ENG-1958 — Page 40

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

they consider derogatory, but usually call themselves 'Shui sheung yan' (water-borne people). They are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. Their entire families live afloat. These people were subject to discrimination in Imperial China, for they were forbidden to live ashore or to engage in trade, and they were not allowed to enter for the Imperial examinations. Like the Hoklo, whom they resemble in many respects, they have been in the area since time unknown. Chinese records suggest that they originally spoke a non-Chinese language. At present they speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese, which they appear to have adopted early in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan dynasty. At Tai O, on Lantau Island, there is the rare instance of a fairly large group of Tanka living ashore, or rather half-ashore, in huts built on stakes over a muddy inlet.

Certain parts of the New Territories mainland have been affected by the great numbers of refugees who, since 1937, have come to the Colony from all parts of China. In general where they have settled in the country, it has been in assimilable numbers; but certain groups of Tungkwun and Chiuchow cultivators, and of miners from North China, have resisted assimilation and preserved a refugee mentality. These, however, form only a very small minority of the total rural population.

An increasing number of city dwellers of all nationalities have in recent years been building bungalows and small week-end residences in the New Territories. Most of these are along the main roads, particularly at Sha Tin, Tai Po, near the Fan Ling golf courses, and along the road to Castle Peak and Clearwater 'Bay. On the islands the principal areas affected are Cheung Chau and Silver Mine Bay.