60 Hong Kong old photos during the fifties

A series of rare shots portraying the former British colony, between 1950 and 1958.

A gallery of amazing images of Hong Kong depicting the economic boom of the British colony and everyday life.

Hong Kong became a British Colony after the First Opium War (1839-1842). The colony’s boundaries were extended in 1860 to include the Kowloon Peninsula and then with new territories in 1898. The region was then briefly occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, only to return under British control. Hong Kong’s history has profoundly influenced its culture, which is often described as “East meets West”.

Hong Kong’s population quickly recovered following a wave of immigrants from China, where the civil war was underway. When the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, other migrants fled to Hong Kong for fear of persecution by the Communist Party of China. Many companies from Shanghai and Canton moved their businesses there.

In the 1950s, Hong Kong’s rapid industrialization was driven by textile exports and the expansion of other manufacturing industries. The population grew, as did the standard of living.

Throughout the British colonial period, Hong Kong developed in all aspects, from the economy to the healthcare system. Many health facilities were built for its citizens, such as Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, and Prince of Wales Hospital. In 1984, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed, an agreement for the transfer of sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China, which stipulated that Hong Kong would be governed, starting in July 1997, as a special administrative region, retaining its laws and a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years.