HONG KONG, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) — One early winter morning, 78-year-old Chen Kaixin stood amongst a crowd of vacationers on the pier in Cheung Chau. “Look at how popular Cheung Chau is! Its other side should be known to more people,” Chen mentioned, unable to cover her pleasure.
Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau is a well-liked vacationer vacation spot well-known for its conventional Bun Festival. It takes lower than an hour by ferry from the bustling Central to succeed in the outlying island. However, the opposite facet of its story stays little recognized.
Chen Kaixin was decided to uncover the story of her hometown Cheung Chau, additionally a spot the place her father Chen Liangming had fought.
Over 80 years in the past, this dumbbell-shaped island of lower than 3 sq. kilometers performed an important position in a silent but thrilling mission.
At the top of 1941, Japanese invaders introduced the warfare to Hong Kong. Hundreds of cultural elites and democrats who had taken refuge in Hong Kong have been in a deadly scenario.
Under the steerage of the Southern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the predecessor of the East River Column, the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force, launched a secret rescue operation that lasted over 200 days. In the top, greater than 800 individuals left Hong Kong below escort, a lot of whom later grew to become the spine of the development of New China.
During the operation, contemplating the quite a few land checkpoints and arduous journey, some influential figures who have been simply recognizable and key safety targets who have been aged and infirm have been organized to go away by sea. Cheung Chau served as a vital transit level alongside the way in which.
Years earlier, the Communist Party of China had arrange a department in Cheung Chau. At that point, the small island with only some thousand everlasting residents had a dozen social gathering members who continuously organized numerous actions.
“The Communist Party of China has been working here for many years, providing a solid organizational foundation for the rescue operation,” Wang Yuzhen, a descendant of an East River Column veteran and Hong Kong’s wartime historical past researcher, mentioned.
Chen Liangming was a local of Cheung Chau. During his research in Shunde, a metropolis in south China’s Guangdong Province, he was influenced by progressive concepts. Upon returning to his hometown, he joined the revolution and have become a member of the Communist Party of China.
With the efforts of Chen Liangming and others, numerous native forces have been mobilized to assist the large-scale rescue operation, and dozens of cultural elites and democrats efficiently escaped by way of Cheung Chau.
As Chen Liangming’s daughter, Chen Kaixin additionally has a revolutionary spirit deeply ingrained in her.
“People of the older generation were passing away one after another, and as children, we are getting old, but the Hong Kong story they have passed down to us must continue,” she mentioned. “This is a rescue mission, and time waits for no one!”
Chen and her sisters, along with Wang and a number of other descendants of Hong Kong wartime veterans, reached out to related organizations and teams and shaped a staff of over a dozen individuals. They hoped to mix first-hand supplies left by the aged individuals and dig out a extra complete and wealthy historic reminiscence.
In a e-book in regards to the rescue operation printed by the People’s Liberation Army Press in 1999, two touchdown factors in Cheung Chau have been talked about in numerous chapters, which have been a joss stick manufacturing facility and a fish market. These areas have been corroborated by a number of different sources.
In April this yr, below the steerage of members of the Islands District Council and the Cheung Chau Rural Committee, they visited a number of aged individuals who have been accustomed to the scenario.
“We warmly welcome their arrival,” Ng Man-kit, chairman of the Cheung Chau Rural Committee, mentioned, including that Cheung Chau individuals ought to study in regards to the contributions made by their forebears in saving the nation and really feel happy with their hometown.
While amassing oral histories, members of the staff additionally consulted the Hong Kong Public Records Building and the Lands Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities a number of occasions, reviewing mapping information and images of Cheung Chau from previous years. They additionally extensively searched on-line databases each domestically and internationally.
Lai Sze Nga, the granddaughter of a veteran of the East River Column, was the youngest member of the staff, and he or she took on many of the on-line work.
“Grandpa has passed away, and this is the best way for me to remember him. When I searched for information, I always felt a little closer to him,” Lai mentioned.
“I also want more young people to know about these things and understand that Hong Kong people have always had a tradition of loving the country and Hong Kong,” she careworn.
After months of tireless effort, the staff compiled a thick report, preliminarily figuring out the previous websites of the joss stick manufacturing facility and the fish market, and located the descendants of two households.
The staff additionally recognized different revolutionary landmarks on the island, together with a college, now the Cheung Chau Government Secondary School, the place troopers have been briefly stationed after the victory of the War of Resistance in opposition to Japanese Aggression.
This report has been extremely valued by numerous sectors in Hong Kong. The analysis staff on the Hong Kong Chronicles Institute is planning publications based mostly on this materials. Hong Kong’s New Territories Association of Societies is hoping to determine revolutionary memorial amenities within the outlying island areas.
Recently, Chen usually returned to her hometown, coordinating follow-up work with numerous events. Like many others, she hoped that the wartime footprints of her predecessors can be seen by extra individuals.