Chapter 14 Nathan (1862~1939)

Nathan (1862~1939), also translated as Nansen, Nathan.British, whose father was an industrialist.He was a soldier, and he was a military engineer of the British Army in his early years. He was 42 years old when he took over as the governor of Hong Kong.His tenure was short, less than 3 years, and he was not the first Governor of Hong Kong. However, the book "Hong Kong and China" published by Hong Kong Wide-angle Mirror Publishing House called him Hong Kong's "port-opening hero" and called his tenure as "Nathan's rule." ".According to the book, strictly speaking, Nathan, the thirteenth governor of Hong Kong, was the most farsighted and contributed to the development of Hong Kong's industry and commerce among the previous governors of Hong Kong.

After Nathan left office, he went to Natal, South Africa as the governor.Was knighted. Died in 1939 at the age of 77.Nathan never married. The reason why people call Nathan's period "Nathan's rule" is mainly due to the following achievements.At the beginning of the 20th century, the largest industry in Hong Kong at that time was only shipbuilding. There were several large-scale shipyards, such as Taikoo and Whampoa shipyards facing each other across the sea.During Nathan's tenure, he attached great importance to urban development. Under his leadership, the British Hong Kong government formulated a relatively complete reconstruction plan for the central area, as well as the construction of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway and the construction of Nathan Road, which made the market in the area along the road more and more prosperous.Previously in Kowloon, Yau Ma Tei was the busiest place, where most craftsmen and small businessmen lived. The rest of the area, except for the dock in Tai Kok Tsui, was mostly scattered rural areas.The opening of Nathan Road, the main road in Kowloon, has brought a new city center of Kowloon - Mong Kok.

Mong Kok is also known as Mang Kok and Wang Kok. In the early 19th century, there were some small villages, and the villagers made their livings by growing vegetables and flowers, raising pigs and feeding chickens and ducks.After the construction during the Nathan period, it became a famous Chinese business district in Kowloon.Although the streets are narrow, they are neat and tidy, with dense shops, mainly retail, and gradually banking, insurance, real estate, and stock industries are also very prosperous.The consumer entertainment industry is also very developed, and restaurants, theaters, etc. have also been built one after another.

In Nathan's conception of the development of Kowloon and the New Territories, the thirteenth Nathan believed that the development of industries in the New Territories was related to the future of Hong Kong.Nathan's estimate was confirmed by the facts that followed. Nathan encouraged the development of industry and industrial education, and founded the first engineering technical training school in Hong Kong. This school later developed into the Hong Kong Institute of Technology, and later merged with the College of Western Medicine, and added a Faculty of Arts to form the University of Hong Kong.

In 1904, the tram line from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island was fully opened to traffic. It brought about a revolutionary change in Hong Kong's transportation and created conditions for economic development. During Nathan’s tenure, he also did an important thing, which was to move the prostitutes in the Shuikengkou District to Shitangzui for business. Hong Kong and commerce began to develop, and it was not until 1935 when the Hong Kong government decided to completely ban prostitution that this area began to decline. Due to the gradual improvement of the economic situation and the steady increase of business, in 1905, the tax revenue of the British Hong Kong government reached a record of 10 million yuan for the first time. By 1907, when Nathan left Hong Kong, the population of Hong Kong exceeded 400,000, including 390,000 Chinese. More than five thousand people.

Why was a governor who was considered to have accomplished something transferred when his term was not fulfilled? In Welsh's "History of Hong Kong" published in London in 1993, there is such a narrative for reference: In 1905, the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce planned to hold a general meeting in response to the boycott of American goods in Shanghai and other places. The United States persecuted Chinese laborers; Nathan immediately ordered a ban and expelled the editor-in-chief of a newspaper that published anti-American cartoons.Colonial Secretary Alfred Littleton was worried that Nathan's move might bring troubles again, considering that the British government had been severely criticized by domestic public opinion for agreeing to import indentured Chinese laborers to South Africa last year, causing an uproar.Therefore, in April 1907, Nathan was transferred to work in Natal, South Africa, and his salary was reduced.

Hong Kong is only a tiny place, and the British government’s apportionment to Hong Kong is increasing year by year, and the Hong Kong government’s own expenditure is also increasing. If it does not find a way out to develop Hong Kong’s economy, the prospect of the British Hong Kong government will be very difficult.If we want to develop, we must strengthen our connection with mainland China at any time.Soon after Nathan took office, he realized the importance of communication and contact with the mainland.Therefore, the planning work for the construction of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway was started, and the project was fully launched in 1906.

As early as 1895, the Qing government learned a lesson from the failure of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1895-1995, and decided to vigorously develop the economy in order to enrich the country and the people.In order to develop the economy, it is first necessary to solve the problems of traffic congestion and energy shortage. For this reason, it is decided to build railways and develop mineral resources.Building railways cost millions or tens of millions of taels of silver, while the Qing government’s annual fiscal revenue at that time was only 80 million taels. Therefore, the use of foreign capital became inevitable, and railway construction mainly relied on foreign debts. In 1898, the Qing government set up the first organization in charge of railway mines, the "Road and Mine Corporation".

In March 1899, less than ten days after China and Britain demarcated the boundary of the new leased land, Britain proposed a draft of the "Kowloon-Canton Railway Contract" and negotiated with the Qing government.The Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway was divided into two sections, the section in Hong Kong was built by the Hong Kong British authorities, and the section in mainland China was built by the Qing government.The draft stipulates that the Qing government borrowed 1.5 million pounds from the British side, with the railway as collateral.The contract also stipulated that for the inland section of the railway, a British chief engineer and chief management personnel should be hired heavily to build it, and all materials for the construction of the railway should be purchased from the British at high prices.The loan was delivered at a 10% discount, that is, the Qing government borrowed 100 pounds and actually got 90 pounds.The annual interest is 5%, and the interest is paid twice a year for a period of 50 years. Before the railway is completed, the interest will be paid as it is, and the interest can be paid from the loan.According to this contract, the construction of the entire railway was actually completely controlled by the British.Because the conditions were so harsh, it was strongly opposed by the Chinese people.Negotiations came to a halt.

Some businessmen in Guangzhou negotiated with Portuguese businessmen in Macau to build the Guangzhou-Macau Railway to replace the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway. In November 1904, China and Portugal signed the "Guangzhou-Australia Railway Contract". As soon as Nathan took office, he spotted the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway project.He realized that this is a big problem that the British government has always wanted to solve but has not solved. Once a road construction agreement is reached with the Qing government, British companies will have a lot of chances of winning bids, and the Qing government will have to give priority to asking the UK with political conditions. With the loan, the British sphere of influence will also be effectively extended in mainland China.For this reason, Nathan decided to take the road construction agreement back from the Portuguese.Therefore, he sent a note to the Chinese government through London:

"The Hong Kong government hopes to negotiate with the Chinese government on some specific issues related to the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway. Out of the sincerity of cooperation, we are also prepared to make necessary concessions. I hope the Chinese government can understand our good motives." As a result, the UK made some concessions in the negotiations, and the loan was changed to 94% discount, that is, China borrowed 100 pounds from the UK, and received 94 pounds in real time. The term was changed to 30 years, and the repayment began after 12 and a half years.The remaining annual interest rate is 5%, and the loan of 1.5 million pounds is mortgaged by the railway, which remains unchanged.At that time, Jardine Matheson and HSBC jointly formed the "Sino-British Company" and obtained the construction rights of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway. The original blueprint for the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway was drawn up by Clerk, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Hong Kong.After Nathan took office, because he was an engineer and was familiar with engineering, he reviewed and revised the previous road construction plan.Make a new plan.The original Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway passed through Huizhou. The new plan is to go through Luohu to Shenzhen, and then to Guangzhou through Shilong, which avoids waste in engineering and shortens the travel time.The total length of the railway is 181 kilometers, of which the trunk line in Hong Kong is 34 kilometers long, from Tsim Sha Tsui Station in Kowloon to Luohu Station in Shenzhen.It is called the British section of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway.The trunk line in Guangdong is 147 kilometers long, from Luohu to Guangzhou Railway Station. According to Mr. Bai Fan’s account in the column “The past can only be recalled”, shortly after Nathan left office, in August 1907, the construction of the inland section of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway started in three sections. The first section was from Dashatou, Guangzhou to Xiancun; The second section is from Xiancun to Hengli; the third section is from Hengli to Shenzhen.Zhan Tianyou, a famous Chinese railway engineer, served as the consultant, and the British served as the chief engineer.There are seven large arch bridges along the railway line, namely Xiancun Bridge, Shixia Bridge, Shitan Bridge, Beijiang Bridge, Jianshui Bridge, Shilongdong Bridge and Dongguan Bridge. Since the section of the Kowloon Railway from Tsim Sha Tsui to the bank of the Lo Wu Bridge was built by the British, there is a stipulation in the contract that "each shall be responsible for its own operation". This section of the Kowloon Railway is the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway. Funds for the construction of the Hong Kong section of the railway were raised by issuing public bonds. Construction began on July 26, 1906, and the biggest project was the excavation of two mountains.Among them, the total length of the Lion Rock Tunnel is nearly 2,200 meters, and the track was built in 1911. In 1910, when the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway was about to be completed, the British side proposed a method of opening to traffic. According to the method of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, it put forward three unreasonable demands: ①The British side should be in charge of the whole road traffic power; ②British people should be the train director; ③British company Negotiate the fare for each train. In order to solve the problem of opening to traffic with the British side, the Qing government established the National Railway Administration, and Liang Shiyi served as the director of the administration.Liang Shiyi was in charge of the negotiations on the opening of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway.As the British side's demands were too harsh, the negotiations took a year to complete.The Postal Department of the Qing court sent Zhan Tianyou and Huang Zhongliang to take over the Yuehan Company.The Guangdong-Han Railway and the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway will be handed over to the Yuehan Company for construction, and it is stipulated that the Guangdong-Han Railway and the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway will not be connected until the Huangpu Station is completed. On August 14, 1911, the entire line of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway was officially opened to traffic. Chinese and British officials walked to Luohu to preside over the connecting ceremony. In October, the Guangzhou-Kowloon through train was opened again, departing from Kowloon Station and Guangzhou Station, without getting on and off passengers along the way, and going directly to Guangzhou and Kowloon Terminus respectively. Regarding the policy of borrowing money to build roads and open mines, there were disagreements within the Qing court at the beginning. Opponents believed that "borrowing foreign money will put all the power in the hands of outsiders" and "the Chinese will never have a day to do it", which is a betrayal of China's sovereignty; However, many insightful people believe that borrowing money to develop industry was a necessary move when China's industrialization started, and it was a last resort under the current situation.Later, after the abolition movement of the Guangdong-Han Railway, social psychology began to reject foreign capital, which led to the "return to rights" movement.However, after the practice of self-running railways, it has been re-realized that borrowing foreign capital is inevitable, and the key lies in how to avoid the loss of sovereignty when signing loan contracts with foreign countries. Mr. Sun Yat-sen once analyzed this. He said, "In the past, borrowing money to build roads was mortgaged by salt, lijin, customs duties, or the railways built. into the hands of others. In the past, most people were opposed to borrowing money to build roads. To explore the reality, they were not really opposed to borrowing money to build roads. They were opposed to poor conditions and lost state power." He also pointed out: "Manchu borrowing money to build roads The disadvantage is that the treaty is not good, not that foreign capital cannot be borrowed.”He took the introduction of foreign capital to build railways as the core of his entire economic policy, and planned to borrow heavily from foreign debts to build 100,000 kilometers of railways within 10 years. After Nathan took office, he continued to discriminate against Chinese residents in Hong Kong as the previous governor of Hong Kong did. Some foreigners in Hong Kong have always discriminated against the Chinese due to the ethnic prejudice formed by the colonial rule system.The Hong Kong British authorities have formulated many regulations and systems that restrict and discriminate against Chinese.The Chinese are strongly dissatisfied with these ethnic discriminations and have been persistently resisting.Although some basic rights have been won through the unity and struggle of the Chinese, the racial discrimination formed by the colonial rule has not stopped.Schools run by the British have never allowed Chinese children to enroll.British children are also not allowed to have contact with Chinese children. In 1902, Chinese businessman Ho Tung donated huge sums of money to build a primary school in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, declaring that the primary school would admit students regardless of race or belief. The Hong Kong government set aside another piece of land in Yau Ma Tei to build a Chinese school. In 1904 during the Nathan period, the population of Hong Kong Island reached 361,206, of which 342,306 were Chinese, an increase of 60,000 compared with 1901.The Chinese residential area on Hong Kong Island also developed and expanded rapidly, gradually infiltrating into the European residential area, while the Europeans gradually retreated from the Mid-Levels to the Peak District.In order to limit the development of Chinese people to the Peak District, the Legislative Council specially passed the Peak District Reservation Regulations on the pretext of public health issues, and designated the Peak District as an all-European residential area, and the Chinese were not allowed to develop upwards.The Kowloon Peninsula was originally a base for Chinese activities, especially Yau Ma Tei, Ho Man Tin and Tai Kok Tsui on the west coast, and Hung Hom and Tai Kok Tsui on the east coast, becoming the center of Chinese society. In 1906, in order to limit the development of Chinese in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, in the name of preventing malaria, the Nathan authorities designated an area of ​​about 20,000 acres between Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon City as a European residential area, restricting Chinese residents from entering the area. area of ​​residence. On September 18, 1906, a strong typhoon hit Hong Kong, killing and injuring more than 20,000 people within half an hour.The coast of Guangdong was also devastated.The Qing government allocated 100,000 taels of silver to relieve the disaster-stricken compatriots in Guangdong and Hong Kong. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Cen Chunxuan, allocated 30,000 taels of this disaster relief fund to the Hong Kong British government for relief of Hong Kong victims. However, after the Hong Kong British authorities received 30,000 taels of silver, , not for the relief of the current victims, but as a relief fund for future emergency relief. Start restricting Chinese newspapers At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the political situation in China was turbulent, and various political factions were fighting fiercely. Many speeches that could not be published in domestic newspapers could be published in Hong Kong newspapers, and then imported to the mainland, and mainland readers could also read them.Therefore, many patriots founded newspapers and periodicals in Hong Kong and Macao to promote the revolution, so Hong Kong became an important base for the activities of bourgeois reformist and bourgeois democratic revolutionist newspapers and periodicals, and a battlefield for progressive newspapers to fight against all kinds of hostile political forces.In the later period of Nathan's tenure, in 1907, the Hong Kong British authorities promulgated laws to officially restrict the content of Chinese newspapers.Since then, Hong Kong, which is known as a "free port", has strict conditions for the so-called freedom of the press. In order to publicize the revolutionary truth and arouse the awakening of the people, in 1900, Mr. Sun Yat-sen sent Chen Shaobai and Wang Zhifu to Hong Kong to rent No. 27 Stanley Street, and founded and published "China Daily".Chen Shaobai is the editor-in-chief, and Yang Shaoou is the assistant to the editor-in-chief. "China Daily" introduced European and American bourgeois theories of freedom, equality and human rights, and criticized the corrupt rule of the Qing government, which was widely welcomed in Guangzhou.At the same time, this newspaper office also became a place where revolutionaries gathered and spread revolutionary ideas. The book "Hong Kong Press Industry Spring and Autumn" edited by Zhong Zi believes that the political background of Hong Kong newspapers began with "China Daily". In 1903, after Hong Quanfu, Li Jitang, Xie Zantai and others failed in their plan to revolt in Guangzhou, Guangzhou "Ling Poster" published an article attacking anti-Qing revolutionary activities across the country. "China Daily" pointedly refuted the "Ling Poster" article, and the two sides fought for more than a month.Later, Hong Kong royalist newspaper "Commercial Daily" advocated "Royalist Supporting Qingism", and "China Daily" started a debate with "Commercial Daily".During Nathan's period, "China Daily" opened the window of democracy for China, touched the cornerstone of the feudal system, aroused the awakening of the Chinese people, and played the role of a sacred mouthpiece. In 1906, Cen Chunxuan, governor of Guangdong, planned to take the Guangdong-Han Railway back to the government. Li Guolian, a private shareholder, and others objected. Cen Chunxuan ordered his arrest. "China Daily" was the first to publish an article criticizing Cen Chunxuan's despicable behavior and high-handed tactics. Other Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong also denounced the shameful behavior of the Governor of Guangdong.In order to safeguard his own dignity and to maintain the rule of the Qing government, Cen Chunxuan ordered to prohibit the import of newspapers published in Hong Kong to the mainland.The British Hong Kong government actively cooperated. "China Daily" once sold the special issue of "Minbao" - "Tianshu". "Tianshu" once published a cartoon in which the head of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty appeared in the drawing.The Hong Kong authorities believed that this cartoon damaged the relationship with the "Friends". In response to the "China Daily" and other Chinese newspapers' anti-Qing propaganda, the Hong Kong British government promulgated Act No. 15 in 1907.The decree stated that "any newspaper, book, text, or picture published in Hong Kong that flows into the mainland of China and disturbs the hearts of the whole country may be banned by the Hong Kong government for the sake of diplomatic relations. Both fines and imprisonment.” This is the beginning of the Hong Kong authorities’ restrictions on the freedom of speech in Chinese-language newspapers. However, the restrictive measures imposed by the Hong Kong authorities have led to the union of Chinese newspapers and the formation of the "Hong Kong Press Association", with Guo Yitong as the moderator.Newspaper associations believe that in order to save manpower, material resources, and financial resources, some unified data collection can be organized by the association. Therefore, the market commodity prices published by each newspaper and the ship routes and schedules of various service companies, etc. All are organized and sent by the guild.This "Hong Kong Press Association" was later changed to "Hong Kong Press Commune", which existed for 34 years from 1907 to 1941. Shortly after Nathan took over, a prostitute village was burned at the water hole in Central.Nathan decided to take this opportunity to move the brothel to Shek Tong Tsui.As a result, Shitangzui has become prosperous. Shuikengkou was originally called "Da Hangkou". "Kengkou" is the estuary where the mountain stream flows into the sea.A century and a half ago, the mouth of the pit was originally on the side of the road, the water was not deep, and there were many rocky crevices around the pit, which was a good place for lobsters to gather. Around 1821, several villagers who originally lived in Jiuhua Trail, Kowloon first went boating to Tai Hang Hau to catch lobsters, fish and crabs every day. Later, they simply moved to the foot of the mountain near Tai Hang Hau, built simple houses with thatch and moso bamboo, and settled down. , Both farming and fishing.They erected bamboo fences in the shallow sea at Dakengkou, and the density of the bamboo fences only allowed small fish and shrimps to come in and out.Open up several gates at different positions of the bamboo fence.When the tide is high, lobsters follow the tide and break into the Tai Hang Hau area through the gates. When the tide is no longer high, the residents close all the gates.When the tide receded and the water level returned to its original position, residents went to the sea to catch lobsters in the grid.The harvest has been good, and the residents are very happy.Because they were fishing in the muddy water, their bodies were covered with turbid water and mud, and they all turned into clay figurines, so they called to each other: "Go to Dakengkou to take a shower!" This vivid scene of fishing and harvest is really fascinating. Dakengkou was deposited by sediment day and night. After decades, the "Kengkou" became smaller and smaller, so the word "big" was omitted, and it was only called "Shuikengkou".Today, "Shuikeng Street" is still handed down. "Shuikengkou" became a "street", which is the result of successive land reclamation since 1904. Shek Tong Tsui is located to the west of Tai Hang Hau. It was originally a rocky mountain covered with granite.Granite, called "granite" by ordinary people in Guangdong, is hard and durable, and is a good building material.Most of the Hakka people in Huizhou, Guangdong are stonemasons, and they work as stone chiselers.They heard that the granite in Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong, was pure in texture, but no one used it, so they came to Shek Tong Tsui in groups, and began to dig stones from the beach area, and gradually expanded to the top of the mountain, and then the granite was hollowed out. It is low-lying, forming a large pond, and looking from the inside to the outside, the near sea is narrow and long, resembling a bird's mouth.So people call this area Shek Tong Tsui. In 1772, Zhu Juyuan, a stonemason in Changle, Guangdong, built the first village here, which was called "Shitangzui Village". At the beginning of the 20th century, after the reclamation project of Shek Tong Tsui in the northwest of Hong Kong Island was completed, the area was still relatively desolate.Nathan wanted to take advantage of the fire to use the relocation of the brothel to promote the prosperity of Shitangzui, so he ordered the brothel at Shuikengkou to be relocated to Shitangzui.Along with the brothels, industries such as restaurants, restaurants, tobacco houses, and inns were also relocated and built.Since 1910, Shitangzui has become a famous brothel area, known as "Tangxi Fengyue". In the book "The Vicissitudes of Hong Kong" written by Yang Sixian, there is a paragraph describing the scene of Shek Tong Tsui: As the setting sun sinks in the west and the moon rises in the east, the veil of Hong Kong night is lifted layer by layer.In Tai Hang Hau and Shek Tong Tsui adjacent to these two areas, many wealthy businessmen wear precious treasures, get in cars, drive on the road at lightning speed, and then stop at the entrance of the magnificent mansions.They strode out from the car door opened by the waiter, entered the hall where the banquet was held, and enjoyed the delicious food and wine to their heart's content.Then, in the noisy noise of jazz music, couples, couples, danced lightly.In a romantic mood, get stimulated and have frantic exchanges.The dancers are compensated with money and vanity at the price of their own hues. Under the arcade, in the dark corners, shadows in twos and threes, painted with powder, linger.They flaunt coquettishness, bluff and confuse the public, and frequently flirt with passers-by, trying their best to amuse them.In the dark, they made one deal after another with the "guest", earning a price for extravagance.They are the "street girls" who make people laugh. As Tai Hang Hau and Shek Tong Tsui in the prosperous period, the neon lights radiating at night are colorful, and the lights of the boats on the nearby sea are shining, just like the stars in the sky.However, its radiance cannot conceal the other side of the scene—darkness, filth, and filth. The prosperity Nathan envisioned has come true in Shek Tong Tsui.Of course, this is a deformed prosperity. In 1932, the Hong Kong government ordered the prohibition of prostitution, which affected the business of catering and other industries.According to the first volume of Ma Yuan's newly edited "Hong Kong Laws Collection", the six restaurants in Shitangzui jointly petitioned the Governor of Hong Kong, Bei Lu, on April 18, 1934, asking for "a ray of life".They wrote in the petition: "The thieves and others have been operating in the distant years, and most of them are clustered at the water hole mouth of Sheung Wan. In 1903, the government thought that the area was over-prosperous, and Shitang Tsui of the West Ring Road was still in a secluded corner. In order to adjust measures to local conditions, there was an explicit order to move all the prostitutes at Shuikengkou in Sheung Wan to the west for a few days, and the life of the restaurant was originally dependent on each other, so it also spread with the prostitutes at the same time. In the past year, it has gradually prospered. At that time, the places that ordinary people do not walk lightly have already been crowned and covered, and the hubs and shoulders are rubbed against each other; That is to say, across the puddle, a section of Queen's Road with a width of only ten or five feet, the government has also expanded it, and it has a new look, which has added a lot of color to the port." There are 18 restaurants, employing more than 1,000 workers. Counting the size of the prostitutes, there are more than 50 houses, and they accommodate more than 2,000 prostitutes.... At that time, the residences were full, and the residents never had time to rest." Petition The above contents of the book reflect the interdependent relationship between restaurants and brothels at that time, and also reflect the abnormal prosperity of the Shitangzui brothel district in Nathan's period. After Nathan left office, the Hong Kong government named a street after Nathan, located in Kowloon.According to an article in the Hong Kong "New News" Jiyantang's column "Li Lane Style", Nathan Road was the main road opened in the early days of Kowloon.It starts from Salisbury Road to Boundary Street, and from south to north, it is divided into five sections: Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, and Prince Edward. As early as 1860, British engineers built this road, which was the earliest avenue built on the Kowloon Peninsula. In 1904, Nathan refurbished the road and expanded it into a wide and straight boulevard. Back then, Nathan Road had a wide road surface. "The branches and leaves of old banyan trees on both sides of the road are like umbrellas, showing an elegant garden atmosphere. The buildings on both sides are also wide with arcades. Most of them have more than ten or twenty buildings of the same style, and they are more grand and noble. Pattern." "A boulevard with commercial buildings on both sides has such a relaxing design. In the past, Hong Kong and Kowloon, except for Nathan Road, seemed to have no second equally lovely road." Of course, the stars have changed, and after more than 90 years of changes, buildings have replaced the old boulevards.Today's Nathan Road is no longer as quiet as it used to be. While the economy is booming, the big banyan tree has disappeared. There are only business signs, and there is a lot of traffic.However, next to Kowloon Park, you can still see a few century-old trees that were planted back then. Nathan Road in 1900 The various markets on Nathan Road in those days had their own histories and characteristics.A section of Nathan Road in Yau Ma Tei was a bit like a flyover in Beijing.The acrobats in the rivers and lakes set up tents in the open space of the street, or perform juggling, or monkey tricks, or show off martial arts with guns and knives.One of the acrobatics is the so-called "selling people's heads". "The acrobatic gang on the rivers and lakes used bamboo as pillars and cloth as walls to form a performance venue in the open space. One person guarded the entrance to invite the audience to watch the 'selling heads'. Each audience received a fairy. The so-called 'selling heads' is A human head was placed on a square table, and the table was empty, obviously there was no one inside. This human head can sing, smoke, and blink.” In addition to acrobatics, there are also Nanyin singers.In the evening, the artists played the zither and sang the wooden fish book. The nearby residents had nothing to do in the evening, gathered around the art field, listened to Nanyin recite the Hongluo, and worried about the journey.The audience was all women.In addition, there are old men who talk about chapters and novels. The audience around the old men are all the clerks in the Yau Ma Tei market and shops, and the "Camel Xiangzi" in the car shop is naturally all men.Later, with the development of society, there were theaters. The earliest ones were Guangzhi Theater and Puqing Theater, and later there were Dahua Theater and Pingan Theater.These theaters have relatively simple equipment. As for Mong Kok, it was a famous Chinese business district in Kowloon at that time, with shops densely packed on both sides of the narrow road, very prosperous. On July 28, 1907, Luard took office as the fourteenth Governor of Hong Kong until March 15, 1912, when his term expired in five years.