This American woman international correspondent, travel writer and authoress wrote under the pseudonym of Violet Sweet Haven. She travelled far and wide and was on the first China Clipper (aeroplane) flight to Hong Kong in 1937.
Haven wrote an article about her experience of pre-boarding and sailing in a blackout boat from Hong Kong during wartime (in China) in 1941. The article can be read in the New York Times dated 8 June 1941 at: https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1941-06-08_90_30451/page/n177/mode/2up?q=Sweet+Haven
Another voyage from HK to Shanghai
My Grandfather - George Sofronoff was a horse trainer in Shanghai and HK. He was in HK when the Japanese invaded in 1941, but his family was back in Shanghai. It was not until March 1942, that he was able to book passage on a ship heading north.
“The bloody Japs robbed me properly,” George later recalled.
“I lined up to get a ticket and the Japanese ticket agent asked me if I had money. I said yes and he asked what sort. I told him I had Hong Kong dollars and he said they were no good and I had to change it to Japanese gold yen.
“I did this at an enforced terrible rate of exchange and lost half my money. Then I went back to get the ticket and the Japanese official smiled and said I had to have military yen.
“So I had to cash in gold yen for military yen and once again I got robbed of more than half of my money, but at least I got a passage on a ship.”
Still, it turned out to be a lucky ship. It got to Shanghai! The next two ships to attempt to make the trip were sunk by American submarines, with great loss of life.
[Sinclair Kevin, Siberian trainer’s long ride to adventure, 30 May 1982 SCMP p 10.]