Hong Kong History
between 1898-WWII
Transition from One Government Rule to Another

The British colonial rule, played a large role in Hong Kong History between 1898-WWII. The Hong Kong people at first hated it so much. As time went by, the Chinese started to accept the reality and prosper.

Courtesy to RTHK, a Hong Kong TV station

Also, due to the capitalism, Hong Kong had the advantage to open its door to the world much sooner than China when it was still under the Manchu Qing dynasty.

Things were getting better and better progressively until WWII. The Japanese took over Hong Kong for 3 years and 8 months starting Christmas of 1941.

During this period of time, things had changed and you still can see them when you travel in Hong Kong.

The former Governor House and the runway of the old airport were modified.

My grandparents (from my mother's side) were the eye-witnesses. Here are their stories:

My grandmother was still in high school, the one that I went too. Back then, the harbor front was right in front of the school. She said that you would see injured people right there. They would be taken over to the church behind the school for medical care. When the siren went off, everybody would go into the basement of the church.

Yes, the church was like a temporary hospital. The government always sent over meat, rice and beans. But the meat would never last long. It always spoiled and went right into the garbage.

For my grandfather, his mother passed away when Hong Kong was under the Japanese rule. They were very poor. Both his older brother and he had 2 pieces of ply wood to sleep on every night. They used these 2 pieces of wood to bury their mother.

These are just a few stories and how my family survived from the war. And how lucky we are right now.

The above video was produced by the RTHK, a Hong Kong government TV station. There are several sections that you can watch the rest of them on YouTube. This one only lasted for less than 2 minutes. By looking at this documentary, you can imagine the lives back then. Hong Kong History between 1898-WWII.

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