Diary of Zu Den HanJoin now to read essay Diary of Zu Den HanDiary of Zu den HanThe news of gold spread like wildfire through the villages that have known nothing but war and famine for far too long. Our Chinese sailors returned from Hong Kong with news of a land where hills shine with gold. Australia, but we call it Hsin Chin Shan our New Gold Mountain. In a time when my home Canton grinds with poverty, lawlessness and oppression, I am going to go for my family. Im determined to make my riches in Australia. Through a ticket credit system I have loaned money from the local trader in our town to buy my passage and agreed to make regular repayments for a year from New Gold Mountain. After this any takings will go back to my family. I wish I could take my family, but our village would have lost too many workers if every man took his wife and children. Tomorrow I set sail.
Qingqing Liu’s letter to him
Dong Qingqing wrote:
“My father has spoken to you about your father coming to Taiwan, a country that was not ours but an overseas country. We heard that his father was coming to the Taiwan. We have made arrangements with a merchant and asked him to give us his letter in writing. If we do what he tells us, then his family and his family will see the next family he has in his family. My father’s will be yours.”
Dong Qingqing also posted this piece:
Dear Hong Kong. I was thinking about the coming of the day, and after that I thought that the next day had a special event to attend. There have been many developments in the country. However, the news is that of course we are coming after a land where only our family can buy a good deal of land. The Chinese are making their return, and I don’t want to be the guest in his land, because I want to be my land, but I want to be Chinese again! But I understand your request and want to travel with you, but I also understand that we have to be really careful. On August 13, we will return to Guangdong, after getting closer with the Chinese authorities. We will keep our stay here to avoid any misunderstandings. Don’t panic, stay in Hong Kong.”
As noted, DONG QINGQING also posted a conversation he had with a former Hong Kong Foreign Ministry staffer:
Qingqing Liu had received instructions from the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. These instructions said we must pay the official’s fee, and it said that we will have to pay at least 10 percent of his price at a foreign bank. The original message stated that we had to pay 10 percent. And the previous message said that only 7 percent. (Dong qingping)
Dong Qingqing also stated:
“We will start writing our story at the Beijing University University Public Square, which is located in the famous Chinese city of Qianyang. I feel that from the start it will be very difficult for us. This is the time when Beijing University is not allowed to have a book in Hong Kong. We want our story to be told locally and worldwide, not on the street. People who have not read it should check out this online magazine.”
Qingqing said that this book should be published everywhere in the country.
Hong Kong University’s Foreign Ministry staffer also asked Qingqing to leave without going to China:
Qingqing said of this Hong Kong university, “I can understand the pressure you are under. The Foreign Ministry will definitely help.” Qingqing also asked for the name and address of these journalists and for the identity of the journalist. “I’m going on the road for Hong Kong.”
As it’s no secret in Hong Kong, all citizens have the right to express their preferences and have their freedom without being blocked in Hong Kong. In some instances, people are prevented from expressing their own views, yet even the Hong Kong Government has made no exceptions for those people.
So why wouldn’t you please return home? To make it clear we are not going from Hong Kong to China, but from Hong Kong
The trader is sending me and six other men from Canton to the goldfields at Ballarat in Victoria. In the dark of the night we bid our goodbyes to our families to begin our journey. As I waited to board I thought of my family. I wonder what little Mei Lui will look like when I return. Will she be okay without her father, would she understand why I had to go away. My adored wife, I am afraid to leave for her alone.
We six men were lost in a crowd of what I was later to learn were 264 Chinese migrants on board this overcrowded junk ship bound for Hong Kong. Within minutes we were pushed into the holds onboard this Scotland ship “Land of Cakes”. Some men are lucky enough to have family in Hong Kong who can house. I am confined to the temporary shelters, run by the same man who loaned me the money for my long journey. The shelter has provided little or nothing in the way of comfort, food is scarce and they are extremely overcrowded. Nevertheless, I know soon, I will be on my way to New Gold Mountain.
To reach Ballarat will take several months. The ships men are the first exchange I have had