Escape to Hong Kong
1948-1953
By 1948 or possibly even earlier, the children could no longer be oblivious to the war around them. Tensions were rising everywhere, and Helen who now slept in the enclosed porch off of her parents' bedroom could often hear them talking late into the night. Zing Wei seemed to be the one more anxiously piecing together bits of information and advocating for the family to flee. Han Liang was said to be still looking to a future in Shanghai, even planning a new real estate investment with Sun Fo.
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In August 1948, two decades after first establishing himself in Nanking, Chiang Kai-shek launched yet another money-raising scheme. Amid runaway inflation, the public was ordered to exchange its old “legal tender” (法幣 fabi) currency for the new gold yuan at an exchange rate of 3 million to one. The new yuan was issued at parity to the US dollar. Caches of foreign currency or precious metal were also to be turned in to boost the government's reserves.
Chiang put his son Chiang Ching-Kuo (蔣經國 Jiang Jingguo) in charge of the effort in Shanghai. The younger Chiang had spent a surprising twelve years in the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1937, and his approach was decidedly cloak-and-dagger. Secret “report boxes” were set up in the streets, and thousands were arrested for non-compliance. A prominent Cantonese businessman was executed to set an example. |
Chiang Ching-Kuo in Moscow, 1946 (https://www.hpcbristol.net/visual/fu-n538)
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In this climate, Han Liang went into hiding for a number of months. He had allegedly been told upon by a Ho Hong Bank employee. With a warrant out for his arrest, Zing Wei at one point traveled to Nanking by train, endeavoring to arrange his exemption.
One night, there was a commotion in the house as a stash of forbidden gold bars was brought out of a quasi-cellar. Zing Wei gathered the children together and showed them a package wrapped in newspaper. Inside were 10-ounce gold bars called “goldfish”, piled into a block the size of about two loaves of bread. She pressed a fingernail into one of the ingots to show them how soft the pure gold was. Ironically, Zing Wei took this evidence of guilt to a relevant official and used it to secure the chance for Han Liang to go free.
One night, there was a commotion in the house as a stash of forbidden gold bars was brought out of a quasi-cellar. Zing Wei gathered the children together and showed them a package wrapped in newspaper. Inside were 10-ounce gold bars called “goldfish”, piled into a block the size of about two loaves of bread. She pressed a fingernail into one of the ingots to show them how soft the pure gold was. Ironically, Zing Wei took this evidence of guilt to a relevant official and used it to secure the chance for Han Liang to go free.
Zing Wei proved her mettle during the war, keeping the family together (R Yhap albums)
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Han Liang immediately departed for Hong Kong and possibly on to the Philippines from there.
Zing Wei attempted to follow, but passage for seven was impossible to book by any means of transportation. Finally in November, a family friend called to let her know that he could arrange places on a troop ship to Hong Kong. She had only minutes to make up her mind and twenty-four hours to get ready. There was another night of commotion as Zing Wei and the servants packed up what they would take. The next day – it was during the Shanghai American School Thanksgiving holiday – the family left the city forever. The children ranged in age from eight to fourteen. |
The trip took over a week. The ship docked in Kaohsiung (高雄 Gaoxiong) in Taiwan for about five days, during which time they could not get off the boat. They finally arrived in Hong Kong on or close to Christmas.
In Hong Kong, it was perhaps a year until they settled into a “permanent” home. May and possibly another child lived with their father at the Peninsula Hotel. The others stayed with their mother at the Harbour View Hotel, which ran as a kind of boarding house with all meals included. It was located on the corner of Mody and Chatham Roads, looking out over the eastern side of the Kowloon peninsula, a short walk from the Peninsula Hotel.
In 1949, China fell to the Communists led by Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and the People's Republic of China was established. Chiang Kai-shek fled from Chungking to Taiwan, moving the Republic of China to the island that three centuries before had been a safe haven for Fukien's Koxinga when the Qing overthrew the Ming. With Chiang went many of those affiliated with the KMT who would once have been in the same social set as the Huangs. For some years to come, Hong Kong would see repeated waves of refugees. There were no doubt happy reunions with long lost friends, much talk of other friends lost forever, and big decisions to make about their lives ahead. Yet the children's memories are, again, mainly the preoccupations of childhood. Moreover, though born in close succession, at this moment the children spanned a wide range of ages and needs and were developing entirely different interests and social circles.
The trip took over a week. The ship docked in Kaohsiung (高雄 Gaoxiong) in Taiwan for about five days, during which time they could not get off the boat. They finally arrived in Hong Kong on or close to Christmas.
In Hong Kong, it was perhaps a year until they settled into a “permanent” home. May and possibly another child lived with their father at the Peninsula Hotel. The others stayed with their mother at the Harbour View Hotel, which ran as a kind of boarding house with all meals included. It was located on the corner of Mody and Chatham Roads, looking out over the eastern side of the Kowloon peninsula, a short walk from the Peninsula Hotel.
In 1949, China fell to the Communists led by Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and the People's Republic of China was established. Chiang Kai-shek fled from Chungking to Taiwan, moving the Republic of China to the island that three centuries before had been a safe haven for Fukien's Koxinga when the Qing overthrew the Ming. With Chiang went many of those affiliated with the KMT who would once have been in the same social set as the Huangs. For some years to come, Hong Kong would see repeated waves of refugees. There were no doubt happy reunions with long lost friends, much talk of other friends lost forever, and big decisions to make about their lives ahead. Yet the children's memories are, again, mainly the preoccupations of childhood. Moreover, though born in close succession, at this moment the children spanned a wide range of ages and needs and were developing entirely different interests and social circles.
(R Yhap albums)
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May attended Diocesan Girls’ School. Peter was enrolled at King George V School in time for the new school year, which started in January. Helen followed him after struggling at a school with more Chinese. Paul attended Wah Yan College. He was later joined by Stephen and Philip, who had started at the Kowloon Tong Primary School. |
(R Yhap albums)
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Eventually the family moved into their own quarters at 4 Tak Shing Street (德成街 De Cheng Jie). In a row of a several-story buildings, theirs was the first house on the left. They lived on the second floor and had perhaps three amahs, including Ah Lai, the senior housekeeper, and Ah Kwan, who doubled as the cook.
May, Baba, Philip and Paul outside of #4 Tak Shing Street (courtesy Philip Huang)
Paul and Peter. As Peter’s chin lengthened, May dubbed him “Hai Chau” or “Shoehorn” (Peter Huang albums)
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There was the thrill of going to the beach for the first time, as well as continued competitive swimming at the Fortuna Club along the waterfront in North Point. From Kowloon to the club on Hong Kong island was a trip of at least an hour by ferry and bus. The Club’s swim team included future Olympian Cheung Kin Man, as well as Joan and Sybil Wong, daughters of another large family surnamed 黃 whom they got to know. The girls had been champions at the last Chinese National Games of 1948. Peter remembers taking part in the annual cross-harbor swim race. |
A memorable event was a party for May, aged 16, in the Tak Shing Street living room in May 1950. She is seated in the center of the second row. In the front row, Paul is third from the left and Helen fourth from the right. It's not known why Peter was not in the photo. Stephen and Philip were presumably too young to take part. May was certainly the social butterfly of the family, but it still seems surprising that such a crowd would have gathered for her birthday.
In the back row, fourth from the right is future film star Peter Chen Ho (陳厚 Chen Hou), who would appear in over fifty movies in the ’50s and ’60s. In the second row from the back, second from the right, in a striped tie is the swimmer Cheung Kin Man, who would compete in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics.
In the back row, fourth from the right is future film star Peter Chen Ho (陳厚 Chen Hou), who would appear in over fifty movies in the ’50s and ’60s. In the second row from the back, second from the right, in a striped tie is the swimmer Cheung Kin Man, who would compete in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics.
(Peter Huang albums)
During this time, around 1950 or1951, Han Liang was diagnosed as having had a heart attack. He was prescribed a daily diet of pig's heart, which their mother dutifully cooked each day, and bed rest for a year. During his confinement, Helen became their father's English-language secretary. Helen had learned shorthand through a group of new friends who were all followers of the Seventh Day Adventists. She recalls that most of the correspondence was with the Sycip family in Manila or the Irving Trust in New York.
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It was in fact Zing Wei, with her prior acquaintance with the church, who had introduced Helen to the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA). What's not clear is if this new introduction was the pure coincidence of the church's new Bible Auditorium being located across the street from the Harbor View Hotel where the family lived after first arriving, or if the links went back further. SDA leaders Detamore and Meissner who had been given use of the family car in Shanghai had now shifted their efforts to Hong Kong. There was also the fact that the Huangs had lived next door to the Adventists on Stubbs Road. It's possible that a relationship had grown through multiple connections. But as Helen became more involved, her mother grew less so – because, it's believed, Han Liang strongly disapproved.
Many years later, Han Liang would also tell Peter that he believed that their mother had had an affair during the year of his confinement. This alleged affair is the nub of the story told decades later at Zing Wei's funeral lunch: that during this time when so many Shanghainese were flooding into Hong Kong, Zing Wei reconnected with someone from before her marriage, and that Han Liang had this lover bumped off. So many years on, the rumor lingers on without leads. On the surface, the Huang family was establishing some semblance of a normal life, but clearly questions of what was permanent and what was temporary in their lives had not been resolved. |
We guess this photo of Zing Wei dates from their time in Hong Kong when she would have been in her early 40s (Peter Huang albums)
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