1933

978
HONGKONG
hills, to the Peak. It has art -easy gradient and was 'odnstructed for motor
traffic. A branch of it runs in an opposite direction to Wong-Nei-Cheong Gap
and along the South side of .the hills until it joins the motor road which en¬
circles the island. Houses* are springing up ‘ rapidly along the road, and?
adj acent to it.
Magazine Gap is also approached from the lower levels by an excellent
and: well-graded road, commencing on the Bowen Road, which is now a motor
road as far as May road. 1
The Rukal Districts
There are several villages on the island, the largest of which is Shau-ki
Wan, situate in a bay in the Ly-ee-mun Pass, a centre for Chinese fishing
craft. Aberdeen, known to the Chinese as iShek-pai-wan, on the south of the
island, possesses a well sheltered little harbour, also much frequented by fishing:
craft. Two large docks of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company are
situated there. Pokfolum, on the road to Aberdeen, about four miles from
Victoria, is also a residential district and many residences have been erected
in pleasant and picturesque situations,, commanding fine, sea views and cool
breezes, but for some years after the development of the Peak district Pok-
fulum remained comparatively neglected, when the difficulty of finding addb
tional sites on the higher levels again brought it into notice. The sanitorium.
of the French Missions is located at Pokfulum, and is a fine building with
an elegant chapel attached. The Dairy Farm is also situated there. Some
distance beyond Aberdeen are two excellent bathing beaches known as Deep-
Water Bny (’vyhere there is a 9-hole golf-course and club-house) and Repulse
Bay (where a popular hotel has been erected by the Hongkong-Bhanghai Hotels.
Co., Ltd.). Wong-Nei*cheong is located at the head of the valley of that
name. A motor-road has been constructed from the Morrison Hill district
via Wanchai Ga,p to Wong-Nei-cheong Gap and to the Peak, and. a tramway
was considered for the purpose of rendering, building sites in the Mt. Cameron
district accessible to residents. Stanley, situated in a small Pay on the south¬
east of the island, was once the site of a military statiqn, but the barrack
buildings have been pulled down, and the village is now stationary. A modern
school named St. Stephen’s College has been erected nearby. A cemetery on
the point contains numerous graves of British officers and soldiers. There is
an excellent motor road round the Island by way of Pokfolum, Aberdeen^.
Stanley, Tytam and Shaukiwan. This was commended as a memorial of the
Jubilee of Queen Victoria and completed at the end of 1919. Saiwan is a
small village picturesquely situated in Saiwan Bay, just outside the (Ly-ee-
mun Pass, and is much frequented by picnic parties; In the belief that it
was a healthy locality, small barracks were erected there early in the forties,,
but the experiment proved most disastrous, for in five weeks out of a detach-
mertt of 20 English soldiers five died and three more were removed in a dan¬
gerous condition. The buildings were therefore - soon abandoned. Shek O is
a small but prettily-located village occupying a small valley shut in from
the water on the eastern coast, not far from Cape D’Aguilar. This district is
being developed as a European summer resort and a Country Club has been
established. Near here a wireless station has been erected.
Kowloon and other Dependencies
Across tbe harbour is the dependency of British Kowloon, which is deve¬
loping very rapidly along Hues laid down by the Town Planning Committee.
tSome. four square miles of the peninsula were first granted in perpetual lease
by the Kwangtung Government to Sir Harry (then Mr.) Parkes, but were
definitely ceded to Great Britain in 1860 by Article VI. of the Peking Con¬
vention. Yau-ma-ti, the principal village, has greatly increased in population,
and has become an important town. There is a considerable Chinese junk
trade to this district and amongst other industries is a preserved ginger fac¬
tory. Gas Works were erected' there in 1892, and the settled portion of the
peninsula is lighted with gas; electricity is also now largely used, the gen-