With the season of the
Chinese Moon Festival this year, I found myself feeling nostalgic about my days in Hong Kong when I was teaching English at Hong Kong Baptist College from 1981 to 1983. I decided to re-post a couple of former entries along with some added photos to create a kind of scrapbook entry for today's feature.
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Here I am in Hong Kong in 1982, on a walkway overlooking the harbor.
(The photo was taken by Sharon Caulfield who was visiting from South Korea) |
A view of Hong Kong Baptist College
(now Hong Kong Baptist University)
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| (Photo from the Hong Kong?Macau Baptist Mission) |
Hong Kong Memories
The name "Hong Kong," translated
from the Cantonese, Heung Gong, means "fragrant harbor." We expatriates who lived there found that to be a bit amusing. There were definitely many aromas, especially
in Kowloon City where
I lived, but that combination of automobile exhaust, yesterday's garbage, restaurant cooking, and open markets was not what we typically referred to as "fragrant." I am assuming that in the old days before it was so populated, local vegetation along with natural beauty gave rise to the name.
Hong Kong was indeed a fascinating and diverse
place to live. It had a long history of taking in refugees. Many had flooded in from mainland China in the wake of political turmoil. In the 1980s, there was a large refugee camp in Kowloon for Vietnamese refugees awaiting resettlement in various countries. In addition to the majority Cantonese (southern China) population, there were also other Chinese
groups such as Hakka, Swatow, and Szechuan as well as a large community of "boat people" whose homes were in boats on the harbor, and whose families had traditionally earned a living by fishing.
At the time I was there, Hong Kong was still a British Crown Colony, so there were many British expatriates there as well as other European business people. Being such a vital place for business, there were also Japanese, Koreans, Indonesians, people from India
as well as Americans there involved in various business ventures. There were also significant Filipino
and Southeast Asian populations living there. I saw an amazing hodge podge of old tradition and new industry; Asian culture with European and American influences.
One of the less affluent neighborhoods on Hong Kong Island
Various street scenes in Hong Kong in the Kowloon region:
Immanuel Baptist Church
On Sundays, I led and English language Sunday School class for young adult members who wanted to practice their English (speaking English was a skill that many Chinese wanted to improve). I was the only westerner in the congregation. The pastor had been raised in mainland China and spoke Mandarin, so he would use a Cantonese interpreter when he preached. There was always one Sunday a month when he would deliver his sermon in Cantonese (some of the members told me that they understood his Mandarin better than his Cantonese).
This section of photos is from pictures taken by church members.
The English Language Sunday School class
The Sunday School class at our church picnic
Here's the group shot of the whole Immanuel Baptist congregation (that is, those who came to the picnic) I'm in the back - the one wearing a cap
A Trip to the Guangdong Province
Early in my sojourn in Hong Kong, I was fortunate to take a trip into China to the Guandong Province (formerly known in the West as Canton Province). It was in the early days of China's opening up to tourist travel, and the trip was organized by my Cantonese language instructor, Dr. Jachin Chan.
The following pictures were taken on an old farming commune in the Guangdong Province. I don't know if anything like this exists anymore.
Men walking with water buffaloes, common beasts of burden on farms throughout Asia. They are fairly docile creatures and well-suited for working the wet rice patties.
A man with a water buffalo working the rice fields
A large flock of Peking Ducks on the farm commune
Old Canton
Guangdong, known to westerners in the past as Canton, is the major city in the Guangdong Province. As we crossed the river into the city, we saw many traditional boats on the water, with newer modern buildings in the background, some of them still under construction in 1982.
There were many two-wheeled carts, and many,many bicycles in those days. The woman in traditional garb pulling her cart is one of my favorites.
There were were open air markets out in the streets, including a vendor selling fresh meat.
We saw many old brick buildings. There was a plaza in the middle of town that was more open and spacious while most of the streets were quite narrow.
In the New Territories
When I lived in Hong Kong, I was in Kowloon, which is actually on the mainland across from Hong Kong Island, but part of what was then known as the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. North of Kowloon, was the New Territories (so named in the treaty in 1898 with China that leased the New Territories to The United Kingdom for 99 years in an extension of the Hong Kong Territory). In 1997, the entire colony, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories, was ceded back to China.
The New Territories were less populated that Hong Kong Island or the Kowloon Peninsula. There was farmland and countryside that was a refreshing sight to those of us living in the crowded city.
Whether traveling to the New Territories by highway or by railway, Lion Rock was a natural landmark that one noted on the way
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| Rice patties in the New Territories |
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| At the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas) |
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Tao Fong Shan’s Lutheran chapel
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The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas is a fascinating place to visit in the New Territories.
One of my favorite spots to visit was in the Sha Tin region of the New Territories was Tao Fong Shan. It is a Christian Center that was founded by a Lutheran missionary who adopted Chinese customs and established the center along the line of a traditional Chinese temple. In the days before the border was closed by the communist regime, Buddhist monks would make pilgrimages to the center for time of prayer, meditation, and interfaith dialogue.
The center is known for its making of fine china depicting scenes from the life of Christ in Chinese style paintings.
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Crossing the Harbor
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| The Star Ferry chugs across the harbor |
One of my favorite things to do while living in Hong Kong (from 1981 to 1983) was to ride the Star Ferry. For the equivalent of about 20 cents I could take the ferry from the Kowloon Peninsula where I lived over to Hong Kong island. The subway train which ran through a tunnel under the harbor was much faster (and cleaner), but I loved taking the time to ride the waters and watch the crowds coming and going, trying to get a flavor of the culture.
Crossing the Harbor
When crossing the harbor at night,
Or on a cloudy, windy day,
My thoughts are carried swiftly away
To a realm potent with yesterdays and tomorrows.
As I ride the waters
My spirit soars;
Exchanging thought for dream,
And dream for destiny.
I think of how it would be
If you were on the other side –
A warm heart and receptive ear
Taking joy in sharing both the petty and the profound.
Knowing that you will not be there,
I realize that I've yet other harbors to cross.
My spirit shall continue its flight,
And I shall continue my wanderings.
CLK 10/81
Leaving Hong Kong
Before I left Hong Kong, I wrote a poem for one of my Chinese friends who was a school teacher. She herself was about to embark upon a journey to England for further study. In the poem, I tried to express my sentiments about the place I was leaving behind.
Fragrant Harbor
A fragrance to heaven goes up each day
as incense burns in temples.
A fragrance to world endures in time
with the gathering of spirited and lively people.
A fragrance to business and trade is sure,
and it disperses throughout the land.
A fragrance to the East,
A fragrance to the West;
A fragrance to all who have come.
How many have sensed the sweetness of this place,
For whatever reason they journey –
To escape, to be caught;
To be lost, to be found.
The motives are many, the result is one.
I number among those
Who have caught the scent
Of this busy, crowded, unique place.
And something in me shall hope to smell again
The fragrance of these shores.
Charles Kinnaird 6/83
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| (Photo by Sharon Caulfield) |
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*All Photos by Charles Kinnaird except where otherwise noted.
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