Inside the Wattis Collection: Hong Kong’s First Governor

Annemarie EvansMay 23, 2023

A rare portrait of Hong Kong’s first governor is the subject of this third and final part of a short series looking at treasured items to be found in the collection of antiquarian Jonathan Wattis in his current exhibition Hong Kong Round and About, showcasing pictures, ephemera and memorabilia of Hong Kong from 1842 to […]...

Big StoriesExhibitionHistoryPeoplePortraitsWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments 05 min read

Hong Kong’s Maritime Trade, Part III: The French (Indochina) Connection

Christopher DewolfMay 11, 2023

Hong Kong once had a thriving trading relationship with French Indochina – and it wasn't just goods that made their way between the two colonies...

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 07 min read

All About Ching Ming, Hong Kong’s Tomb-Sweeping Day

Tom BillingeApril 2, 2023

What's the story behind Ching Ming, one of the most important holidays on the Chinese calendar? ...

Big StoriesCultureHistoryTradition0 Comments 09 min read

Hong Kong’s Maritime Trade, Part II: Foreign Junks on the Pearl River

Christopher DewolfMarch 30, 2023

Hong Kong was as much a river port as a seaport – thanks partly to its role as a tax haven...

Big StoriesHeritageHistory0 Comments 08 min read

Hong Kong’s Maritime Trade, Part I: Bubbly Beginnings

Christopher DewolfMarch 1, 2023

For thousands of years, Hong Kong has been a lynchpin of maritime trade to and from China...

Big StoriesHeritageHistory0 Comments 010 min read

A City in the Sky: Hong Kong’s Aviation History, Part I

Christopher DewolfSeptember 9, 2022

How Hong Kong became one of the world’s most important air hubs...

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Tin Hau Festival: Celebrating the Birthday of Hong Kong’s Supreme Goddess

Tom BillingeApril 29, 2021

From a Fujianese fishing village to the streets of Hong Kong: the story behind Tin Hau, Hong Kong's most popular deity. ...

Big StoriesCultureHistoryTradition0 Comments 19 min read

The Flower Boat Girl: Inside the Life of Pirate Queen Cheng I Sao

Ryan KilpatrickApril 8, 2021

A new novel by Hong Kong author and cartoonist Larry Feign delves into the complicated life of notorious pirate Cheng I Sao. ...

Big StoriesBooksCultureHistoryPeoplePortraits0 Comments 06 min read

Sir Catchick Paul Chater: How a Calcutta Orphan Became Hong Kong’s Most Important Man

Christopher DewolfSeptember 30, 2020

Few people shaped Hong Kong as much as Paul Chater, and yet he remains little known to most Hongkongers...

Big StoriesHistoryPeoplePortraits0 Comments 012 min read

Fighting Until the End: Hong Kong’s Vietnamese Refugees

Christopher DewolfDecember 12, 2019

Hong Kong still hasn't reckoned with the painful experience of the Vietnamese refugees who fled to its shores. ...

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 013 min read

Hong Kong’s History Is Kept Overseas: Wong Kan-tai Delves Into Archives

Christie LeeOctober 10, 2019

An acclaimed photographer wonders whether Hongkongers will ever be able to access the documents that define their own history....

Big StoriesBooksCultureHeritageHistory0 Comments 110 min read

Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part VIII: The Ill Fate of Rennie’s Mill, AKA Little Taiwan

Christopher DewolfSeptember 4, 2019

The story of an unlucky Canadian who opened a flour mill – and how it eventually became a bastion of support for the Kuomintang...

Big StoriesHistorySmall Stories & Secret Stories0 Comments 011 min read

The Date That Must Not Be Named: Stage 64 Looks at the Tiananmen Square Massacre

Zabrina LoSeptember 4, 2019

The founder of a theatre company dedicated to the memory of June 4 opens up about the struggle of keeping the flame alive in Hong Kong...

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Neighbourhood Guide: Tai Ping Shan, An Old Soul With a Trendy Heart

Zabrina LoJuly 9, 2019

A traditional neighbourhood is thriving thanks to an infusion of fresh energy....

ArtBig StoriesBooksCultureDesignFashionFoodHeritageHistoryInspring ItinerariesProduct DesignSmall Stories & Secret StoriesStreet ArtUrbanismUsual Suspects & LandmarksVisual ArtWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments 032 min read

How Football Found a Home in Hong Kong

Tobias ZuserJanuary 24, 2019

The beautiful game has been on the frontlines of Hong Kong history, from colonial-era segregation to Cold War political rivalries....

Big StoriesCultureHistorySport0 Comments 010 min read

Hong Kong Crime Wave: Why the 1990s Were a Decade of Famous Gangsters and Spectacular Robberies

Christopher DewolfSeptember 14, 2018

Broken Tooth, Big Spender, Teeth Dog – these were just some of the larger-than-life criminals who turned Hong Kong streets into shooting galleries....

Big StoriesHistoryPeople0 Comments 010 min read

1967: When the Bank of China Building Became a Giant Propaganda Machine

Christopher DewolfAugust 8, 2018

As the 1967 riots gripped Hong Kong, a familiar landmark suddenly transformed into a giant billboard for the Cultural Revolution. ...

Big StoriesHistoryUsual Suspects & Landmarks0 Comments 013 min read

Hong Kong the Pirate Capital – Part V: Hijacked on the High Seas

Ryan KilpatrickFebruary 7, 2018

The hijacking of the SS Namoa awakened Hong Kong to a terrifying new reality: that a great steamship under the protection of the British Empire could be seized by pirates almost within sight of the colony....

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 18 min read

Hong Kong the Pirate Capital – Part IV: Piracy and Prejudice

Ryan KilpatrickJanuary 18, 2018

Early Hong Kong saw the spectacular rise and fall of one of the colony’s most mysterious characters, the maybe-Eurasian, maybe-pirate Daniel Richard Caldwell....

Big StoriesHistoryPeoplePortraits0 Comments 07 min read

Hong Kong the Pirate Capital – Part III: The Worst Generation

Ryan KilpatrickDecember 14, 2017

The last generation of Hong Kong pirates went out with a bang, not a whimper....

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December 1941: Hong Kong’s Christmas Tragedy

Christopher DewolfDecember 7, 2017

The Battle of Hong Kong cost 10,000 lives and plunged the city into a brutal occupation – and yet little is done to commemorate it....

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 010 min read

Hong Kong the Pirate Capital – Part II: Cheung Po Tsai and the World’s Largest Pirate Fleet

Ryan KilpatrickNovember 16, 2017

At the turn of the 19th century Hong Kong was home port to the world's most daunting pirate fleets and the scene of devastating battles with the Chinese and foreign navies....

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 011 min read

Hong Kong the Pirate Capital – Part I: The Beginning

Ryan KilpatrickOctober 18, 2017

How a closed-off China inadvertently helped piracy flourish along its shorelines. ...

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Why Do Hong Kong Restaurants Serve Borscht? The Overlooked History of Russian Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfOctober 4, 2017

As many as 20,000 Russian refugees passed through Hong Kong in the 20th century. They left behind a fascinating historic legacy....

Big StoriesHeritageHistory0 Comments 112 min read

How Hong Kong’s Once-Thriving Portuguese Community Nearly Vanished

Christopher DewolfOctober 12, 2016

The Portuguese were one of the most important ethnic groups in Hong Kong. Now the community has nearly disappeared. What happened?...

Big StoriesHeritageHistory0 Comments 111 min read

A Snapshot of Hong Kong History – Part III: Across the Harbour, the early days of Kowloon

Jason WordieFebruary 19, 2016

"From stonecutters" villages to a Portuguese enclave - the overlooked history of the Kowloon peninsula...

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A Snapshot of Hong Kong History – Part II: Thirst

Jason WordieDecember 3, 2015

How Hong Kong's thirst for water led to its eventual handover to China....

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A Snapshot of Hong Kong History – Part I: Beginnings

Jason WordieOctober 12, 2015

Part I: The making of the fragrant harbour Context: When the Portuguese established Macao as a permanent trading settlement with the permission of the local Chinese mandarinate in about 1557, the face of South China trade changed. ...

Big StoriesHistory0 Comments 09 min read