where almost every male is to be found in either the Army or the Civil Service List. The Governor and the General are, of course, the leaders, and in a small way represent Royalty in the colony. The merchant class is supreme, and their wives rule society ”

“ Except only on Sir John Bowring. For so I interpret the astounding fact, communicated to me by the last mail, that, since my departure from the colony, his Excellency has dared to confide into his hands the responsible duty of locum tenens—for fee and reward—to the acting Attorney-General in the Supreme Court; [13] —to the renewed terror of the peaceable Chinese, and to the indignation of the British;-albeit, to the wonder perhaps of none, Chinese or British.
Hong Kong Government, at the best, is an expensive occupation—exceeding the local revenue—and demanding a yearly Parliamentary grant. ”