My father was born in 1954 in HK, he told me amazing stories of when he was a kid playing in Kowloon and seeing Bruce Lee walking past him. I am born in 1998 in the Benelux of Europe and every time I visit Hong Kong I try to imagine how it was for my father to grow up there, this video almost brought me to tears, Hong Kong used to be so relaxed and less fast-paced. However, I still love the city and will always visit my roots.
I’m from Antwerp, Belgium. I have extended family in Hong Kong, but I went to Hong Kong for the first time in 2008. I met my best friend there, and had experiences and made memories for a lifetime. Despite the evolving political status, I still remember Hong Kong fondly, and will visit again soon!
Wow yes , I always wonder whyyy I feel a connection to Hong Kong when I wasn’t even born there. But at home my parents would talk about Hong Kong a lot. It sounded like a very vibrant place to live in with its food, entertainment industry, billionaires, social gatherings ie mahjong. It’s a shame the politics have changed the mental wellbeing of the citizens. Because of this I no longer want to be associated to Hong Kong. I feel so bad it’s so different and gloomy
Can you imagine being a poor farmer in what would be Shenzhen on the other side of the border looking at all the hustle and bustle of trade coming in and out of Hong Kong?
HunterShows almost every Chinese immigrant has a story to share about crossing the river to Hong Kong. So much hardship and strife. People literally risking their lives to escape to Hong Kong. Chairman Mao was hurting millions of Chinese people and he thought himself as some kind of savior. My mom said in schools they make kids sing “I love Chairman Mao” but a lot of Chinese people who remember the republic of China, really hated him
@@patataking9326 Which came out of labour disputes with unions with strong Beijing ties on the one side, and the local Hong Kong government and police on the other. Back then, as in today's Hong Kong, the PRC/Beijing were interfering in others affairs.
If there wasn't starvation at all before Mao's rule in China, how could Mao get millions Chinese to join his army, overthrow KMT Government and take power in 1949? Besides, Mao ruled China 26 years. Only 3 years, from 1960 to 1963, there was a starvation, because China had to repay the debts which China borrowed from Soviet for Korean War and industrialization then, or bowed to Nikita and became a satellite country of Soviet. If Trump was the King of America and he decided to repay all US national debts within 3 years but not left the debt to his successors, what would happen to Americans? Mao used to use radical approach to achieve his goal.But you can not deny that the long-term effects of most of his decision are generally positive. For example, in 1960-1963, there were thousands of Chinese mainlanders fled to HK for seeking better life. But decades later, most of these guys and their descendants still live in HK's cage home meanwhile most of their former neighbor villagers who remain in mainland have better life than them nowadays.
It's still beautiful today. I hope the citizens will continue to fight for that. China is only the enemy to Hong Kong until the CCP respects the self-governance promise Hong Kong was granted until 2047. There's nothing wrong with China nor its people, but the CCP's disrespect of the region, contrary to promises made and public opinion is just sickening.
its amazing here, i’m born here and lived here for 18 years of my life and honestly i couldn’t get enough of it, going to uni soon and abbé moving out, but ill never forget this place, watching old videos of this place will just make me miss this place even more also the chinese fish and chips are absolutely amazing, i eat it every so often and its a very delicious little treat and me and my parents love
I was there in 1991 and saw a lot of this still, but a lot of it was already gone then - nobody was farming with water buffalo in Hong Kong in the 90s! They were busy flattening an island to build the new airport.
If you compare the Hong Kong in the 60's to that in 2019, though it was much less advanced and wealthy, it was a much more pleasant place to live than what it is now, sadly.
@Ganda Gandara Funny because the British man still called the non white Hong Kong people "Chinese" in this video. No one questioned it back then. Funny how things change. People pretend Hong Kong people are not Chinese anymore.
My aunty and uncle moved to hong kong in the 70s and when they visited they used to bring me and my brother souvenirs back like models of hong kong taxis and pokemon cards😀
@kippered beef you're comparing two different video genres... You know they still make video like this still? It's not that hard to find them. Just look up the place and boom...
I lived there then. It was fantastic. Definitely the best time of my life. I visited HK island very briefly in February 1997 but sad to say the 'spirit' of Hong Kong wasn't there. All the glass skyscrapers and office blocks made it look just the same as any big , modern city in any other country. Didn't have time to explore further so maybe Kowloon was better.
Hongkong at the time when Bruce Lee is number one big martial art movie star, at the time Jacky Chan still play as the amateur stuntman and Jet Li and Donny Yen still im embrio of their moms
Honestly a lot of foreigners or people who watch older Hong Kong films probably also think it is like this. Although I’m not born from that era, it is what I imagined Hong Kong to be like, although today it’s not quite the same.
A lovely reminder of HK back in the day. It took 30hrs from London to HK and (with no MTR) the bustle and traffic was unbelievable. Water was only available a few times a week and every glass was savoured. The city is so much more sophisticated now...
My Uncle visited family friends who were living in HK in the late 90s. He landed in the old airport in the harbour, and days later departed from the newly opened (current) airport out on the island. He told me how it was kind of chaotic upon opening, but got onto his flight okay. I believe he also got some card or certificate to say that he was one of the first passengers to board there.
Anonymous heard many stories from my late grandpa... living conditions in china went from bad to worse in the 60s. Don't know how but he took great risks smuggled his children (my uncles and aunts) across border to hongkong. Some used forged to documents, some by bribing the officials. Eventually some of my aunts will live in hongkong to this day while the rest of the family will journey again for a new beginning in Indonesia. I am a second generation born in Indonesia.
Anonymous My grandparents told me it was tough. And they are grateful for how much their lives have improved over the years. However Hong Kong’s prosperity is brought by British not democracy.
I mean honestly mainland China has drastically changed and in my opinion could rival the US as a world super power. China doesn't need Hong Kong anymore because how much wealth they have
I’m not even from that era nor am I from Hong Kong but it feels so nostalgic mostly because it is Cantonese and resembles nyc Chinatown. Even the Chinatown in nyc today is nothing like what it was 20 years ago.
5:39 “Feel a thousand miles away from all that transistor technology” That had me thinking... only if they knew how much those “transistors” have shrunk and we carry millions of them in our pockets! Feel a thousand miles away from that? Not for most people nowadays anyway(even in HK). Nice to see how people lived not long ago.
The property speculators and tycoons ruined Hong Kong. All the shopping malls in Hong Kong look the same. There is no retail diversity in Hong Kong. Bangkok and Taipei are the best places for shopping in Asia.
That’s all I stumbled on while there: one overpriced mall after another which felt that you are not welcome there unless you have a limitless credit card.
@@FireVortex720 Bangkok has cleaner hotels and better service than any city found in China. The markets offer a huge variety in street food. Thailand is switching to imports from Vietnam once manufacturing infrastructure is operating.
The ferry between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is called Yau-Ma-Da 油麻地 not Yamaha which is a Japanese name. But more popular for the tourists is the Star Ferry 天星小輪。
It looks an ideal place for traditional and modern peoples. The video makes it feel so alive but show at the same time how the hustle and bustle is more concentrated in the city. What a beautiful Hong Kong.
"Thousand miles away from the transistor technology..." This sentence is brilliantly written... I also just learned that "Shallow water bay" is actually named Repulse Bay, interesting background huh?
@@Orthane No, Hong Kong culturally and ethnically are Chinese, British influence is only in some of our cuisine and our city/transport.🤨 That's like saying Africa is closer to Western nations because they controlled it for a long time.
@@zkmoonea How many Us spies are you saying. Are you saying that the US maintain 10,000 plus spies and China can’t do anything about it because thousands of people seem to be mad at the ccp. So I think what you say is impossible
Strange how pleasant and civilized all seem. People seem interested in each other. The people of Hong Kong should decide the future of Hong Kong, such a charming east - west romance.
No Hong Kong did not. Anybody that says otherwise is viewing the past with nostalgia filters. The Chinese were second class people, with no citizens rights whatsoever. Everything was dictated by the British crown, and the wealth was all siphoned off to the UK. Economic mobility for the Chinese was nearly nonexistent. There's a reason why the elderly Hong Kongers are very angry with the rioters today. These young folk had no idea how difficult life was back in the 60s and 70s. They have no idea how much hard work the previous generations put in to give them the privileged life they have today.
@@jyashin And in 2020 after the outbreak of the coronavirus the same elderly people finally understood why the young people of Hong Kong are protesting against the government.
I was born in the 90s and visited Hong Kong almost every year since the mid 2000s, went back early 2020 and it was the saddest sight to see, everything closed, protests rampant, people distant out of covid, afraid to get near each other, a falling economy, broken police system, and significant decline in tourism and hospitality. It used to have the most luxury hotels, fun sights to explore, gorgeous scenery, and active social scene.
Hong Kong has taken giant steps backwards as a tourist magnet. The Jumbo restaurant was a real tourist attraction. There is currently a shortage of tourist attractions in the city.
The ‘Old’ Hong Kong was the Pearl of the orient. It will always remain a fond memory for those who (have once upon a time then) experienced the magic and enchantment of this unique British colony. Been there, done that and no regrets..👍👏♥️
Hong Kong in the 60s and 70s was only beautiful at its face value. I lived in HK from 1966 to 1979, life was a struggle in my youth and teenage years. The place was so full of crimes and corruption. The opportunities of getting higher education passed secondary school was scarce and highly competitive. I was one of the many who did not make it but I was lucky enough to be able to have further education in North America. I only visit HK once in many years and my visits turned out much more enjoyable than when I was living there because I was going back as a tourist to spend my vacation.
@@TheNickyVera The handover actually happened in 1997, you can find the footage here: m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Wv6f3lplUf8.html and here: m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dVZzRY0X6_g.html
@@islandceo6688 It is still red China and even more red than before.Xi Jin Ping himself is the teenage junior high red guard and a very strong supporter of Chairman Mao in the 1960's during the cultural revolution.Now he completely refuted Deng's modernization and wanted to back to Mao's time and declared himself 'emperor' for life.
@@kevinaguilar7541 well, starring into a smartphone / tablet for hours a day, sharing every part of my life with the world, being “available” all the time and worse: getting into the “social media trap” isn’t my definition of “nice”.... the implications of all this from a socio-psychological viewpoint is another can of worms. Smartphones etc can be useful for many things , but the way they are used by the vast majority isn’t exactly beneficial.
@@radiumdude no one says you have to share your life with the world, I’ve been using the internet for ages and have never posted a pic of myself online or stated my real name. I use the internet for entertainment and it does it better than any other media
It reminds us when people there used to live under democracy rule peacefully. The Brits helped economic in the city thrive. Millions of migrants risked their life under the communist migrate to seek for democracy. Noone never forgets when the communist party in Mainland starved 20 millions people to death. At the same time, Hong Kongers had lived in a modernize western world. There's no riot, demonstration happened like todat. Everyone still remembered this and will never forget. I'm Cambodian, I always stand behind your back Hong Kong. Keep fighting for democracy.
Those that have lived or even visited HK over the years absolutely love the place. It’s given so much...the current issues will change over time I’m sure. The people there are so dynamic ...long live Hong Kong 🇭🇰
@DDS Marcoytards sabog Bungo so sad you are also calling yourself pignoy lol your opinion was uncalled for but you were clearly looking for an argument. irongbuanggiatay
