Japanese Tunnel [????- ] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Japanese Tunnel [????- ]

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Submitted by Unknown user (not verified) on Thu, 2008-11-27 17:15
next to a natural clearing as well as bunkers that overlooked wong nei chung valley. tunnel is by the river and is easy to enter
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japanese tunnel
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Submitted by 80skid (not verified) on Thu, 2008-11-27 17:18.
sorry title should have read tunnel - these hills round here must be honeycombed with Japanese tunnels. This one is hidden away by a stream. There's the remnants of a very thick wall since used as a temporary home in a clearing next to the bunkers, be curious to know what that was from. There was nothing in the tunnel but a long red centipede (the vicious ones)

Submitted by David on Thu, 2008-11-27 18:40.

You're right, this area seemed to be the focus of Japanese tunnel-building. It's a pity we don't know more about their plans for the tunnels.

The AFCD website gives some background on the wall in the clearing:

One of [the historic sites] is the ruins of a bungalow on Jardine's Lookout. Once the residence of James Matheson, the original Scottish founder of Jardine Matheson & Co. Ltd., the bungalow is now reduced to a mere foundation.

Submitted by 80skid (not verified) on Fri, 2008-11-28 10:23.
Find it amazing that this is the site of Jardine's old house - but could be I guess. what do people reckon?

Apparently his house was called Picnic Cottage, there's a pic and description of it here.

the site is a natural granite clearing, which is rare for the hills around there so removing the need to flatten any land. It is next to a stream. And you must have had a good view from there. There's some big read Chinese characters on the wall. Still not sure though

Submitted by David on Fri, 2008-11-28 16:42.

"the site is a natural granite clearing, which is rare for the hills around there so removing the need to flatten any land."

I had the opposite feeling when I visited - it seemed it had been purposely leveled. The rock there is easy to dig, which would have made it easy to level (and also an attractive area for people wanting to dig tunnels).

I'm curious about what made it seem natural to you?

MrB

Submitted by 80skid (not verified) on Fri, 2008-11-28 17:18.
well couldn't work out if it's been flattened or not - just seemed solid granite (hence no vegetation there) which would have made it hard to dig but I could be wrong. It's an interesting site though. nice place to play mahjong!

Submitted by Craig on Mon, 2009-01-12 16:54.

I went passed Jardine's Picnic cottage (near Jl01), along the Wong Nai Chung trail, eariler today. So I took a couple of photos of the Japanese tunnel just around the corner which someone has already mentioned. It is about 10m deep with a deadend.

Japanese Tunnel
Japanese Tunnel
Tunnel near Jardine's cottage