Fly into Hong Kong and you land at an amazingly modern, $20 billion airport that’s less than a decade old. A 24-minute ride on the sleek Airport Express train takes you into the middle of downtown, where you are surrounded by bold, glittering edifices. At first glance, this city gives off the impression that the only thing old is the junk on the cover of a tourist guidebook. Which just isn’t the case. Down the block from my apartment is a 160-year old temple dedicated to the gods of literature and war. Head the other way and there’s a colonial police station and prison from the same era. (A friend once lived in an apartment that overlooked the yard, and from his window you could see prisoners hula-hooping during their exercise period.) Even near the concrete jungle of Time’s offices is a hillside temple where people sought help for the plague in the 19th century. Higher up the hill is a beautiful red brick colonial mansion known as Woodside, which housed a refinery manager and then occupying Japanese troops during World War II.
Hong Kong’s architectural history can be overshadowed by towering office blocks and apartment buildings. And sometimes preserving it isn’t always the highest priority. But that’s changing. Last month protesters tried to block the destruction of the Star Ferry Pier and its clocktower in Central. At 49 years the streamline moderne-style pier was one year short of qualifying for classification as a historic building. It was demolished as part of a Central harbor redevelopment and reclamation program and will be turned into a shopping area. The government says it consulted widely with interested parties, and heard no objections. Some people have questioned the thoroughness of that consultation. Such processes always seem to have a shortcoming–the appearance of a wrecking ball always focuses the public’s attention on what is about to be lost much more than hearings and bulletin board notices ever can.
I visited the old pier during one of the last protests before its destruction. Compared with the annual pro-democracy marches here the crowd seemed small, and the demonstrators appeared very young. But they were determined, and police had to drag many of them out before the demolition could be completed. A new pier has been built a few hundred meters to the northwest, and the Star Ferry now departs from there. The building seems bigger and airier, but it was built in an Edwardian style to replicate a 1912 terminal, which many critics say gives it a theme park feel. It’s also a longer walk from the downtown core, and the ferry company anticipates losing passengers because of the inconvenience.
In response to the growing demand for historical preservation, the government released a list this week of 496 structures whose merits as historic buildings will be officially discussed. The debate has already started, with local papers pointing out that some of the buildings house vice dens. Patrick Ho, the Secretary for Home Affairs, said he was “delighted” by the rising public awareness on the subject of preservation. That delight could soon be tested. As part of the ongoing harborfront development, another well-known berth, Queen’s Pier, is set to be torn down. Don’t expect the preservationists to let it go easily. — Austin Ramzy