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published at the height
of European imperialism.

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My 100-year-old guidebook will lead
me on a railway adventure

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dotted with hills, forests

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and paddy fields.

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I'll tour towering megacities

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and magnificent mosques.

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<font color="
and jewelled temples

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and experience some of the world's
most spectacular

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and notorious railways.

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As I travel through the diverse
nations of this vast region,

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I'll learn how they asserted
<font color="

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against the British, French
and Dutch empires to become

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the economic tigers
and dragons of today.

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My 2,500-mile exploration
of Southeast Asia

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begins in Hong Kong.

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My Bradshaw's, 1913, tells me
<font color="

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for British commerce in China
and the most important

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military and naval station
in the Far East.

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It is the principal port
of the British Empire.

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The tonnage being more than double
<font color="

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Britain had won it after
a disgraceful war,

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but its permissive Government

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allowed the economic dynamism
of the Chinese population

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to make it into a great success.

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When Britain gave up control
in 1997,

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<font color="
agreed to respect its autonomy.

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But in recent years, the anxiety
of Hong Kongers to preserve

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their separateness has led to mass
demonstrations,

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which Beijing dislikes and fears.

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My first port of call
<font color="

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before I cross Victoria Harbour
to Hong Kong Island.

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I'll head north to visit the walled
villages of the New Territories

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and west to the remote and tranquil
Lantau Island.

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On my travels, I hear what British
<font color="

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They had transformed what was once
referred to as a barren island

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into an international metropolis.

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Learn the traditional art
of noodle making...

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I hope no-one comes in now.

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..and discover the extent of
<font color="

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The British were building
railways all across China.

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They wanted Hong Kong's position
as the main port in southern China

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to be strengthened.

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This global trading
and financial hub

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<font color="
finest natural harbours.

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Flanked by mountains and sea,

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Hong Kong's 420 square miles
are home

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to seven and a half million
people.

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It's one of the most densely
populated places in the world.

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<font color="
to China in 1997,

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the territory became a Chinese
Special Administrative Region

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with a distinct political system.

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I've alighted at Kowloon.

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Hong Kong first impressions -

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with about 9,000 high rise
<font color="

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eat your heart out,
New York City.

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I'm in the Avenue of Stars

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where Hong Kongers
celebrate their cinema industry.

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The waterfront promenade
overlooks Victoria Harbour

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and Hong Kong Island beyond.

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<font color="
War, says Bradshaw's,

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terminated in 1842

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by the cession of Hong Kong Island
to England

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and the opening of Chinese ports
to British trade.

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A journey through colonial history
<font color="

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past imperial atrocities
at a time when both the Chinese

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and the British
felt racially superior.

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But Britain's war to impose
its opium upon China

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was one of its least noble ventures.

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<font color="
the values of the 21st century

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to the 19th.

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The conflict gave Hong Kong
to Britain

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and this has been the result.

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To understand the role that opium
played in British colonial rule,

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<font color="
Doctor Chi Chi Huang.

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Chi Chi, in the 1830s and 1840s,
why was it so important to Britain

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to send opium to China?
In the 19th century,

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the East India Company were trading
with China and they were importing

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<font color="
to Britain and they were paying

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the Chinese government,

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the Qing government then,
in silver.

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And of course,
this is really expensive.

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They were running out of silver.

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<font color="
imported opium from India into China

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as a way of addressing
this trade imbalance.

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The merchants of the British East
India Company made good profits

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on Chinese goods, but the Chinese
weren't interested in acquiring

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<font color="

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They wanted only silver.

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So this powerful corporation,
and others, smuggled

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Indian opium into China.

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Customers paid in silver,
which was used to buy the tea.

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By 1839, sales of opium to China
<font color="

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Within a year,

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ten million Chinese people

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were addicted to opium
and China took steps

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to impound and destroy it.

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Britain responded with the full
might of the Royal Navy,

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<font color="
Chinese ports

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and forcing China into submission.

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What was the result of the war?

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So after some back and forth,
Captain Charles Elliot decides

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to conclude the war.

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A treaty was signed to hand over
<font color="

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How would you describe at the time
the British attitude to the Chinese

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and the Chinese attitude
to the British?

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There was a big misunderstanding
in cultural perception.

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So the British believed
<font color="

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They refused to trade with them.

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How dare they?

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The Chinese government did really
believe that they were the centre

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of the world and that they didn't
need the outside world.

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The island didn't look like this
<font color="

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It was basically a fishing island.

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There wasn't any infrastructure
as we know it now.

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The British were very quick
to bring in roads.

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The land was reclaimed
into the sea here.

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So there was a lot more flat
<font color="

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rather than just steep hills.

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And it was a lot greener.
By the time of my guide book,

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what had the British managed
to make of Hong Kong?

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They had transformed what was once
referred to as a barren island

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<font color="

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It was the third most busy port city
after London and Liverpool

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by the turn of the 20th century.
They were very proud of it.

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It was almost an example
of what a good British tropical city

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should look like
<font color="

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I'm leaving the Kowloon Peninsula
to explore the area

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surrendered to the British
after the first Opium War.

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Off to Hong Kong Island.

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And surely there's only
one way to go.

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<font color="

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Take the ferry.

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The ferry is one of the things
you have to do when you visit.

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These boats have been going back
and forth since 1888.

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And until 1972,
when they built a road tunnel,

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<font color="
way to make the journey.

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And what a way to see
this extraordinary island.

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I've arrived in the district
of Central on Hong Kong Island -

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the first area to be colonised
by the British in 1842.

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<font color="
and retail district

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and home to the Hong Kong
and Shanghai Bank,

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founded in 1865
by Scottish shipping merchant

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Thomas Sutherland to finance
the colony's growing trade.

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The bank's present building,
<font color="

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is an icon of the city skyline.

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Amidst this density of buildings,

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and in humidity that tops 80%
in the summer,

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Hong Kong's climate is challenging.
To escape the mugginess,

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I'm making a journey suggested
<font color="

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just ten minutes' walk away
from the HSBC building.

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Bradshaw's tells me that
in the hot season,

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people live in bungalows
at The Peak,

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where quite a town has grown
up connected with the city

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<font color="

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It's now rather misleadingly called
the Peak Tram, but it's a survivor

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and the technology is the same.

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And in a moment, it will
whisk me nearly 400 metres

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for an unforgettable view
of Hong Kong.

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<font color="
the highest mountain in Hong Kong,

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The Peak, was reserved for
privileged expatriates to retreat

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from the scorching summer heat.
Before the advent of the funicular,

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in 1888, wealthy residents
were carried up

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<font color="

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Bradshaw's tells me that the usual
conveyances are sedan chairs

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and the image of wiry Chinese
toiling up The Peak

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carrying portly Europeans is a kind
of stereotype of empire.

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And it makes me relieved
<font color="

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have made it unnecessary
going up the mountain.

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The Peak Tram was the first cable
funicular railway in Asia.

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On its first day, 600 people took
the journey to the top.

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By the end of its first year,
<font color="

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You think when you are amongst
those high buildings

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you can't get higher, but you can
when you're at The Peak.

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The bright lights of the ultimate
metropolis.

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This is one of 14 Rolls-Royce
<font color="

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The manufacturer's largest
ever single order.

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The paintwork is in
Peninsula green.

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I've returned to Kowloon.

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Welcome to Peninsula.
Thank you very much indeed.

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Thank you.

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<font color="
beside the quays where liners

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from all over the world docked
and next to the railway station,

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which was the terminus of
the Trans-Siberian Railway.

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When it opened its doors in 1928,

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it was intended to be the most
<font color="

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There were regular tea dances
and nightly dinner and dancing.

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I'll settle for air conditioning

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and a view.

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I've spent the night
in Hong Kong's oldest hotel.

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The Peninsula Hotel, with its
<font color="

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after the Kowloon Peninsula,
which was ceded to Britain by China

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in 1860 after the second Opium War
in a very unequal treaty.

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The hotel served as the headquarters
for Japan after it seized the colony

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and the British Governor

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00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,320
<font color="
ceremony

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on the third floor
below us on Christmas Day, 1941.

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The hotel had been founded by two
Jewish brothers from Iraq,

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00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,960
and at the end of the Second World
War, Jews who had fled Europe

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00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:42,800
<font color="
Hong Kong and were invited to sleep

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in the hotel ballroom.

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This region has been described
as the Far East,

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but Hong Kong has always been very
close to British interests.

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Over the road from the hotel,
<font color="

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of the colonial era.

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Now, here's a mystery - a solitary
clock tower by the water's edge.

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Would anyone build such a noble,
soaring structure to stand alone?

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I think not.

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00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,560
And who needed to know the time?

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00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,880
<font color="
to their Bradshaw's timetables,

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scurrying towards relentlessly
punctual trains.

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I have a nose for the site
of a former railway station.

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And although not a brick remains
excepting the clock tower,

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00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,600
<font color="
and my guide book tells me

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00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:54,280
that the Kowloon to Canton Railway
opened towards the end of 1911.

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00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,760
Adonis Min Yan Li, from
the University of Hong Kong,

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00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,480
is writing his PhD on railway
history in the region.

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00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,040
<font color="
Very good to meet you.

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00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,840
My guidebook tells me
that the railway line into Kowloon

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00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,840
opened only in 1911, which is quite
late for a railway because Hong Kong

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was already well connected.

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Yeah. Hong Kong had many connections

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00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,120
<font color="
and there were actually

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early plans for a railway

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all the way back
in the mid-19th century,

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but those never materialised.

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00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,080
What about railway building
in China, generally?

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Had other railways been built?

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<font color="
that were granted to various

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countries to build these railways.

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For example, you had the Chinese
Eastern Railway up in the north.

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00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,800
That linked the Trans-Siberian
Railway to Manchuria

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00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,160
<font color="
railway lines in China,

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00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:52,920
who'd been building them?

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00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,640
You had Germans in the north west.

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You had Russians up in north China.

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You also had the French
in the south west as well.

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00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,680
<font color="
were building railways all across China.

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00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,200
The Germans, Russians, French.

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00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,880
Did the British in Hong Kong
feel threatened

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00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,200
by these imperial competitors?

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00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,240
Certainly there were British
merchants

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00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,520
<font color="
a connection from Hong Kong to Canton.

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00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,480
And they wanted the trunk line
to have its southern terminus

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00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:23,160
in Hong Kong and nowhere else.

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00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,240
They wanted Hong Kong's position
as the main port in southern China

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00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:28,600
<font color="

247
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,720
The construction of the line
from Canton, present day Guangzhou,

248
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,480
to Hong Kong was plagued
with problems.

249
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,960
The mountainous terrain
was challenging.

250
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,760
It took five years to build
the track and cost

251
00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:44,920
<font color="

252
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,440
Kowloon Station eventually
opened in 1916.

253
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,040
I've guessed that the old railway
terminus was here.

254
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:53,440
What was it like?

255
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,960
So this was a massive, red brick
building right in the centre

256
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:59,680
<font color="

257
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,640
But unfortunately, in the 1970s,
due to the need for land,

258
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,000
the station was demolished.

259
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,600
Well, was it quite an attractive
station, would you say?

260
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:10,200
I'd say so. Red brick buildings,

261
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,000
in fact clock towers
<font color="

262
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,000
So it was definitely an attraction
in itself.

263
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,160
And it was possible to travel
from Europe to Hong Kong by train.

264
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,920
Tell me about that journey.

265
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,880
Yep, you would have taken
the Trans-Siberian Railway

266
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,440
<font color="
and the Great Eurasian continent,

267
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,640
made a connection at Beijing
and come down here to Hong Kong.

268
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,680
Although that would have been
a long journey,

269
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,880
it would still have been
quicker than coming by sea.

270
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,240
<font color="
a lot more exciting

271
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,200
than travelling by boat.

272
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,240
Exactly so.

273
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,720
The old terminus has gone.

274
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,120
Today, Hong Kong is connected to
the rest of China

275
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:52,640
by high speed trains and travellers

276
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,760
begin their 1,000 mile
<font color="

277
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,880
from a new station in Kowloon.

278
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,040
Hong Kong West Kowloon High
Speed Station -

279
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,520
an extremely futuristic structure

280
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:14,480
that, to me, looks a little bit
like a giant squid, but it also

281
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,560
intrigues me to know
<font color="

282
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:25,040
Opened in 2018, the station's
giant curtain wall features

283
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:26,920
over 4,000 glass panels.

284
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,480
It's the largest underground,
high-speed

285
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:37,320
rail station in the world.

286
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,480
Well, the station with these curved
ceiling beams

287
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,800
<font color="
columns really is spectacular.

288
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,960
Minutes after they depart
this station, trains leave

289
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,320
the Special Administrative Region
of Hong Kong.

290
00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,360
So along with the ticket offices
and waiting halls,

291
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:01,640
there's also a checkpoint.

292
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,960
<font color="

293
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,680
The British used them throughout
their empire to carry away jewels

294
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,840
and silks and spices to Europe
and to rush troops

295
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,480
to quell rebellions.

296
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,600
This high-speed line
is controversial,

297
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,880
<font color="
away in its construction,

298
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,040
partly because
it overran its budget.

299
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,280
And this station does seem
to be several times bigger

300
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,480
than is strictly necessary,
but mainly because in part

301
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,880
<font color="
of the People's Republic of China

302
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,640
enforce their own national laws,

303
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,640
which many here regard
as an infringement

304
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,760
of Hong Kong's sovereignty.

305
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:56,920
Behind the new station,

306
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:58,680
the backstreets of Kowloon

307
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,720
<font color="
Cantonese eateries.

308
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,760
I've arranged to meet a restaurant
owner who makes his noodles

309
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,520
in a way that would have been
familiar to the Bradshaw traveller.

310
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,320
Hello. Hello.

311
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,400
Can you help me, please?
<font color="

312
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,760
This way? OK.

313
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:27,760
This way?

314
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:29,960
Going out again.

315
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,360
The Sham Shui Po district
is a working class area

316
00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:42,920
of densely packed restaurants and
apartment buildings.

317
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,120
<font color="

318
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,120
Firmly off the beaten track now.

319
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:54,640
Oh.

320
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,720
Thank you. Thank you.

321
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,200
After you, after you.

322
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:06,560
This can't be right.

323
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,120
We're going to a flat.

324
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,440
Oh, wow.

325
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:15,440
Really?

326
00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:27,360
Ah!

327
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:32,120
<font color="

328
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:33,360
Thank you so much.

329
00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:34,400
Thank you.

330
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:35,560
Thank you.

331
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,280
We found him. OK.

332
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,480
I make the noodle here.

333
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,760
Oh, my goodness, wow.

334
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,640
But your home is completely,
well, covered in flower dust.

335
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,440
<font color="

336
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,280
This is your noodle
factory at home.

337
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,280
Yeah. It's an old-style

338
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:03,200
noodle factory at home in Hong Kong.

339
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:04,440
It's, it's amazing.

340
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,960
Has this been in
your family for a long time?

341
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,680
Yeah. From my grandfather.

342
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,320
<font color="

343
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,600
And is there a traditional way
of making noodles

344
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,280
and then a modern way of making
noodles?

345
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,400
It's the old-style technique
of making noodle by bamboo.

346
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,320
No. I can't imagine what that means.
Can you show me? How do you do it?

347
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:27,320
<font color="

348
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,120
This one?
Yeah, that's the one.

349
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,400
This I don't believe.

350
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:48,400
HE LAUGHS

351
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,040
I'm in a fifth floor flat
with a man I've never met before

352
00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:00,680
who's bouncing up and down
on a bamboo pole to make noodles.

353
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,520
<font color="

354
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,000
Can I try that? Yeah, sure.

355
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,440
Yeah. One by one.

356
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:10,440
Like this? Yeah.

357
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,840
MICHAEL LAUGHS

358
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,240
I hope no-one comes in now.

359
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,280
Oh, that is exhausting.

360
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,720
In this heat. Good.

361
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,920
<font color="
that? Again and again?

362
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,000
Again and again,
six to eight times.

363
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,600
Wow.

364
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,840
So is it the best restaurants
that use handmade noodles?

365
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,000
Is it a matter of taste? Do some
people love to have noodles

366
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,640
<font color="
in the old-fashioned way?

367
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:47,880
Yes, I think so.

368
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:49,000
Do they taste better?

369
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:50,760
Yeah, absolutely.

370
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,120
My father say, dancing in the mouth.

371
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,960
That's a nice expression.
A noodle dancing in the mouth...

372
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,640
..after the noodle maker has danced
<font color="

373
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:09,400
Back at the noodle restaurant,

374
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,600
I'm eager to taste
the results of my efforts.

375
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,200
Hello.

376
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,240
Thank you.

377
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:27,360
Ah! Thank you very much.

378
00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:29,440
A lovely wonton noodle
soup with dumplings

379
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,200
<font color="

380
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,680
Hmm.

381
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:43,840
Very good.

382
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,280
A little crunchy.

383
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:48,680
Dancing in the mouth.

384
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,200
Next time, I meet a descendant of
one of Hong Kong's oldest dynasties.

385
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:02,800
Your family has been here
how long?

386
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,240
<font color="

387
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:07,200
Learn about the father of
modern China.

388
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,000
He's the person who came
and make change in a huge way.

389
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,960
And discover why Hong Kongers
are protesting.

390
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,840
20 years after the handover,
we're not being given

391
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,400
<font color="

392
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,960
The anger and the frustration is
there and it's escalating.