HONG KONG

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 17, 21 January 1928, Page 15

HONG KONG

SHIPPING ENTREPOT "CITY OF SWEET STREAMS" UNFORGETTABLE SCENE (Written for "The Post" by John Smellic Martin, author of "Orchardford," "Tho Happy Return," and "Scottish Earth.") IWe drew into Hong Kong Harbour through a "cold early morning rain, and > somehow the elements seemed to fit themselves to thoso rugged knobbly hills that seemed everywhere to ramify from the central hub that is the harbour. Gradually the hil^ took more definite outline, and trees could be seen seeking to lend grace to the hillsides, not always with success, for they themselves were scrubby and emitted an air of struggle. As the day grew it cbnld be seen that a range of hills to the left, forming the backbone of Hong Kong Island, was green with trees and carried substantial buildings. A blur of smoke ahead, on the level told of much harbour shipping. A Hong Kong doctor, who came 1)n deck and saw me looking at the hills, remarked that they ..were known, as the Peak, and that I was lucky to see them. But I subsequently saw them many times under better conditions. Whoever has read of Hong Kong, aa 1 had done, lias heard of the Peak, and like myself probably has pictured the elevation so named, as an isolated cono towering over.the island; Su<Jh a reader, .like myself, will have been under-informed) as one so often is by travellers who concentrate their attention upon hotels... The Peak is. Only part of a range, or rather the end of a range that xeally constitutes the island of Hong Kong, and is conspicuous only because: it immediately overlooks the town, ,which in part climbs upon its foothills,- and even punctuates its.crest and Shoulders with buildings. ■ The trees have been almost ; wholly planted by British forethought, and except where land has been disposed of for private houses, the Peak is a public health ground, with fine winding mountain, walks. Another feature, in one sense convenient, and in another, from their artificial - nature, an. eye-sore, is the system of '.. asphalt roads.; I.XKE WELLINGTON. Like some New Zealand towns, HongKong, is partly built on reclaimed land, but "it has never found its way into the hills on the same scale as Dunedin. There is, however, one mountain railway, to, which I shall return. . While, a British city,. Hong Kong, is very much Chinese. The Chinaman, freed from the iniquitous system of "squeeze" that he seems to think a necessary evil,. can here freely benefit from his industry and economy, and (not incidentally) his shrewdneso and cupidity. The result is that the educated "Chinese are taking place with the Whites in social matters; whether for good-or bad remains to be seen. . - _ Hong Kong, is like Singapore, an en^ trepot, and shipping bulks largely, among its industries. The result is that coolie dockers with their bamboo poles and large target spiked hats: arc Very much in evidence, as are alao streets with' projecting signs ana the washings that make every day a gala day in Chin^. . I have not found the Celestial radically clean.in his' habita, and' I can only put down this washing business to a hot and sweaty" climate —sticky is the technical term. Beneath the flags of washing in the side streetg of Hong" Kong and other British dependencies or concessions may be -seen many robust and noisy, urchins at play. Motor-cars are plentiful, and rickßhas equally so, and for the higher parts the palanquin or sedan.chair is largely used.. I have* however, seen on the.level, five miles from town a very, sleek "native (presumably a merch-. ant or financier) being carried homo in the evening in a sedan chair by four sturdy chairmen at a good round trot. The easy swing may be conducive to good digestion and conceit, but obesity. I am afraid, reasoning from the example that I saw, follows closely .in its train. All who traduce lour empire openly or otherwißo will he please take note that everywhere under British control; native man! woman, or child seemed to.be ever so, "much better cared for'than anywhere else; x ,AN EVENING STROLL. An evening, stroll through .the business part of the town wilf give as good an idea as may be of the outlook on life of the people. It is about 10 o'clock." The atmosphere is"still humid, the north-east monsoon not yet having set in v although expected, but the heat is less than in the daylight hours. As a consequence the city,, instead of going to sleep is awakening, or so it seems. The restaurants are busy, as also. are the Chinese shops, complete Streets of which exist.. These streets are gay with bunting- thaUis not washing, although" the rain washes it almost daily. X turn from ita gaudinesses and such mysteries as tongue-scrapers ta a side street where there are lean-to hovels and stalls. Life here is at flood. Stalls with, food that may be savoury, if not meticulously clean, arc busy. Men, women, and children block the narrow thoroughfare. A group of lads leaning to, or sprawling upon, a rough table attracts my attention. A close view.shows a piece of newspaper with a maze blacked upon it in thick lines;, by the Chinese writing brush. Some kind of game in which.tho pawns are, small pieces of torn thick paper is being played with comment and jest. The game reminds me of noughts and crosses. A merry laugh goes up when my presence as spectator is discovered. •;'.'■'.■' Little bands of musicians with*atiye fiddles and pipes play squeeky minor music as they slowly patrol the land side of. the Bund or quays, and similar sounds from .a larger band issue from a tall building.that may be a restaurant. I learn that this is a wedding party, and. wonder why it should* indulge in melancholy that, unlike Milton's nightingale, is not musical. As I have elsewhere remarked, they seem fo put the rejoicing at the other enfl of things. j, I have said that the city was awakenI ing, but the remark must not be taken as comprehensive, --One had only to divert his steps . toward . the business as distinct ffom the shopping district ■to find there a, considerable number of sleepersi The post- office seemed to lie in especial favour. Every one of its half-sunk basement windows with their low arches had one or more occupants, asleep or seeking to sleep. In one of these windows were stretched out a family, of wife, child, and father, the mother next to the window, all, however did not seek or .find this semblance of covering or privacy; many had stretched themselves on the ojJeii pavement. The sleepers mostly lay on their backs. Very little in the way of qoyering was evident. Hero was a ragged^ blanket, but it was the exception that proved the rule. One man had a loose sheet of paper across his body. Another had lain down with his bamboo pole Reside him. Pillows there were none, although a piece of rag or paper was generally placed underneath the head. Any pillow that did exist was a block of wood. I am sure that in Buch circumstances I would- have dreamed of beiiig beheaded. In these districts there was very little sound beyond " the occasional smooth passage of a motor or the clip-clop of wooden sanilals. The sleepers might thus rest

in comparative peace. But it did not seem that noise disturbed them, as some lay tin the-pavement opposite to the house of the wedding. MOUNTAIN TRAIN. I have been-on mountain railways in Switzerland and 6u railways that went up mountains elsewhere, and, although I am a fobt.-slogger by preference, I wished to'sample the Peak railway, and .dio,. The day Svas sunny and warm ■Turning from the. main thoroughfares, at the Law Cdurts and passing the barracks of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, having resisted alike the temptations of licksha and chair men, I climbed up to the railway station. In due season the car plunged into greenery, and- almost Jminediatqlv also I had a.sense, not of fear, but of insecurity. It was a. humiliating sensation to one who fancied himself as a mountaineer. Doubtless the, back of the seat Was intended to form a rest, for the back of the passenger, but the fact remains that it did not, although it probably was a suggestion of his satanic majesty that, if all the company's backs leaned there, car and passengers would turn topsy-turvy, and- with somersault upon somersault the whole hypothic would, like Baron Munchausen !s horse when the snow melted, find itself attached to the dome of the Law Courts. Vistaa of the water began to be caught by the backward-turned gaze, and a beautiful small bird flashed past. Owing to the depredations of the Chinese, birds, I am told, have become very rare at Hong'KOng. More and more of the blue waters and the 'KowlOon shore beyond With its backing of the Dragon Mountains came into vitew^ j and then suddenly I realised that everyone was leaving the car. The station was marked Barker road, the elevation as 1190 feet. I got out and rejected the offices of ejiair men garbed in tho hue beloved of Mephisfopheles. I now quickly learned as I looked-upon hill and valley that to know the Peak from below only is to know very little about it. Keeping winding, my. way up on the hot hard asphalt, my. eyes at least were refreshed by the greenery and far-reach-ing water vistas. At one point I looked down upon Aberdeen, not the ancient- granite city although built on granite, but one doubtless founded by the "loons" from that capable quarter. After many windings I came to a point that may be considered tho Peak. But my guiding was not of the pleasantest nature, consisting of notices threatening prosecution to anyone who trespassed" from the one narrow path. At one point a big, short-trouserea Sikh awoke, frpm a sleepy sentry-go to look at me. curiously. ' He made me particularly wish togo that, way, and my desire to see his^ red and black and, gold turban sail down tho cliffs like a huge- butterfly,was in no way chastened by my ■ humiliating experiences in the climbing car. QREAT PANORAMA. . Eveii..wheji I. did come to the alleged crest I.migh.go half-way round one side of a houae. that disfigured the top. .There was no sentry, and I went round tho whole, and felt .better. But the view was certainly worth the ruffling of one's, feelings. Of its kind it is probably unique. . There is, of-course, only one of each place: in the world. I looked: dowii upon the city of Hong Kong as from,an aeroplane, its squaredtopped and windowed houses ranged like J dove-cotes, and overtopped by climbing tree an.d cliff. Into the steel-blue waters,, of the harbour beyond, the promontory of'.Kowloon thrust brown ragged feelers. Behind rose, the Dragon Mountains, gaunt and, grim and ruddy or faintly strippled with green. To the right the harbour ran out between its enclosing hills, and to the left and behind me rose island, mountainous island, and mainland'mountain, in a multitude beyond my numbering, luminous in the or brooding under cloud, like vast jewels of price set in a sea now sapphire, now lilac or purple, now green, now cpaline or shining steel-blue —all as the scene-shifters in the great sky theatre moved silently and unseen in their ordered and magnificent chiaroscuro. I climbed and reclimbed among the green valleys where the notices were not so abundant or' stringent; and! I was hot and weary when I came to the city level, but I did not regret my expedition. When the Psalmist spoke of lifting his eyes to' the hills for aid, ho doubtless bad a vision beyond the immediate succour their difficult recesses and elevations afforded. Cities set about with hills have much to be thankful for. He who daily lifts his eyes to the hills cannot fail to see something of the magnificence and meaning of the universe. I shall not readily forget an evening view of the Dragon Hills beyond Kowloon, seen from a bay toward Shaukiwah. . Shaukiwan is a little Chinese coast township about ,six miles from Hong Kong that- has remained almost untouched by' Western influences. Many trades may be,seen there open to view, one of which is the manufacturing of the wonderful Chinese' hat, which is as much an umbrella as a hat, while at Shaukiwan I saw three women engaged in a. process I have not been able to have explained. Two of them worked a beam by means of a treadmill air rangement. To this beam was attached a wooden plunger that went vi and out of a round hole in a stone baso A third woman fed into this basin some kind of grain, and I think some kind of hay or straw, which seemed to be ground up together. Their sullen air prevented a nearer approach. BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT. I had been feasting my eye 3 on, the picturesque junks and their no less picturesque crews harboured at Shaukiwau, and was walking slowly back beside the water in the eyening sunlight when the mainland hills suddenly showed up in jewel fascination in rounded fold and sharp .chine, the higher peaks in soft olive-green, the lower in warm rose-pink or terra cotta washed with green, as though the green had been water an 9 flowed into the lirka, leaving the ridges and backbones of the warm flower hue. Quickly the sun lost way, and as-he sank from view advancing night threw a mantle of amethyst over the mountains. This quickly deepened to purple, and sank to drab; and when later I crossed the ferry the mountains were wrapped in the last mystery of the dark. And then looking back upon the sweep of the city I saw lino upon line of strung beads of glittering lights smothering the water line and clustering and climbing upon the dark mass of the Peak. As the revelation of the stars sprang out of the darkness of the night, so a new revelation, the revelation of the beauty of light in darkness, sprang out of the climbing masses of Hong Kong. " Of the activities of the white population I am not in a position to say much beyond the mention of the change for tho better that has been made in tho island .and district. They live the usual life of the tropics, and, in spite of their outdoor games, seem to be tired. But this was toward the end of the South-West monsoon, which is the trying season, and there came to my recollection the typhoon saw:— ..;-. "Juiio too soon, July stand by; . August you must" September remember." A feature of Hong Kong is the ferry system between the city and the Kowloon mainland. This service is efficient, and like,'that in Sydney Harbour, seems to bo modelled on the LiverpoolBirftenhcad system. I could say a great deal more about Hong Kong, but probably I have said enough. Although I was never ablo to discover tho sweet streams from which its name is said to be derived, I left it with a feeling that it had much more to give than I had been'ab^e to take.