Welcome to Gwulo

Here you'll find over 50,000 pages about old Hong Kong to explore, including over 30,000 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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7, 10, or 13 years old? A brief history of Gwulo

Submitted by David on Sat, 12/03/2016 - 17:00

10

I had it in my head that this year is the tenth anniversary of Gwulo, but it turns out to be both older and younger than that.

 

2002 - The beginning: do you remember Gwulo's ancestor, Batgung.com ?

Way back in 2002, two years before Facebook appeared, blogs were the hot topic on the internet.

Western photographers in 19th century Hong Kong

Submitted by David on Sat, 11/19/2016 - 16:00

Terry Bennett has written a three-volume history of photography in China in the nineteenth century. He has previously shared a chapter about early Chinese photographers in Hong Kong, and today he is back with two chapters about the Western photographers.

The first chapter documents the very first commercial photographers in Hong Kong, starting with Mr George West. Sadly, none of his photos are known to have survived, but his watercolours remain as evidence of his abilities: