Oct 01 1898
Cheung Chau in 1898
Cheung Chau in 1898
When Stewart Lockhart, Special Commissioner to Hong Kong , wrote a report to Colonial Office in Oct 1898 after taking over New Territories which includes outlying islands, this is how he described Cheung Chau in his report :
“The Island of Cheung Chau is a busy place, at which many of the steamers, launches, and junks plying between Hong Kong and Macao call.
There is a station of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs on the Island, as there is also on the Island of Ma Wan, commonly known as the Kap Shui Mun Station.
The deep anchorage of Cheung Chau affords good shelter, especially during easterly gale.
He also remarked the population of Cheung Chau at 5,000 in 1898, based on the estimate from the officer of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs stationed at Cheung Chau.”
But a British, L C Arlington, the expatriate employed by Ching Dynasty as Imperial Maritime Customs Officer stationed at Cheung Chau between 1894-98, recalled a different aspect of life in his book. “The exceptionally strong smell from raw fish and shrimp paste under the sun was almost everywhere on the island. It made him very difficult to set foot on Cheung Chau again after 6 long years of service on the island.”
Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs at Cheung Chau
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