As a landmark of Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower is well-known to Hong Kong people.
To commemorate the centenary of the bronze bell, the bell tower will ring again this Thursday (9th) after 71 years. The nearby cultural museum also arranged an exhibition related to the history of the bell tower.
The main building of Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower was built in 1915. At first, there was only one clock and no bronze bell, so it would not ring.
It became what it is today after the bronze bell was officially installed in 1921.
From the time it was built until 1950, except for a brief suspension during the Japanese occupation, the clock tower kept telling the time and ringing every day.
However, after the clock was replaced in 1950, the time of the clock face and the brass bell ringing was inconsistent, and the ringing ceased.
The clock tower was originally built as an equipment for the Hong Kong (south end) terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. After the terminus was moved to the current Hung Hom terminus in 1975, the clock tower was left alone at the original site, forming Hong Kong's cultural district with cultural museums.
The clock tower was still part of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Station in 1921, and the bell began to ring the same year.
(Screenshot of the fragment from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department)
The Kowloon-Canton Railway witnessing history
The construction of the clock tower is inseparable from the Kowloon-Canton Railway.
Although Hong Kong has been occupied by Britain since its opening as a port in 1841, it has always maintained a very close relationship with the mainland.
In the early days of Hong Kong's development, most of the workers working in Hong Kong were mobile populations that shuttled between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
Many of them are mainlanders who have gone to Hong Kong from Guangdong Province to make a living. They usually work in Hong Kong for a period of time or return to their hometowns when they are old.
Until the founding of New China in 1949, the border between Hong Kong and the Mainland was opened to allow free movement of Chinese, which also facilitated the movement of the population between Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The population from the Mainland has supported the main labor force of Hong Kong and has made an indelible contribution to the development of Hong Kong.
Because of this, the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which was originally responsible for the operation of the Kowloon-Guangzhou railway transport, assumed the important mission of communicating the population between the two places. It can be described as one of the important "infrastructure" in Hong Kong's early years and the source of life for Hong Kong's labor force.
The bell tower of the new era
In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, a large number of immigrants and funds from the mainland flooded into Hong Kong, providing an important foundation for the economic take-off and development in the future.
After the wave of immigration, population movement is no longer as important as it was in the early years due to the border blockade, and the mission of the Kowloon-Canton Railway to connect the mainland and Hong Kong has gradually faded.
In addition to the development of new towns in the New Territories, although the KCRC is still an important route for Hong Kong people to travel to and from the Mainland, its function has gradually been leaning towards the use of railway transportation in Hong Kong. It is almost the same as the subway. Eventually, the two railways were merged in 2007.
The importance of the Kowloon-Canton Railway is changing day by day, and in 1975 the terminus was officially moved from the original location of the clock tower to Hung Hom. The clock tower has also deviated from its original function and has become a landmark building that symbolizes history and culture.
Taking advantage of this year’s centenary, let’s look at the history of the clock tower, which is actually a microcosm of the development of Hong Kong.
The clock tower and Kowloon Station in 1972.
(Keithmacgregorphotography.com)
In the early years of Hong Kong's development, it relied heavily on labor and resources from the Mainland, but as Hong Kong gradually developed into a metropolis, the degree of dependence declined.
Today, Hong Kong has a population of more than 7 million. Not only does it no longer have to rely on immigrants from the Mainland to provide labor, but new immigrants with one-way permits have become a source of conflict between the Mainland and Hong Kong.
Nevertheless, after the return of Hong Kong, the relationship with the Mainland has become closer again.
The future development of Hong Kong is closely related to the entire Greater Bay Area, so contacts with the Mainland will only increase.
Of course, the relationship in the new era is no longer the simple provision of labor, but a more complicated exchange of talents and funds.
But just like the history of the clock tower, we should also be ready to meet the changes in the new era.
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