Chapter 4: Historical recount

Changes in Hong Kong

1. Most of the people who lived in Hong Kong 1000 years ago were farmers and fishermen. They came to Hong Kong from mainland China. Most of the farmers lived in villages in the New Territories. They built walls and small rivers around the villages to protect their houses. These villages were called walled villages. They grew rice, pineapples and tea in their fields. These people were called ‘Puntis’, meaning ‘the local people’. Later on some

more farmers came from the mainland, they had to live on hillsides. These people were called ‘Hakkas’, meaning ‘the guest people’.

2. The fishermen at that time used their junk boats for fishing. The junk boats were also their houses because they lived on them. These people were called ‘Tankas’, meaning ‘people living on boats’. Besides fishing, they also sold salt and pearls. The salt was made from sea water, while pearls were collected from oysters living in the sea.

3. From 1842 to 1997, Hong Kong was ruled by the British government. Many people from Britain came and lived in Hong Kong. They built beautiful western-style houses. The Marine Police Headquarters is an example of a western-style house. It was built in 1884.

4. After 1842, a lot of people came to Hong Kong from mainland China. They worked in shops and some of them worked as coolies. Coolies were workers who had to carry heavy loads on their backs and were poorly paid. Many people at that time lived in simple huts on hillsides. They did not have electricity or water supplied to their homes.

5. In the 1950’s, there were many factories in Hong Kong. Many people worked in the factories. They produced clothing and plastic products. More and more people lived in public housing estates built by the government. Many fishermen stopped fishing in order to work in the factories too. So there are fewer ‘Tankas’ now.

6. Now, there are nearly 7 million people living in Hong Kong. Most of the farmland in the New Territories has been used to build housing estates. We cannot find many walled villages in the New Territories nowadays.

The End

a walled village

inside a Hakka’s house

Tankas

salt

pearlsoysters

western-style houses

The Marine Police Headquarters

coolies heavy loads

huts on hillsides

electricity & water supplies

factories

plastic products

public housing estates

fishermen