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A Gate of China

Staggering views of 1920s Hong Kong capture the contradictory cocktail of East meets West on this outpost island.

Documentary 1927 9 mins Silent

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Overview

Hong Kong is a land of extreme contrasts: its geography and architecture, its business and demographics. This British Instructional documentary captures these contrasts beautifully, with its jaw-dropping photography (if not its rather colonialist intertitles). The view down the teeming hillside street, flanked by high-rise balconies glimpsing the domestic lives within, is simply stunning.

The film offers a brief history of the colonisation of Hong Kong from the perspective of 1920s Britain, focusing on the various developments made to the island under British control - the building of dwellings, business-houses, law courts, municipal buildings, churches and roads. It also describes the constant struggle to reclaim the land from the encroaching China Sea, and protect the island from formidable typhoons.

Original title
Gate of China
Genres
Documentary
Released
1927
Country
United Kingdom
Location
Hong Kong
Language
English

Subjects

Hong Kong