Hong Kong as it was in 1952 舊香港

[duanyinglian]

香港人也受了很多苦啊。。英国的统治也没有对香港人怎样好，可今­天香港人是那么的怀念英国殖民者。

Hongkongness suffered so much back then under the Brit's rule. The Brit did not do much good to the people of HK, ironically today Hongkong people miss the days under the Brit rule so much. 

[LabyrinthSociety]

Nice work.

[DylanZhou186]

123

[TheSeanm102]

i love all your films michael they are so unique thanks

[meganstephen83]

feel so sad

[greenmileofcurry]

Is that actually a 屈臣氏 store at 01:37? Wow.

[huwingcheng]

I wonder any TV stations has contact you by doing an old Hong Kong documentary film, they are so beautiful and candid during that period of times.

Young people should appreciate this video.

This is the fond memories we remember forever.

I love you MIchael, you do a good job for all the Hong Kong people with passion

[MichaelRogge]

@huwingcheng Yes, my films have been used in various TV programs, such as '1963' ( Cable TV). Various institutions, archives and museums have DVD's of my films, which are available in HK at a reduced price.

[iloveup3up4]

Woo 回到童年時代,打石,擔泥,就在我家對面.小學時与同學仔在街邊­睇公仔書.

[Akinotoko1227]

香港已由昔日的轉口港轉變成為知識型經濟中心+國際金融貿易中心­，轉變真快......

[rav050]

Hi Uncle Michael,

Thanks for sharing your fantastic videos and pictures. I'm born in 1960s, Those memory are very interesting and I love to review again and again.

[pembalutnatesh]

great

[AHKFORTYNINER]

This depicts HK at one of its most difficult time. After the KMT and Communist war in 1949, million people took refugee from China. Most of them had no money. They packed up the old dwellings and even the streets in HK. We can feel this in the video. The music is from traditional Cantonese Opera, most prevalent at that time. Thank Michael for preserving and sharing this.

[ml2001]

@mdofx Can you believe that the kid who showed his little thing should be now 63-64 years old.

[sabu85]

i wish i could go there, the HK of the 40s and 50s,full of rich gentlemen, charming women and interesting people.

[MichaelRogge]

@sabu85 . But also full of people, refugees, who could hardly scrape a living!

[sabu85]

@MichaelRogge

you're right, that's what my ex gf's parents told me about the place, but they were rich chinese.

[legendarybloodfang]

@sabu85 not the 40s. remember WW2?

[mbobbyk]

I wonder whether there is a color film in 1952 of Hong Kong.

[MichaelRogge]

@mbobbyk Colour film existed from the early thirties. 16mm Kodachrome film was sold by the major photoshops in Hong Kong as Asia Photo Supplies and Cinex Ltd. as well as the Kodak agency, where I bought it from.

[tonykklam1]

Could not help to replay the video just to listen to the background music which is so classic and nostalgic. It matches the video so well that it can easily bring you into the picture and be part of it. Thankyou for the work well done.

[tonykklam1]

Nice video. That brings me back in those years thru the time tunnel. Our hair cut, dress, things we did.....But its all good stuff. Life was simple then but we were very happy and content. There was no such thing as depression and other mental illnesses which we never heard of in those days. Love it. Thanks again Michael.

[ashmangy09]

Some great archive footage here. Could I ask for your permission to use some of these clips in my College film project? As I am doing a documentary on my Grandad who was posted to Hong Kong in the 50s with the British Army.

[MichaelRogge]

@ashmangy09 . Yes OK. Best wishes with your enterprise. Your grandad is one of the survivors of that era apparently!

[controversiaster]

@ashmangy09 A patient of mine that I looked after also said that he was posted to Hong Kong in 1953 to be a guard at the border between Hong Kong and China. He said that he loved it there :)

[GrevMivlos]

Wow. Deep respect for you sir! Your channel is amazing - I'm very gratefull for the time you put into this

Thanks Michael

[protocl]

@ 0:33

man, if i tried to photograph or video capture a current worker in HK now; probably curse me to death!

[akropiss]

the Canadians fought hard to stop Hong Kong's destruction but failed :(

[kelletman]

Great video, I love this old footage of Hong Kong, thanks for posting it.

[kensan2405]

Nice footage ! Do you have more ?

[MichaelRogge]

@kensan2405 Yes, I have 100 clips on old Hong Kong. See my playlist 'Old Hong kong'

[kensan2405]

@MichaelRogge sorry voor een late reactie. Ik vind uw films super geweldig.

[959up1up]

Thank you so much for posting, wonderful,tear inspiring.

I was inside there N walked along out from the movie.

[lampeterlam]

A precious footage of incredibly good quality. Thanks so much for sharing.

[tangyl123]

拓石仔

[butch1026]

the chinese are amazing unlike americans . they seemed to be grounded in something other than aquiring wealth at other [peoples expense. they do it on their own without slavery and oppression.

[MultiLeun]

would you please tell me about this music ?

[MichaelRogge]

@MultiLeun Sorry I do not keep a record of all the chosen music. It is from a record I bought some sixty years ago.

[MultiLeun]

@MichaelRogge " I bought some sixty years ago."?

wow ..how old are you ?

[MichaelRogge]

@MultiLeun  eighty one !

[MrAlgykcho]

@MultiLeun This is a HK Cantonese music composed after 2 war world.

[123pelerin]

superb!

[hkhaoleboy]

Great to see the Pearl of the Orient of old. I was born there in 1955 Matilda Hospital. I left when I was 18 and have be back many times. December 2009 was the last. The walk around the Peak is still as it was but the vista has changed so dramatically, and China's smog is a bore. Couldn't see old Kai Tak or most of Kowloon. Dad's office was 1033 Union House in the old days. Strokes the paws of the original HKSB Lions for luck, Bank of China building next door still remains. Thanks great views.

[georgetjn]

Thanks so much for all your clips, they are pure gold ! It is incredible to look back into the past like this.

I've worked for years in Duddell Street and I hope to spot it in one of your films.

Thanks again and good luck.

[MichaelRogge]

Duddell Street was quite nearby my office in Marina House Queen's Rd Central. I forget whether I have the street in my films.

[hominglamb]

It's so moving to see those long lost pieces of Old HK.

What we can see are hardworking HKgers struggle for life, dignity and upward-mobility. Thanks, Mike and we can imagine what're our parent's past like.

P

[guiejei]

your camera work is superb - HK's timesare recorded by your films

[Bouncybon]

At the time you were filming - did you imagine that many years later, these scenes would be an important historical archive? Now they are very precious - and you can share them through YouTube. Astonishing!

[MichaelRogge]

Not at all! In fact ten years ago I was thinking of doing my films away as noone would be interested anymore in that old stuff. How mistaken I was !

[lauterrence]

So memorable!

How come that the film was colour not black and white inthese year?!

[MichaelRogge]

Colourfilm was already available from the mid thirties. I suppose it was thrift that made people use black and white. Another reason was that B/W film was available in high sensitive versions to film in bad weather conditions as I did in my HK film 'Rain'. Kodachrome was very slow and could only be used in broad daylight.

[Afrarius26135]

How can you got there for took all of the nice vids and show to us at the time?

[MichaelRogge]

For the how and why see my Playlist of 80 vids of old HK.

[Volkerball77]

it's amazing how Hong Kong changed over the years

[sebreathnach]

Sweet Hong Kong... I should have been born there! I think, maybe my imagination grew up there, on one of the sun-drenched streets...Thanks!

[yuetkukoihoje]

Dear Mr. MichaelRogge,

Thanks again.

Without your films, I afraid lots of the HK old history will lose forever.

Although in the 50s & 60s, many HK people were still so poor and had to struggle for their daily lives, there's hope. Most important was that they had freedom.

Nowadays, everything is not the same.

So pity.

[sfchewgeo]

I was born in HK in the 50's so it is interesting to see what it looked like then. Are you aware of any videos taken on the cruise ships of the time period such as SS President Wilson?

[MichaelRogge]

Of course there were no videos at the time. There may have been travelogues, though, but these were not shown in HK.

[duxducas]

you are old men

[Noisy666]

Thank you Mr. Rogge !!!

[junyichen]

Thank you so much Mr. Rogge. This is too valueable. I was born in Hong Kong in 1952, it's nice to know how Hong Kong was when I was born. Wow!

[MichaelRogge]

I have four video clips on YouTube with engravements of Japan, China and Florida that date before 1879

[EmperorChiCheung]

No videos earlier than my birthday by over a century?

I was born in 1979, so I want to see videos older than 1879.

It's an order you know.

[lesum]

thanks and take care!

[agu005]

It refreshed my memories. Well done !!!

Thanks.

[artamerican]

Those days you hardly see any smiling face, kids stared at you with sad look,

it was tough ... I wonder where are those kids in the clip nowadays, they must be over 50s and 60s, are they also watching youtube and found out themselves ? Do they have a better live now ? It's amazing to be able to see those old days just right in front.

[MichaelRogge]

From the many responses I receive from about half a million viewers, it is nostalgia that stimulates them to watch my looking back. Indeed there were hardships. Some viewers started out in squatter villages and have a better life now. But it is the relatively quiet atmosphere then that attracts. It is sad to realise that most people you see in my clips have passed away by now. Noone has recognized himself yet in my vids.

[aussiehansi]

Dear Michael, I guess the generation you captured is most likely enjoying sittings in parks, majohn parlors or if they lucky enough living on a beautiful island like Cheung Chau, under a shady tree or beach instead in front of a computer as 95% of HK kids do nowadays.

[MichaelRogge]

Yes, but they had their worries too. Parents might have fled from China, squatters, poor housing, expensive education and all that.

[dogloverday]

We wish one day you back to HongKong and share your memories!

[1888junkteam]

wow never seen such a cute smile from a woman cracking stones all day

[MasterMark123]

WOW !!!  How time has changed !!!! HK looked more like Belize City today in 52. Now it's a modern wonder.

[googlebly]

The top dogs of the HKGOV should shamefaced

watch this clip. The would-be suicides from

Hong Kong should watch this clip and think twice before they take their own lives.

[OnePeopleOneChina]

This video was made just 7 years after WWII ended - a very tough time. But notice the bamboo scaffolding in the video? It is not just good for scaffolding, it's good for building. BAMBOO IS THE KEY FOR BUILDING CHINA'S SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY! Bamboo has better tensile strength than steel and better compression strength than concrete - a superior building material for inner provinces like Sichuan.

[euvucan]

wow there is a great leap between 1952 and 1964

[Bus6845]

Those were very tough times for our parents and grandparents. Like the young boys in these videos, I also grew up there and will always remember the HK days of the 1950s. Sometimes, an old man does have a reason to cry. Thank you Mr. Rogge.

[tofuwongwai]

感激代我們保存中華文化!

[fungnaiying]

thank you Michael for bringing hong kong people back to the old age of hong ong by your time machine.

[islander313]

Thanks for posting, simply, all your videos are wonderful. They are treasure not just because they valuable pieces of history, but they recall all our fond memories of those times that we hardy appreciate with in 21st century. I myself was born 13 years after. These videos have brought back all my happy childhood!

[HKJAI76]

I was born 17 years later ...

[wakenerd]

Thank you for the amazing clip. I can see the hardship of the Hong Kong people in those days. Thanks for showing me what my parents has gone through during those days when they were teens. Now I understand why my father was so careful with money when he was still here with us.

[hklifeguard]

My mother born in Hong Kong 1949, she was 3 year-old at the video's date. When I see the kids in the video, I could imagine how about her childhood days. She told me that the family at that time was living in Yau Ma Tei, as well as most families which were very poor. My mother and her brothers were never gotten courage to go Tsim Sha Tsui(!), she said that that area were too 'rich' on their eyes...

Thank you for your video!

[klee1987]

what an eye opener.

Thank you

[vanessaseed]

this video highlights the strong no holds barred work ethic of the cantonese without which hk would not be where it is today. thank you

[bobchewaing]

Continue from last comment,

Large ice block for vendor had no fridge but equipped with a cooler. Hawker sold Veg. Winter Melon with no plastic bag provided. People lived in squatters had no water, electricity,toilet and bathroom. They had to carry the water from the public street tap and do their business in the public washroom. Those are the real founder of Hong Kong. They were hard working,put up with all kind of nonsense and never complain.We HK people salute to Mr. Rogge,

Bob from Toronto

[bobchewaing]

Mr.Rogge,

You are not old yet,you are a kind and happy guy.The others video HK office and walking to the bank you do like like a movie star. ( A very in shape and handsome young fellow.)

Video background is around 5pm and the smoke is from cooking chimney.People used fire wood and charcoal those day. Labour used hand & hammer to cut stone,street hawker standing and leaned on small box and inside is Chinese candy like preserved plums. Made around $1/day just enough

[semismallwig]

you have brought more joy

into my life is a few minutes

than most people do in a lifetime!

[MichaelRogge]

Many thanks. Glad to know in my old age that my memories of the past bring so much joy. I share your nostalgia, believe me! Was back in HK in 1990 and noticed that most of the old landmarks had gone.

[gnowwwY]

Thank alot to MichaelRogge sharing all early Hong Kong ....

[bobchewaing]

Hello Mr. Rogge, was back in HK a couple months ago and of course, once again the old landmarks from the 50's and 60's were 99.9% gone for good. The rich and the poor people gap is way too big . And this is the only thing I don't want to see left from the 60's.

[paratomato]

Wow, that was incredibly well-preserved, it seemed like I was looking at a not too old footage of what my dad and mom and their environment were roughly like when they were kids!

[kat2877]

Simply amazing. What impresses even more is how well the clips were preserved. Thanks for uploading these valuable clips of Hong Kong from the past.

[viperstorm1991]

THANKS!

[lwongphoto]

the year i was born...

[globetrekker89]

Thank you very much for putting these videos on here, i've travelled quite a bit around the far east and hong kong is my favourite place, these video's also let me see it as it was when my grandfather was there after WW2. Thanks