Tymon Mellor: Construction of the Kowloon Canton Railway included the excavation of the Beacon Hill tunnel through the Kowloon hills. At the time, the tunnel at 7,212ft or 2,198m was the longest tunnel in China and the fifth longest tunnel outside Europe. The southern and northern portals were remote from existing villages and sickness among the workers was common. To […]
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HF: Shatin Airfield was a small military airfield which had a single concrete runway. It was built in 1949 for use by the British RAF and demolished in the early 1970s as the Shek Kong Airfield was consolidated, and was later re-developed as part of the New Town project for Shatin. The 28th May 1954 edition of Flight magazine contains […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1904, as the Hong Kong Island tram system was readying for operation, attention focused on the opposite side of the harbour on the development of a tram network for Kowloon. After many false starts, just when it seemed that work was about to start on a Kowloon tram network, the Government had a major change of approach […]
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York Lo: Far East Motors – distributor of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Holden and Standard automobiles and operator of Avis Rent-A-Car in HK Left: Used car ad from Far East Motors in 1938 (Gwulo); Right: Cadillac ad in 1949 from Far East Motors Recently, articles have been posted about Far East Aviation and Far East Flying School in which FEA’s auto dealer […]
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CM Fung: Dan Waters’ recollections: Dan Waters said “he remembers that when he arrived in HK in the 1950s it was possible to be taken up Sunset Peak (Tai Tung Shan) on Lantau island in a sedan chair. $30 to the top; or $15 half way up which Dan seems to remember was quite common.” Fung Chi Ming’s feedback: I […]
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‘At his shop in Yau Ma Tei, Mak Kam-sang’s walls are covered in calligraphy signs he has written. Passers-by stop and peer into the store, curious about what it sells as it is so different from everything else in the area Mak is the last calligrapher in Hong Kong behind the red and blue signs informing would-be passengers where a […]
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The Light Rail, also known as the Light Rail Transit (LRT), officially the North-West Railway, is a light rail system in Hong Kong, serving the northwestern New Territories, within Tuen Mun district and Yuen Long District. The system operates over 1,435mm (4 ft 8+1/2 in) standard gauge track, using 750 V DC overhead power supply. It was once one of […]
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Tymon Mellor: On the 12 October 1938, two divisions of Japanese troops landed in Bias Bay (Daya Bay), not to attack Hong Kong, but heading for Canton (Guangzhou). The event was witnessed by a reporter from the China Mail who was being flown in a Hornet Moth belonging to the Far East Flying Training School at Kai Tak. Canton quickly […]
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In Search of an Improved Industrial Design – The Hong Kong Rickshaw over Time By Fung Chi Ming The rickshaw, as westerners pronounce it, originated in Japan where it is known as jinrikisha – jin (man) riki (power) sha (carriage). Its basic design includes a carriage resting on two large-diameter wheels, a pair of long parallel poles joined by a […]
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With the completion of the Kai Tak reclamation in 1930, it was now time to turn the new platform into an aerodrome. This would require the establishment of a government department to manage the aerodrome, provision of facilities to support commercial operations, and the establishment of a flying school. Airmail and Commercial Service As a government funded operation, the new […]
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