The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1950-03-16

HAZEL
EYES
By Hasel Brennon
HONG KONG na,.vad,

HONG KONG Delayed
Asked to name their favorite
port of call nine people out 81
ten on the S. S. President Mon
roe would probably say Hong
Kong.
The British influence predo-
inmates here for Hong Kong has
been a Crown Colony Of England
since 1841.
Located less than one hundred
miles from Canton, China, this
tiny island has become the focal
point for all big business and
commercial interests fleeine
communicated China. The city
is teeming with thousands OF
newcomers and the congestion is
fierce. New factories are spring
ing up everywhere and housing
is almost impossible to obtain.
Although the island itself is only
about eleven miles long with an
area of thirty-two square miles
it seems larger because of the adj
jacent peninsula of Kowloon on
the mainland. Their combined
area is about 391 square miles
and the population now is esti-
mated at two million.
Hong Kong has everything to
offer the tourist whether he is
pleasure bent or interested in
business. The traffic from Hong
Kong by ferry to Kowloon is
continuous with a boat running
every few minutes. This is one
of the most important ports in
the world because it is the gaze
way between the East and the
West. Here the British have a
larger naval station and some of
His Majesty's most impressive
ships are now anchored in the
immediate vicinity of the Mon
roe, including a large hospital
ship.
Hong Kong is the most picture
eque port in the orient. 1t has
mountains steep enough to af-
ford a funicular railway and they
come right down to the sea The
winding seventeen : mile drive
from Kowloon out to the resort
of Castle Peak along the water
all the way is a never to be for
gotten sight with Chinese
junks slowly and gracefully sail
ing along as though they had
forever and a day to get nowhere
in particular. Thousands of Chi
Families ire born and spend
all their lives right on these
junks-and although they are the
most romantic sight in the world
sailing slowly along and silhout-
ted in the moonlight a closer ex-
animation usually reveals they
are miserably bare and poor and
terribly dirty.
On the must list of all tourists
is a visit to Repulse Bay and to
Aberdeen, the old pirate center
of the Orient, although these
spots are some your editor didn't
make. There just wasn't time to
go everywhere and do every
that wanted to be done.
Aside from its scenic beauty,
Hong Knog will always be re-
membered as a shoppers para
disc. There were SO many beauti-
ful things to be bought here,
jade. camphorwood and
exquisitely carved chests, Chinese
brocades and deliberately en-
broidered linens, all work pains
takingly done by hand. Of course
there was a lot of junk to be had
too, and the traveller who didn't
take time to examine carefully
what he was buying found him
self greatly disillusioned with
Chinese merchants after the ship
had sailed. But Hong Kong was
definitely the place to shop.
Shanghai is a regularly sche-
iuled port on the round-world
service of the American Presi-
lent Lines but it has been tenn
,orarily suspended for some time
low. It will probably be a long
lime before American ships go
Jack into Shanghai. Had we been
sble to stop at the latter city, our
,orts of call thus far, in order,
would have been San Francisco,
Yokohama, Kobe, Kee-
ung (Formosa), Shanghai, and
long Kong.