[
    {
        "id": 214510,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 368,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "337\n\nis good and allows for reasonably fast travel; the journey took about three hours. I had suggested to the guide beforehand that perhaps a stop along the way for \"refreshment\" would be in order. The bus pulled into an establishment that looked for all the world like a desert caravanserai, or some hostelry from the Wild West. The only commodity of any sort on sale was a type of large black mushroom, and a tea-like drink made from it. Our main interest, however, was with the toilet facilities - until we saw them, that is. A few of us were in enough need to make the considerable effort to go inside. Others decided to cross their legs for another couple of hours. I can only presume that German influence had not spread this far north.\n\nOn the way into the city of Yantai a large street-side sign was spotted saying \"No Whistling within the City Boundary\". Nobody could explain the purpose of this, unless it was a reaction to endless British tourists whistling Colonel Bogey.\n\nThe first point of interest in Yantai was the Fujian Hall. This was not in keeping with the colonial flavour of the trip, but was relevant to us southerners as being an outpost built in the north by the Fujian community that had been very active in business in the early days of Chefoo.\n\nMost of the old British remains are concentrated in a fairly small area - from the promontory of Yantai Hill east along the sea front to the former Chefoo School.\n\nYantai Hill is the place that once housed the British and other foreign consulates. It is very pleasant to walk the narrow roads and paths in this small area. A number of buildings remain, although very few are still used. Some are boarded up, and some remain only in the form of their foundations. It is not clear which was which, even with the benefit of old maps from the last century. However, a clear impression can be had of the peace and tranquility that still reign here, and of the commanding position that the residents must have had. I could almost hear a scratchy wind-up gramophone playing and the chink of ice in glasses of G&T.\n\nTo the west of the hill is the port, and there are still a number of small dock-side buildings that might date from the 19th century, but",
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        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
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    {
        "id": 214512,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 370,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "339\n\ncucumber. When we asked why we could not have stayed here as well, we were told that \"it would not be appropriate.\" Draw from that what you will.\n\nInstead we stayed at the adequate Pacific Ocean Hotel. Perhaps a better choice would have been the Yantai Marina Hotel on the eastern end of the sea front. This would have been nearer to the Chefoo School and the other main places of interest to us along the seafront.\n\nWeihaiwei - An Uncertain Possession\n\nThe pace never slackened for a minute. The following morning it was “all aboard” for another anachronistic piece of Britishness. On the way to Weihaiwei, about an hour's ride from Yantai, we received a briefing from Carol Tan on the background to Britain's involvement in this piece of territory that was leased by the British from 1898 to 1930.\n\nOne or two of the party, including myself, had been there before. Indeed, Jessie Stewart had lived there as a child in the 1930s. Gillian Sunderland's family had lived here many years ago, and Rowan Callick's grandfather had been a member of the Weihaiwei Masonic Lodge. But none of us had been to Liu Kung Island, the site of the naval base, and so this part of the journey was to be a bit of a challenge - not least for the \"organiser\".\n\nPort Edward\n\nany\n\nWhat we wanted to see in Weihaiwei fell into two areas: remains of the former Port Edward in the city itself and those on Liu Kung Island. Armed with a vast collection of old photographs from the early days of the British tenancy, thanks to Arthur Hacker, we went off in search of what we could find. The most likely area seemed to be the low hill rising at the north end of the bay around which the present-day city is clustered.\n\nUp above the small naval base, set off from the main road by a small garden, is a small but charming bungalow. Was this the former governor's residence? Some controversy here. The majority view was that the building was not grand enough. Perhaps it was the naval",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
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    {
        "id": 214517,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 375,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "344\n\nAlthough our Qingdao guide accompanied us throughout the trip, we were met off the ferry in Dalian by another guide - Ying, an expert on the local attractions, although she quickly learned, as had her Qingdao colleague before her, that she was surrounded by a bit more expertise than she found in the average tour group.\n\nYing and Jack, the driver, very quickly learned that her new brood had another difference. She greeted us at the ferry pier by saying: \"I suppose you would all like to go to lunch now?\" This was met by a resounding answer in the negative. Having been jolted about on the boat we were not immediately interested in food.\n\nDalian city tour\n\nInstead we asked for the bus to go round some of the streets in the old Russian quarter. Specifically, we pointed out the photographs in \"Far from Home\" and said that we would like to see those and see them we did.\n\nThe People's Theatre looks a bit more garish these days, and has been turned into a Blackpool-like amusement hall. However, the majority of what we had come to see was there waiting for us, looking as splendid and impressive as we had hoped. Zhongshan Square (the former Great Square of the original Russian plan) still contains all the solid bank buildings from many years ago. All are now Chinese banks, but clearly recognisable are the buildings from all the old photographs. The square also includes one of Dalian's three former Yamato Hotels, now glorying in the name of the Dalian Guest House. Do not be put off by this name, however it is far from being a bed and breakfast in Bognor. The wrought iron canopy leads you into one of the most impressive marble lobbies of any hotel I have seen. Our experience in Yantai leads me to believe that the term \"guest house\" is reserved for the grandest of available accommodation, reserved for the party's great and good.\n\nFor me one of the most distinctly Russian buildings, and one that features prominently in \"Far from Home\", is located just on the far side of the Victory Bridge (rather a practical name - not sure who's victory over whom), on the road leading north-west from Zhongshan Square.\n\nPage 375\n\nPage 376",
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