Directory_and_Chronicle_1928 — Page 880

HONGKONG

THE RURAL DISTRICTS

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There are several villages on the island, the largest of which is Shau-ki Wan, situate in a bay in the Ly-ee-mùn Pass, a great resort of Chinese fishing craft. Aberdeen, known to the Chinese as Shek-pai-wan, on the south of the island, possesses a well sheltered little harbour, also much frequented by fishing craft. Two large docks of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company are situated there. Pokfolum, on the road to Aberdeen, about four miles from Victoria, was formerly a place of resort for European residents in the hot weather, and some elegant bunga- lows were erected in pleasant and picturesque situations, commanding fine sea views and cool breezes, but for some years after the development of the Peak district Pokfulum remained comparatively neglected until recently, when the difficulty of find- ing additional sites on the higher levels has again brought it into notice. The sanitorium of the French Missions is located at Pokfulum, and is a fine building with an elegant chapel attached. The Dairy Farm is also situated there. Some distance beyond Aberdeen are two excellent bathing beaches known as Deep Water Bay (where there is a 9-hole golf-course and club-house) and Repulse Bay (where a popular hotel has been erected by the Hongkong-Shanghai Hotels Co., Ltd.). Wong-nai-chung is snugly located at the head of the valley of that naine and is the most accessible of all the villages from Victoria. A motor-road has been constructed from the Morrison Hill district via Wanchai Gap to Wong-nai-chung Gap and to the Peak, and a tramway was promised for the purpose of rendering building sites in the Mt. Cameron district accessible to people of moderate means. Stanley, situated in a small bay on the south-east of the island, was -once the site of a military station, but the barrack buildings have been pulled down, and the village is now stationary. A cemetery on the point contains numerous graves of British officers and soldiers. One of the places most in favour with pedestrians who are not afraid of a good long tramp is the little village of Tytam Tuk, nestling among trees at the mouth of the stream of the same name, which here enters Tytam Bay, the most extensive inlet on the southern coast. There is an excellent motor road round the Island by way of Pokfolum, Aberdeen, Stanley, Tytam and Shaukiwan.

This was commended as a memorial of the Jubilee of Queen Victoria and completed at the end of 1919. Saiwan is a small village picturesquely situated in Saiwan Bay, just outside the Ly-ee-mùn Pass, and is much frequented by picnic parties. In the belief that it was a healthy locality, small barracks were erected there early in the forties, but the experi- ment proved most disastrous, for in five weeks out of a detachment of 20 English soldiers five died and three more were removed in a dangerous condition. The buildings were therefore soon abandoned. Shek O is a small but prettily-located village occupy- ing a small valley shut in from the water on the eastern coast, not far from Cape D'Aguilar. This district is being developed as a European summer resort and a Country Club has been established, Near here a wireless station has been erected.

KOWLOON AND OTHER DEPENDENCIES

Across the harbour is the dependency of British Kowloon, which is developing very rapidly along lines laid down recently by a Town Planning Committee. Some four square miles of the peninsula were first granted in perpetual lease by the Kwangtung Government to Sir Harry (then Mr.) Parkes, but were definitely ceded to Great Britain in 1860 by Article VI. of the Peking Convention. Yau-ma-ti, the principal village, has greatly increased in population, and is becoming an important town. There is a considerable Chinese junk trade at this place, and amongst other industries is a preserved ginger factory. Gas Works were erected there in 1892, and the settled portion of the peninsula is lighted with gas; electricity is also now largely used, the generating station being at Hunghom. Waterworks were established in 1895, but, with the rapid growth in the population, further provision was necessary, and the new waterworks now provide for the supply of a million and a half gallons daily. Three regiments of Indian infantry are usually stationed at Tsim-tsa Tsui, where barracks and officers' quarters are located and a Mahommedan mosque has been erected. At Tsim-tsa Tsui, too, a number of European houses and flats have been erected, and this portion of the peninsula, which faces Victoria, has gradually developed into a populous residential settlement. It is approached by Nathan Road, a fine wide thoroughfare running at right angles to the water-front. A fine bund, with a massive granite wall, has been constructed here, and an extensive range of godowns built and several fine wharves made for discharging cargo and coaling. Here, also, is situated the handsome terminal station of the Canton- Kowloon Railway. During 1905 and 1906 extensive reclamation works were carried out