Hong Kong in Transformation: Life in the 1950s
Hong Kong in Transformation: Life in the 1950s
The 1950s was a period of extremely rapid change in Hong Kong. From the Chinese Civil War period onwards, the population surged due to refugees, capital flowed into the colony from China and elsewhere, industrialization exploded, the Korean War and its aftermath, the development of a lively popular culture based around film and fashions that was exported all over the Overseas Chinese world – all these and many other factors significantly affected local society in ways that can still be seen and felt today.
This lecture will explore the profound changes in Hong Kong that started in the late 1950s, and give a detailed picture of life in a period that, while it is still well within living memory, is nevertheless steadily passing into history.
This talk forms part of an interconnected series.