I found this ad in a tourist book from 1972, one of the years my grandparents traveled to Hong Kong.
The ad wasn’t on a two-page spread. This was it.
…from China!
In 1972 travelers couldn’t enter China easily. For some, it was closed off. For others, the country was so ill-equipped for tourists that it was difficult to get around. Or even find a decent meal. Plus, China was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution then.
So people like my grandparents, who traveled to Kong Kong frequently when China was still closed to much of the outside world, were attracted to the colony because of its proximity to China and its goods. Stores like Chung Kiu sold products from China: silk, jade, statues like the one in this photo.
Even 20 years after this ad came out, I loved shopping at Chung Kiu, China Arts & Crafts, Yue Hwa, and other stores that sold goods from the mainland. Something about Made in China was still novel back then.
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