Chapter 4: Hong Kong

Asian immigrants on the deck of boat that is carrying them to Angel Island. (Photo © California State Museum Resouce Center)

Hong Kong was an exciting city where we encountered many different ethnic groups and crowded streets. It was a busy and noisy city. We stayed in Hong Kong for two days and one night. It was the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel.

The hotel itself was like a palace. We were delighted with the bathrooms with running water, flush toilets, and electric lights. We didn't have anything like that in our village, and I had never even seen a flush toilet before!

It was also the first time we heard English spoken, and we all wished that we could speak it too. Father understood the spoken English and he translated for us. We knew that we would have to learn English when we arrived in America so we paid a lot of attention to this new language.

We toured Hong Kong and loved Victoria Peak. Standing on Victoria Peak was almost like looking down from heaven.

Father took us shopping for American outfits. We looked so different because of the American-style clothes, and we felt the clothing made us look like rich people.

After two days, we boarded a steamship called U.S.S. Hoover. The steamship was huge — as big as the lake in front of our village!