Chasing Ghosts.

Ghost Bridge.

As far as COVID goes some things have been getting better here recently. For example, swimming pools have reopened, so I have been for a swim several times. The first time especially, was absolutely blissful. It felt like I hadn't swum for years, but Peter has to wait till thirty days after his operation before he can get back into the pool. That will be next Monday for him and he's desperately counting down the days. Also the bar we often stop at after swimming is finally open again. It was forced to shut some time in the middle of February. We went there earlier this week for a meal and a pint of draught Estrella. The menu there has changed temporarily, but the new one was actually quite good. Peter doesn't eat much nowadays, so he only wanted a plate of chips. I had roast chicken and it turned out to be a set meal, so Peter also ate the pork flavoured soup that came with my meal and we shared a mango pudding dessert.

Happy with his Estrella.

Nice to be back.

My roast chicken.

I decided this week that I wanted to finish off the other sights of Chai Wan that interest me. I went there last week and visited the Law Uk Museum and Chai Wan Park. There were three other things that appealed to me. The first was Ghost Bridge, so I went there on Monday.

I had never even heard of this bridge until a few weeks ago when I visited Tai Po Kau. While I was researching my trip there, I found a supposedly haunted bridge which had been the sight of a terrible tragedy. As I tried to find out more about this, a second haunted Hong Kong bridge kept appearing in my searches, so I added it to my very long list of things to visit in Hong Kong.

It took me a very long time to find any information on it, but eventually I discovered that this second haunted bridge is actually an aqueduct. Its real name is Tai Tam Gap Aqueduct. It is two hundred metres long and stretches across a gorge. It was built by the British as part of the Tai Tam Waterworks infrastructure. It helps carry rainwater collected in a series of catch waters to the reservoirs in Tai Tam. I don't know exactly when it was built, but probably some time between the two world wars.

There are many ghostly tales about this bridge and, I can only surmise, that they come from the fact that during the Second World War the Japanese captured Hong Kong from the British in a campaign that lasted eighteen days. When they arrived on Hong Kong Island, they marched along mountain paths towards Wong Nai Chung Gap, which became a scene of brutally heavy fighting. To get there the Japanese would probably have marched across this bridge. Anyway, people who have been around the bridge at night, claim to have heard rustling in the surrounding bushes and trees and to have seen the ghosts of Japanese soldiers prowling around in the undergrowth on route to capture Hong Kong. I visited this bridge in the day time and found it really quite peaceful. I don't believe the ghost stories, but, having said that, you still wouldn't get me there at night - just in case!!!

It wasn't that easy to work out how to get to this bridge. Much of the available information was in Chinese. Some people seemed to visit via a housing estate in Chai Wan, others walked along a catchwater. I decided to follow the catchwater route for two reasons. One, it looked like it had fewer stairs, and two, I found the other directions confusing. They involved getting off the MTR, going through a shopping centre, crossing a walkway, entering another shopping centre, more walkways, overhead bridges, underpasses. I just knew I would get lost.

So I travelled to Shau Kei Wan and boarded the number 9 bus that goes to Shek O. I got off at the Sai Wan Water Treatment Works and headed left. This took me onto a pleasant paved path across the slopes of Mount Parker. I knew that I wanted to head right at the Mount Parker Lower Catchwater, which I did. However, this just brought me to a locked gate saying 'Property of Hong Kong Waterworks, Trespassers will be prosecuted'. This was not the start I had hoped for. It was quite frustrating. I knew I was near the Ghost Bridge, as there were lots of old buildings that I had seen in people's blogs and they had written that these were right next to the bridge. I tried taking a couple of different routes around the waterworks, but they were not the correct way. One took me to a pretty stream and waterfall, but it was a dead end. Feeling a bit despondent, I ended up just following the main path, knowing that it was taking me further and further away from the bridge.

Stream.

Beautiful red flowers.

Catchwater.

Old wartime building, located near the bridge.

Old building near the bridge.

This was once an accommodation block for workers in the Sai Wan Treatment Works. It seems to have been abandoned long ago.

Old overgrown structures.

Eventually, I reached some stairs that I recognised from my online research as the stairs up from the housing estate. I was tempted just to go down these and give up, but I didn't. Instead I passed them and kept going till I saw a steep flight of stairs going up. I climbed these. At the top, I chose to go left, as it was heading back to where I had come from and where I thought the bridge should be, and my luck was in, as within a few minutes, this path lead me straight to Ghost Bridge.

View of Chai Wan from the catchwater.

I examined the bridge from several different positions. I walked across it in one direction and back over again in the other. On one side, I also found a steep and tricky path down to the underside of the bridge. I carefully made my way down there. From this position, I could see the bridge's arches and supports. Fortunately though, I didn't see any ghosts.

Ghost Bridge.

Ghost Bridge.

Ghost Bridge.

Selfie on Ghost Bridge.

Arches under the bridge.

Under Ghost Bridge.

Side View of Ghost Bridge.

Side view of bridge.

View from Ghost Bridge.

It looked like there were lots of walks around this area. If it hadn't been so hot, I may have chosen one and had a longer wander around, but it was 32 degrees and humid and sticky, so when I had finished looking at the bridge. I returned to the stairs I had seen earlier and walked down to the housing estate. I passed a little garden which was the housing estate's sitting out area.

Stairs between housing estate and path to bridge.

Playground behind the housing estate.

I then continued walking down to Chai Wan. As soon as I got to the central area, I wandered around lost on walkways and through shopping centres, up and down stairs, until I finally stumbled upon the MTR, proving my point that it's built up areas I get lost in.

Back in Chai Wan.

One of Chai Wan's many confusing walkways.

Housing estates and walkways.

Outside a Chai Wan Restaurant.

Theatre on Youth Square.

Youth Square, Chai Wan.

The next sight on my list was also connected to the Second World War. It was the Sai Wan War Cemetery. I went there on Wednesday. To get there I again boarded the number 9 bus from Shau Kei Wan. In fact, the cemetery was only one stop further on from where I started my Ghost Bridge walk, but walking from one stop to the other would not have been an option, as the road is very busy, narrow and without a pavement at this part. I left the bus at the Cape Collinson, then headed right along Cape Collinson Road. This area is home to many cemeteries. There's a Chinese one, a Muslim one, a Catholic one, a British Military one, a Buddhist one and the Sai Wan War one which was where I was going. If it hadn't been so hot, I'd have happily explored all of these cemeteries, but it was roasting and the cemeteries offered no shade, so I could only manage to visit one.

Hong Kong people like to reserve the best views for their dead ancestors. Cemeteries are generally located on hills and, if possible, near water to ensure good Feng Shui. The cemeteries here had great views. They were not that close to water, though I could see the harbour in the distance.

I walked past the Chinese Cemetery first. I loved its little pavilion with great views over the cemetery and harbour and its well kept graves. In the distance I could see Chai Wan Mosque next to the Muslim Cemetery.

Pavilion overlooking the Chinese Cemetery.

Roof of the pavilion.

Dragons guard the graves.

View over the cemetery.

Looking back towards the pavilion.

View over the cemetery.

To get to Sai Wan Military Cemetery. I walked about 600 metres from where my bus had dropped me. This cemetery dates from 1946. It is dedicated to those who lost their lives trying to defend Hong Kong from the Japanese during World War II. This is a beautiful, very well kept cemetery. A total of one thousand five hundred and twenty-eight soldiers are commemorated here, many of whom were never formally identified and are described as 'Known Only to God'. Twelve World War I burials are included here, too. The soldiers buried here are from the Commonwealth Nations. Some are from the Hong Kong Volunteer Force, some were from English regiments, others Scottish, many were Indian, many were Canadian. To my surprise some were Dutch and I have no ideas why they were here. May try and find out. As well as soldiers' graves there were also the graves of police officers.

Before going to the cemetery, when I looked it up on line,I noticed this cemetery came with a full list of warnings. Anyone visiting here was told to be aware of the possibility of snakes in the cemetery, plus wild boar had been known to get in, too. The cemetery was on a steep slope; it was on the edge of a busy road; it offered no shelter from inclement weather. Despite all of these warnings my visit here was problem free. I can only imagine it's necessary to think of every eventuality to avoid being sued.

Entrance Sign for the war cemetery.

Entrance to war cemetery.

Their names liveth for evermore monument.

Old photo showing people being sent off to POW camps.

Very disturbing photo showing extremely malnourished Indian P.O.W. at the end of the war.

Wartime photo

Graves.

Looking back down the cemetery.

One of many unknown graves.

Dutch graves.

View of the cemetery.

Cross among the Canadian graves in Sai Wan War Cemetery.

Looking back up the cemetery.

Indian Magnolia.

Once I had had a good look around the cemetery, I headed back to the bus-stop. It took a while for a bus to come, but fortunately there was a very welcome breeze here. There were also good views over Tai Tam Harbour and Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir.

View over Tai Tam Reservoirs from the bus stop.

I still had one last sight to visit, so I got off the number 9 bus at A Kung Ngam Road, near Island Garden, where one of my friends lives. She would have been at work or I'd have invited her to join me on my walk.

I walked to the end of Island Garden and climbed up the steps next to the waterworks building. Fortunately, this was a shaded route as the day was hot and sticky and climbing wasn't all that appealing. Eventually after ten minutes or so of climbing fairly broken stairs, I reached the paved Sai Wan Fort Morning Trail. Here I turned right and followed the gentle slope upwards. This lead to the remains of the Old Sai Wan Fort and Battery which were completed in 1903.

Waterworks at the start of the trail.

Stairs up.

Place to have a rest.

Sign for Sai Wan Fort Morning Trail.

The first thing I saw when I reached the fort, was a sentry box to the left of the entrance. Past the entrance there were guard rooms on both sides of the road. These would have been painted with camouflage paint at one time and would either have been built into the mountainside or had grass on their roofs to help hide them. Their windows and doors of these guard houses were covered with bars. It's not possible to go in, but you can look inside. There is an entrance to an old Japanese tunnel located here, too.

Entrance to fort and guard houses.

Guard houses.

Guard houses.

Guard houses.

Guard houses.

Guard houses.

A bit further up is the Sai Wan Fort building which is made from stone and brick. This is a bit older than the concrete guard houses and dates from 1895. It's no longer possible to go inside, but in addition to several rooms, there are supposedly passageways in here leading to ammunition stores.

Main fort building.

Main fort building.

Sitting area outside main fort building.

Looking down on the main fort building.

Inside the main fort building.

Just past the fort, a slope leads up to two six inch gun platforms located on the fort's roof. These were intended to help protect the Hong Kong coast from foreign invaders. They were added here in 1898, but in 1906 the British Military Comission visited Hong Kong and decided the guns here were surplus to requirements, so they were removed. During the 1920's the British decided to turn the Sai Wan Battery into an air defence base and had two 3 inch anti-aircraft guns placed here. These managed to shoot down some Japanese warplanes during the Battle of Hong Kong.

Gun battery.

Metal bolts show where the guns used to be.

Storage lockers round the gun battery.

I then wandered off to an area on one side of the highest part of the battery. There is a sign post here showing the distances to many different places all over the world. There are also more gun platforms and good views. I also spotted some lovely flowers here, too.

Signpost.

Selfie with sign post.

Orchids in the fort.

Nearby there is a steep narrow staircase with blue painted rails. This leads to the very top of the redoubt. At one time there was a reservoir here. It still exists but nowadays it's dry. There is also a modern Transposer Station here. Nearby is the oldest part of the fort, which is a boundary stone that also acted as a trigonometrical marker for early Hong Kong map makers. This stone dates from 1844, but for many years was buried at this site and was only rediscovered recently.

Steep steps to the top of the redoubt.

Reservoir.

At the top of the redoubt.

Transposer Station.

Overgrown buildings at the top of the redoubt.

Overgrown buildings at the top of the redoubt.

Overgrown steps at the top of the redoubt.

On top of the redoubt.

Old boundary stone.

Looking down the steep steps.

Once I was back down from the top of the redoubt I had a quick walk along the bottom of the walls on the other side. I could see the rooms that were at the foot of the overgrown stairway I'd seen up above. I hadn't gone to them, as I don't like walking through overgrown areas here in case I get bitten by a snake.

Walking round the old fort walls.

Overgrown stairways.

The area all around me was so peaceful with only a few walkers and some people doing their daily exercises, but this hasn't always been the case. Sai Wan Battery was occupied by The 5th Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteer Force during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong Island. On December 18th 1941 the Japanese Army crossed from Kowloon to attack Hong Kong Island. Lei Yue Mun Barracks and Sai Wan Battery were among the first places they attacked. Six gunners from the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps were killed in the initial fighting, twenty were taken prisoner and thirty escaped. The Japanese bayonetted to death the soldiers they had taken prisoner, though two somehow managed to survive and acted as witnesses against this atrocity at the War Crimes Trials after the war.

On a lighter note, apparently, several scenes from the 1965 film, "Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine" were filmed here in Sai Wan Battery.

From the top of the redoubt there are fantastic views over Hong Kong and especially over Junk Bay. I rather like the new bridge that is being built here leading from Tsueng Kwan O to Lohas Park.

View over Junk Bay.

View of Bridge between Tseung Wan O and Lohas Park.

View over Hong Kong Island.

View.

View from the fort.

When I had finished looking at the battery, I wandered back downhill. Not too far away, I passed another building which had experienced horrific wartime events. The Salesian Missionary House was being used by the British authorities as a medical station. It was close to where the Japanese soldiers first landed on Hong Kong Island during their initial invasion. When they reached this building, the Japanese mercilessly murdered most of the unarmed medical staff and patients they captured there. So many wasted lives!!

Salesian Mission House.

I was feeling a little subdued by history. It was time to walk to the MTR and head back home.