The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-03-16
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES
~ Hazel Brannon
HONG KONG DELAYED

HONG KONG Delayed
Asked to name their favorite
port of call nine people out of
ten on the S. S. President Mon
roe would probably say Hong
Kong.
The British influence predo-
inmates here for Hong Kong has
been q Crown Colony Of England
since l04i.
Located less than one hundred
miles from Canton, China, this
tiny island has become the focal
point for all big business and
commercial interests fleeing
communicable China. The city
Is teeming with thousands Of
newcomers and the congestion is
fierce. New factories are spring.
tng up everywhere and housing
il 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 ad-
jacent peninsula Of Kowloon on
the mainland. Their combined
area Is about 39l 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 il is the gate
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 large hospital
ship.
Hong Kong is the most picture
eque port in the orient. It has
mountains steep enough to af-
ford 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 day to get nowhere
in particular Thousands of Chi
nese families are 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 iniserably 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
60 everywhere and do every
thing that wanted to be done.
Aside from its scenic beauty,
Hong Knog will always be re-
membered as shoppers para
disc. There were so many beauti-
full things to be bought here,
ivory, jade, camphorwood and
exquisitely carved chests, Chinese
brocades and deliberately en-
broidered linens, all work pains
takingly done by hand. OF course
there was 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-
duled port on the round-world
service of the American Presi-
dent Lines but it has been tenn
porarily suspended for some time
now. 1t will probably be long
time before American ships 60
back into Shanghai. Had we been
able to stop at the latter city, our
ports of call thus far, in order,
would have been San Francisco,
Honolulu, Yokohama, Kobe, Kee-
lung (Formosa), Shanghai, and
Hong Kong.
Tex Ritter To ADDeur