CONFIDENTIAL
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Trade Fair, accompanied by Lu Ying, Deputy Secretary General of the Fair, and Kuo who had performed the opening ceremony. (I enclose a full list of those who came, with their official functions, for Peking and Research Department only). The Canton group spent the night here after being entertained to dinner by HKYF on their floating night club. The culture shock must have been quite severe and certainly reduced to near silence my next-door-neighbour at dinner. However, I gather they later relaxed, spent most of their time sight- seeing and went back to Canton carrying a large collection of television sets.
3.
The ferry journey from Hong Kong to Canton takes about 2 hours. The ferry stops at the island of Ta Ch'an, not far from the square boundary, to pick up a Chinese pilot and two unarmed security guards. At this point they run up a Chinese courtesy flag but they continue to fly the Red Ensign the whole way to Canton. At present the service terminates at Whampoa, which is about a 50-minute bus ride from the centre of Canton. However, the Chinese have told HKYF that they plan to build a ferry pier in the centre of the city as soon as possible.
4.
I am told that the last ferry run between here and Canton was in 1944, during the Japanese occupation, 'when HKYF boats went up the Pearl River to try to find supplies of food for Hong Kong. The reopening of the service after such a long gap is yet another reflection of China's intense interest in developing tourist facilities at almost breakneck speed. HKYF are confident that they can make a profit out of the business and say they will do so if the ferries are at least half full. They are shrewd operators and have, I am sure, done their sums carefully. I gather that the service from Hong Kong is well booked for the first month although that may not be true of sailings in the other direction. HKYF suffer from the disadvantage that all booking arrangements are in the hands of China Travel Service. It would not surprise
me if they find that this causes them some headaches as well as lean periods when bookings will be low and they will only be able to do a limited amount, by means of advertising, to increase numbers.
(D C Wilson)
CC
RJT McLaren Esq (HKGD)
T J B George Esq (PEKING)
Research Department (FE Section)
CONFIDENTIAL
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