About...

Submitted by David on Fri, 09/10/2010 - 22:24

... David: I arrived in Hong Kong from the UK in 1989, stopping over on the way to Australia. I stayed here for several months before carrying on, but around two years later I came back again and have been here ever since.

I enjoy reading about old Hong Kong, and trying to find out more about whatever catches my interest. I'm a happy mapaholic, with old photos coming a close second. But lets get on to something more interesting...

... Gwulo.com: Here's how it started - our first history article, from February 2006. Though it wasn't called Gwulo.com yet, instead it appeared on a different website which was a mix of historical and current information about Hong Kong.

A few more articles followed, then a great thing happened - other people joined in. First via the comments, then reader 'moddsey' started sending in old photos related to whatever I was writing about (Thank you!). They are always popular, and turned out to be a great way to attract people to visit the website.

The next lurch forward was the new 'Place' feature. A typical Place is an old building, eg the old Hongkong Hotel. It's part of a key goal for Gwulo.com, that people should only need to write something once. Places are linked to the photos they appear in, so all the notes about that old building are easy to read in one place, instead of scattered across different photos.

Gwulo.com was born in July 2009, when the historical content was spun off from the mixed site I mentioned earlier. The number of visitors, regular readers, and most importantly contributors, has increased steadily since then, with the site adding its 20,000th page in 2015.

We've also been lucky to collect a couple of awards along the way:

  • 2013: Gwulo received a Citation from The American Institute of Architects (Hong Kong Chapter) for "raising public awareness and appreciation for the physical and cultural heritage of Hong Kong".
  • 2014: I received the Heritage Preservation Award, one of the SCMP's annual "The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards", for my work on Gwulo.

I love reading the daily posts on a wide range of topics, and seeing how different people join in to share what they know and answer readers' questions. I hope you'll enjoy reading them too, and join in by sharing whatever facts & memories you can about old Hong Kong.

Regards,

David

PS Any questions about Gwulo.com? Please ask away in the comments below.

Comments

Good Morning David,

My husband and I love youe webpage.  Are you still live in Hong Kong?   We are wondering if you are giving any talks in here or work with Royal Asistic Society, Helena May or Royal Geography Club.

Please stay well and have a good weekend!
Tina P Ford

   

Hello Tina,

Glad to hear you're enjoying the website, and yes, I'm still in Hong Kong.

All three of the organsations you mentioned have had me along as a speaker st some point or other. Most recently I was booked to give a talk to the RAS in February - it got cancelled due to the virus but it will probably be rescheduled when things get back to normal.

Regards, David

Hi David,

I served in the RN working at the Marine Police HQ (MARPOL) TST 1984 - 1987

I have looked at all 60+ forum pages and find some of the content fascinating, but the majority certainly before my time, and as such need to ask the question as to what you determine as the boundaries of time in terms of the website title 'Old Hong Kong'?

I still have numerous pictures (Kodachrome slides - remember them!)  taken during my time as i was and still am an avid photographer, just wondered if there is likely to be any interest as i don't want to provide content that may not be of any interest

Regards 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for asking - the website's focus is the colonial period, so anything up to 1997 is a good fit. (You'll often see modern photos too, but they'll be of something old, eg old buildings.) Any photos from 1984-1987 will certainly be welcome.

Regards, David

Hi, I’ve just stumbled across this site - what an incredible resource - thank you. A little about my links to Hong Kong - my dad was an engineer with Jardines from the late 40’s and my sister and I were born there mid to late 60’s. We lived on Bluff Path in one of the Jardine’s houses (think we were number 4?) before moving to Japan and then to the UK.

Dad was a keen photographer and am sure we have a few thousand photos from this period - hopefully finding this site will spur me on to scan in some of his photos to post here!

Hi David - 

An active user on Gwulo posted a picture of croquet being played during the King Of Cambodia's visit in the 1870's.

users name Daniel Wettling - I'd be very interested to find out about the photo's origin - specifically in the context of the croquet,

would you be able to link us together?  milo.ruoff@gmail.com  or WhatsApp +852 9444 3393.

many thanks!

Milo

I would love to see one of the Farwell talks.  Will they be available online or on a recording? I'm happy to make a contribution.

Many thanks,

Deborah 

Hello.

Love your website. Thank you. Especially some of the educational blog. I lived in HK from '79-82. I worked in shipping. Was member of HKFC. Truly memorable years for me, and then an inspiring place.

This video on photos is excellent. You could do 100s I imagine! Hope you feel for doing a few more. Gwulo often makes my Sunday.

Best wishes, John