The Urban Legend

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Me Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the know the place - I personally completed 2,324 Private Tours (6,000+ guests) from 2011 - 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.

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One of the famous bronze lions outside HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong, this one is called Stitt and yes, this is one of my photographs

The HSBC Bronze Lions Stephen and Stitt | The Urban Legend - shrapnel or bullet damage?

The iconic bronze lions that stand guard outside HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong came into focus today when a small group of experienced private tour guides (myself included even though I have retired from doing tours) got involved in a discussion about the overall lack of quality in the Hong Kong Tour Guide Industry.

I have been an outspoken critic on this subject since I pioneered the Private Tour Guide Industry in 2010, with my first tour in April 2011 and since then there has been a small group of tour company owners who are dedicated to providing a superior guest experience for visitors to Hong Kong.

For most Hong Kong Tour Guides, they view their profession as a job and I do feel sorry for them given that for over 50 years the gold standard for tours in Hong Kong was sticking 30 paying clients onto a coach with a tour guide giving a running memorised commentary on what they might or might not be seeing, cracking jokes and generally not quite understanding that they should shut up and let their guests admire the scenery.

Part of the tour also involves stopping at a jewellery factory (owned by the Travel Agent running the tour) under the guise of it being a cultural experience when in fact it is a ruse for what we call in Hong Kong “forced shopping” and then at each stop of the itinerary you are herded like cattle from point a to point b or simply left to do your own thing whilst the tour guide nips off for an extended break and then comes the crown jewel of naffness, a photographer pops up, takes your photograph and comes back an hour later with plates, mugs and keychains plastered with your face on them!

I should point out that “forced shopping tours” in theory are banned in Hong Kong but the practice is still rampant particularly in the Mainland Chinese Tourist sector but it is not just Mainland Chinese Tourists that are subject to these dodgy tours, many Western Tourists and Tourists from around Asia can suffer the same indignity.

And yes, even in 2024 this still goes on.

The poor tour guides are paid a low salary and have to supplement their income from commissions generated by tour guests buying stuff they do not need. Imagine doing this day in day out for 30 years!

..but I digress, what has this got to do with the HSBC bronze lions Stephen and Stitt you may ask?

Well it boils down to this, I believe that to be a great tour guide you must be absolutely methodical about learning and dedicate yourself to the continuous acquisition of knowledge on a daily basis, no matter what I always set aside a couple of hours a day minimum to acquiring knowledge, not really dry historical facts but dedicating myself to the time period in Hong Kong from 1972 onwards, yes, I have fine grasp of Hong Kong History but I always believed my guests were always interested in “what life is like in Hong Kong” you in essence become a master storyteller and you have the knowledge to make for a fantastic experience for the guest (s)

I should point out that I basically never use Wikipedia, I prefer to get my information from multiple sources and cross reference fact from fiction - it works for me.

So back to the HSBC Lions and that mythical urban legend.

The bronze lions have been guarding HSBC for a long time, a quick google search will give you all the information you need, I need not regurgitate the facts here.

In World War 2 when the Japanese attacked Hong Kong in 1941, one of the Lions was badly damaged and over the years the story was that Lion was full of bullet holes and to this day many tour guides proudly point out the “bullet holes”

The HSBC Lion called Stephen that quite clearly shows shrapnel damage and yet most ill informed tour guides continue to call it bullet damage! and yes, this is one of my photographs

I give you a paragraph or two from a newspaper article from 2016 that sets the record straight.

Credit to Jason Wordie | Journalist, Historian and Master Storyteller

“Lurid, shock-horror variants of the past are commonplace in Hong Kong. War stories offer a classic illustration. One of the lions outside the HSBC headquarters in Central sustained shrapnel damage from shelling during the Japanese invasion in December 1941. Jagged holes sheared into the thick bronze can still be seen, along with a shell fragment – white hot when it exploded – that welded itself to the base. Yet, despite the evidence, tour guides continue to insist these gashes were caused by bullet damage. Small-arms fire – even at point-blank range – could not have caused that extent of damage; the bullets would have ricocheted. What’s more, there was no fighting in Central. The final Allied-Japanese line on the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, at the time of the British surrender on Christmas Day 1941, was in Wan Chai. With no bullets fired at close quarters in the area, the oft-repeated tale becomes doubly impossible. Yet, through endless repetition, this nonsense has become evidence-based truth.”

This is an excerpt from an article written by my friend Jason Wordie who has written extensively over the years about Hong Kong, has published books and is considered an excellent Historian, his Walk and Talk Tours in Hong Kong are the stuff of legend.

This article was published in the South China Morning Post on July 1st 2016

I already knew that the damage was caused by shrapnel because I do meticulous research of the subject matter and I can get quite angry when I hear bored tour guides (who have no problem in invading your space when you are trying to tell the story!) spout off about bullet holes to 30 bored guests and more than once I have corrected the tour guide or simply told a few of his | her guests what the reality was.

I do not have a superior attitude I simply believe that being a private tour guide is a privilege and as such you have a responsibility to really know your stuff and keep current on hundreds if not thousands of relevant subjects, I have always enjoyed research and learning about Hong Kong, I have acquired a wealth of information after living here for 52 years and I get irked at tour guides who simply do not care about research and “the truth”

ps and just to muddy the waters a little - there has been the odd mention on some historical sites in Hong Kong that the shrapnel damage to the bronze lion Stehen could have been caused when the lions were shipped to Japan during the occupation and not in the battle of Hong Kong so to speak, my research indicates that the truth may never be known! all part of the urban legend

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This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.

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