May Newsletter
The month of May will be busy with numerous private walks, travel and lectures. This summer will be Jason's last term - after ten years - when lectures and walks will be offered for the YWCA. Due to the summer heat, historical lectures are the main offering. May 19th - The Peak Lecture and June 2nd -Triads in Hong Kong.
Walk Photos:
Thank you for those who have been kind enough to email some wonderful photos from walks they have attended. I am currently adding some "participant picture pages" to the website so please keep an eye out for your pics!
The two stunning photos on the left side panel of this newsletter have been generously provided by Cliff Wallace, taken in Guangzhou on the AWA trip in March. Many thanks Cliff.
Other News:
During the summer months of July and August, Jason will be offering various historical lectures, as well as working hard on some forthcoming books... (watch this space for more details in due course). If you are in Hong Kong with visitors or would like to gather a group of friends for an interesting morning or afternoon's exploration, private walk bookings (weather permitting) are always possible. Yes, it will be humid, but as long as you are well-prepared with a water bottle, comfortable shoes and an umbrella we can accommodate. If keeping inside during summer is more your thing, private lectures for dinners or special events have proven very popular.
Contact Michelle Robinson for more information.
Forthcoming walk highlights:
- Fresh-produce markets – popularly known as "Wet Markets" - abound in Hong Kong. Some are municipal markets with everything under one roof – others are located along the street-side. In Shamshuipo one of the most popular – around Ap Liu and Pei Ho Streets, combines the best of both. Following a recent write-up in The New York Times - A Guide to Hong Kong's Wet Markets - this walk has certainly become a popular one with residents and visitors. A trip not to be missed.
- In this Aberdeen walk, enlivened as ever by numerous photographs and anecdotal asides, we will learn something of the original "Fragrant Harbour" – as pre-British era Aberdeen was known – its evolution into a thriving fishing port, and transformation in the 1950s into a thriving light-industrial district. Throughout the day – especially in the early morning – the Fish Marketing Organisation provides a great deal of local colour.
May Walks:
Sham Shui Po Wet Market - Saturday May 14th - 2 pm
Aberdeen (YWCA) - Friday May 20th - 9 am
Please visit our Event Calendar for more.
Central - April 1st with Jason's Walks
A full group of Hong Kong residents and visitors explored historical Central in April.
Significant buildings and unexpected sites of historical and cultural interest were discovered, including Statue Square and environs, the exteriors of the old Supreme Court (now the Legislative Council), Government House, the French Mission Building (now the Court of Final Appeal), St. John's Cathedral and its leafy precinct, the Zoological and Botanical Gardens.
The afternoon finished at the historic Jamia Mosque in the heart of the trendy restaurant-dominated hillside neighbourhood, clustered around the Central Escalator, popularly known today as "SoHo". A century ago, this area was called Matto Moro – "Plain of the Moslems" by the local Portuguese community – due to the presence of the mosque and the community that worshipped there.
A gloriously sunny afternoon filled with information and postcard scenery.
NT Walled Villages and Clan Halls - April 18th with Jason's Walks
A full bus of eager participants travelled into the New Territories for a day exploring the Clan Halls and Walled Villages.
A highlight for many was the lunch destination at the locally-famous shu uk, or "tree house" – an enormous Yung Shue ("Chinese Banyan") which eventually devoured several houses. 
In San Tin, very close to Hong Kong's frontier with Shenzhen, we visited an ancestral home of the Man lineage, one of the "Five Great Clans" of the pre-British era New Territories region. The beautifully-maintained Ching-dynasty era rural mansion, Tai Fu Tai, did not disappoint.
Finishing the day at Hong Kong's only original extant pagoda proved the perfect place to end this extensive, highly-informative trip.
Thank you to Paul Ross for providing this beautiful photo, taken at Chai Wan War Graves Cemetery on The Australian Association Battlefields trip in April.