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c.1900 Panorama of Hong Kong
Thanks to Tim Luard and Alison McEwan for sending in this wonderful panorama of Hong Kong:Squinting at this thin gray strip, you're probably wondering what's so wonderful about it! Let's take a closer...
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"Come and get it!" - the Stanley Camp food queues
Food and hunger are common themes in Hong Kong's wartime diaries. Barbara Anslow wrote this piece in 1944/45, describing the daily food queues in Stanley Camp:The summons for food is the same as the...
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1950: Military sites around Hong Kong
Several of Gwulo's readers first visited Hong Kong on military service, and will remember the sites listed below.If you can add any photos or memories, they'll be gratefully received.Regards, David...
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71 years ago: August 1945 and the end is in sight
Seventy-one years ago, our wartime diarists knew the end of the war was in sight. Would they live to see it?The good newsThey had two good reasons to believe the end of the war was coming. First there...
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1960s Hong Kong
Different views of Hong Kong in the 1960s, starting with:1960s Hong Kong in wordsAndrew Craig-Bennett's excellent series about Hong Kong's history includes:Hong Kong in the late Fifties and early...
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1890s View along the Praya
When: This photo is taken from a stereoview card, dated 1896: Where: The line of masts along the right of the photo shows we're on the seafront, or Praya.We know the 1896 seafront ran along Des Voeux...
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Tong Lau / 唐樓, the Hong Kong shophouse
Hong Kong's streets used to be lined with shophouses, but few remain today. In this guest post, Dr. Lee Ho Yin and Prof. Lynne DiStefano from Hong Kong University walk us through the history of the...
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c.1928 View from the Peak over Central and the harbour
Where: No prizes for identifying the location of this one - we're up on the Peak looking out over Central and across the harbour to TST. It's been a popular subject for photos over the years, so I like...
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"I got married in King George VI's bedroom"
If you're looking for a memorable wedding day, Mabel Large's story is hard to beat!Here's Mabel a few weeks before the wedding, when she was still Mabel Redwood:The photo was taken Stanley Civilian...
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Hong Kong in colour
This newsletter usually features a black & white photo, so let's see some colour for a change."1960'S SLIDES...SCENES & VIEWS IN HONG KONG"That's how they were described on eBAY when I bought...
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A wander through Happy Valley's history
On Monday morning I met Phil at Times Square, then off we set to see what we could find. We were heading for Fung Fai Terraces as an appetiser, to look at the old buildings there.We followed Wong Nai...
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Old HK in Taipei
I spent last weekend in Taipei, and before I went I asked in the Forum for any recommendations of Gwulo-y places to visit. Thomas replied suggesting Fort San Domingo in Tamsui. It's easy to get to from...
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c.1908 Pedder Street
Where: The lamps on the building show the word "Hotel".They light up the Hong Kong Hotel [1], so we're looking north along Pedder Street from near the junction with Queen's Road. The curved building...
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1919-20: Photos from Warren Swire's third visit to Hong Kong
Warren Swire’s third visit was delayed by the First World War. He had joined a territorial army unit in 1907 (the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars), and so was mobilized with them in 1914. He served in...
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Going Home: The Baglin – Shelley photographs
Back in 2014 I posted the photo shown above, and wrote:“I bought a collection of photos recently, hoping they'd have lots of views of Hong Kong. Instead they're almost all photos of people, that really...
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City Hall, Coolies, and the Peak Tram
A few weeks back we saw a view of Pedder Street, one of a set of four photos. Today we'll look at the other three, starting with this view of the old City Hall [1] and Dent's fountain [2].City Hall...
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Western photographers in 19th century Hong Kong
Terry Bennett has written a three-volume history of photography in China in the nineteenth century. He has previously shared a chapter about early Chinese photographers in Hong Kong, and today he is...
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1951 View from the Peak over Central to Kowloon
When: The date for this photo comes from the Bank of China building [1] :The Bank building was finished in November 1951, and here it's nearly done, so this photo was taken sometime in 1951. Who: The...
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7, 10, or 13 years old? A brief history of Gwulo
I had it in my head that this year is the tenth anniversary of Gwulo, but it turns out to be both older and younger than that. 2002 - The beginning: do you remember Gwulo's ancestor, Batgung.com ?Way...
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75 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries
December, 1941.75 years ago tensions were high as war with Japan seemed inevitable. On December 8th, those fears were confirmed when Japanese planes attacked Kai Tak, and Japanese soldiers crossed the...
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