Old Hong Kong

Abstract

The first colony to be acquired during Queen Victoria’s long reign, Hong Kong not only possessed a spectacular and commodious harbour, it also sustained a unique blend of East and West that evolved into Asia’s most exciting and entrepreneurial adventure. The entrepot quickly spun itself a web of trade and a deserving reputation for innovation and survival to become Britain’s last colony of any significance. The early decades of the twentieth century, the focus of this book, marked the heyday of colonial Hong Kong, when the curious eye of the camera focused on elegant neoclassical architecture and the ceaseless enterprise of the local population in colourfully crowded bazaars and bustling wharves. Hong Kong was more than just an economic miracle; it stood as a far-eastern cynosure of empire that continues to inspire to this day.

This is the story…