"During his extensive trip around the world, Ed van der Elsken stayed in Hong Kong for six weeks between 1959 and 1960. At the time, he was deeply impressed by what he saw there. About 30 years later, in 1989, he came to realize that the Hong Kong he once knew had completely changed, not only in terms of the urban architecture, major shifts had also taken place in the way of life. As a monument for the bygone Hong Kong and its people of the times, he compiled this book with a selection of photos that he had made back in the day. It became a portrait of the vibrant metropolis, with many images of people in the streets, day labourers, boat dwellers, street vendors, but also the English uniformed coppers, the double-decker bus, and panoramas of the city harbor."
