Hong Kong in 1938

Katherine found this little video about a month ago, but I thought I would share it with you guys as a little historical curiosity...



Its only about 10 minutes long and easily worth that amount of time. Some observations of mine (from the perspective of someone who lives in "Today's Hong Kong")...

• Very odd music score. Like stereotypical Chinese meets stereotypical Native American meets 1930s Hollywood.
• "Fragrant harbor" has now become the standard translation for "Hong Kong", interesting to hear it called "Fragrant Lagoon" here instead
• Love hearing about the "New Territories" when they were much newer than they are now ;>
• Interesting to hear Kowloon being referred to as a city (instead of a collection of districts) and also interesting to hear the north part of HK island referred to as the city of "Victoria" (no longer used)
• A shot from a ride on Star Ferry! This is something that is still very much a part of Hong Kong life.
• Victoria Harbor was so much wider/bigger then than it is now! (I wonder how long that Star Ferry ride took in 1938 - perhaps twice the time it does now.)
• Sounds like, in 70 years, Hong Kong has gone from ~1million people to ~7million people. I wonder how that growth compares to other large cities around the world.
• A series of jaw-dropping quotes that came in rapid succession...
  "Under tolerant and wise British rule, with willing Oriental assistance..."
  "More than a million contented Chinese dwell in harmony..."
  "...merging their ancient civilization, culture, and manners with those of the 20,000 Europeans who guide or minister to them"
  Somehow I don't think the native population of the time would have had the same perspective. ;>
• Cool seeing the Legislative Council building (or, as the video calls it, the "Supreme Court building") look exactly the same as it does now
  
• Ooh! The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank is air-conditioned! And while I'm sure its "imposing, 17-stories" stood out in "architectural beauty" then, things are a little nicer now. Incidentally, that building is still there, but it has had quite a number of structural changes since 1938.
• Love seeing the Ding Ding trolleys zip around much as they do now.
• I was a bit surprised at the "modern Chinese women" and their form-fitting garments!
• "Che Wing Gum" is a really cool example of what appears to be a borrowing restranslated back into English...or it could just be a clever advertising gimmick.
• Lots of rickshaws and "sedan chairs" (those must have been absolutely grueling, even though the Chinese are contented and dwell in harmony ;>).
• "An always bountiful supply of cheap-yet-highly-skilled labor"! I bet!
• Those "crowded Oriental streets" sure are fascinating, and so is the "paradise of bargains"!
• Whoa. That is a MASSIVE didgeridoo-like pipe! I'm pretty sure it couldn't be for opium, though - I wonder what he was smoking. (Katherine thinks it might be a "water pipe", which is a form of smoking that no longer exists here.)
• Clothes drying outside of apartment windows / balconies similar to the way they still do today.
• Happy Valley race track! Wow - that certainly has been built up over the last 70 years.
• Loved seeing the Peak Tram. It really looks pretty much identical these days, and some of the bridges you see it pass under are probably still here.
• Bamboo scaffolding is cool to see virtually unchanged as well.
• I had no idea the Repulse Bay had already been developed into a resort-like area by 1938. It is still one of the most popular resorts in Hong Kong.
• Junk boats have definitely changed, except for the one that the tourism association uses - it looks much like what they show at the end of the film.

I hope you enjoyed this little historical comparative. ;>