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Here you'll find over 60,000 pages about old Hong Kong to explore, including over 40,000 photos. The content is added by a friendly community of people who enjoy sharing what we know about Hong Kong's history, and you are very welcome to join us.

Kind regards, David

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New on Gwulo: 2026, week 40

Submitted by David on

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

General

  • For readers in Hong Kong, I see the University Hall on Pokfulam are celebrating their 70th Anniversary with an Open Day on Sunday 4 Oct 2026, 11am - 8pm: "No prior registration is required — simply drop by to explore, reconnect, and commemorate seven decades of history."
    • I went on a tour of the Hall some years back, and enjoyed hearing about its history - some parts of the building date back as far as the 1860s.
       
    • Other interesting locations nearby include Bethanie, Pokfulam Village, and the walk to / from the Peak via Pokfulam Reservoir.
       
  • We've just finished transcribing Leo Landau's Prisoner Of War diary. Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped, and special thanks to Brian McDouall, morbach, and wingcli2015, who have handled the bulk of the work. 
  • If you have friends in South West England that have a connection to Hong Kong, please could you let them know about the talks I'm giving next week in Cheltenham (Wed 7 Oct) and Exeter (Sat 10 Oct).
    • A bonus for the Cheltenham talk: historian and author Patricia O'Sullivan will join us, so if you have any questions about the history of Hong Kong policing & prisons, or you have copies of her books you'd like signed, please bring them with you!
       
    • After the talks we've got the rooms for another hour, so there will be plenty of time to enjoy chatting and sharing memories of Hong Kong with the other guests.
       
  • Performances of the play 'Our Town' in Hong Kong in the 1960s-80s
     
  • Peter Liu remembers growing up in Big Wave Bay village in the 1950s:
    • Sketch of Big Wave Bay village house in 1950s, by Peter Liu

       

  • Video of Morris A. Cohen in 1960
     
  • Recent news in the wartime diaries:
    • 1942
      • 27 Sep 1942. Just over 1800 POWs from Hong Kong start their journey to Japan, where they expect they’ll be put to work as manual labour. They notice the name of the ship they are boarding is the Lisbon Maru. Conditions in the holds are terrible.
         
      • 1 Oct 1942. American submarine Grouper fires torpedoes at the Japanese ship Lisbon Maru, unaware that over 1800 allied POWs are on board. A torpedo strikes the ship, which starts taking on water. The Japanese crew and soldiers are removed to other ships, but they keep the POWs locked in the holds, only lowering a hand-pump to the POWs who must use it to slow down the rising waters.
         
      • 2 Oct 1942. The POWs in the holds of the Lisbon Maru realise the ship is going to sink and decide to break free. Japanese ships nearby shoot and kill many of the men. Some men are rescued by local fishermen, and eventually the Japanese ships also start picking up men from the sea, but over 800 of the POWs who boarded the Lisbon Maru did not live to reach Japan.
    • 1943
      • 23 Sep 1943 : The second repatriation ship leaves Hong Kong. The Teia Maru sets sail with mostly Canadian repatriates, but also several from the USA and Latin America. [CORRECTION: Greg Leck notes that only the group who boarded at Hong Kong were 'mostly Canadian repatriates'. He says that the vast majority of the repatriates on the ship were from the United States, from camps throughout the Far East. Thanks to Greg for the correction.]
    • 1945
      • 2 Oct 1945. Mabel Redwood wakes up in Colombo, believing her fiancee is far away in Hong Kong. In fact he has also arrived in Colombo on board a different ship. There is a reunion, a wedding, and by that evening Mabel is a married woman with a new husband and a new name, Mabel Large.
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New on Gwulo: 2026, week 38

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What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

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Places

Mum's "Hong Kong Color Slide Service" Collection.

Submitted by gw on

This week's newsletter is a guest post by regular contributor GW:

Introduction

My Mum recently rediscovered a set of slides she’d bought in Hong Kong in about 1986. They’ve been digitized and are posted below in order of the reference codes printed on their frames with their titles. The accompanying comments aim to establish each slide’s “where” and “when”. Many of the “where’s” are obvious, but the “when’s” less so. Dates without a quoted source come from elsewhere on Gwulo.
 

The Slides

1. XB3, Rickshaws In The Street.

XB3, Rickshaws In The Street, by gw

I guess tourists were the main buyers of slides like these, so a set would have to include a pic of that favourite Hong Kong stereotype, the rickshaw, even though they’d ceased being used as a form of transport well before the 1980’s. If I remember correctly, the only ones still around in the mid-80’s were parked outside the Star Ferry, Hong Kong side and, for a fee, were available for a short ride around the concourse area and a photo. 

This pic was taken on Connaught Road, Central. In the background, from right to left, are the 2nd GPO Building (1911-1976), Union/Swire House (completed 1962) and St. George’s Building (demolished 1966). That gives a preliminary date range for the photo of 1962 to 1966. 

The hoardings on the left are where Queen’s Building stood until replaced by the Mandarin Hotel. The Mandarins’ soft opening was on 1 September 1963, but it obviously wasn’t near completion when this photo was taken, meaning it was probably taken in 1962 or early 1963.
 

2. XB6, Des Voeux Road, Central.

XB6, Des Voeux Road Central, by gw

It’s the junction of Des Voeux Road with Pedder Street left, Chater Road right, and was probably taken from the

New on Gwulo: 2026, week 34

Submitted by David on

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

General


Places

New on Gwulo: 2026, week 32

Submitted by David on

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

General


Places

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