Police Station Sergeant Yiu Chi-ming, who has been retired for 20 years, was stationed in Sha Tau Kok twice when he was on an errand and witnessed the situation under China's reform and opening up.
Yiu Chi-ming and his friends had visited Sha Tau Kok Market earlier, and Chung Ying Street, which was easily accessible decades ago due to his duties, is now inaccessible.
However, since Hong Kong people have long been unable to enter Chung Ying Street (whether from Hong Kong or the Mainland) and can now only look at it from the rooftops of restaurants in front of the Restricted Area, he understands that Chung Ying Street is a very sensitive place, but it is also full of culture and history, and he hopes that it will eventually be opened up so that Hong Kong people, especially young people, can have a living national education lesson.
Candid photos become classics
In 1967, at the age of 19, Yiu Chi-ming joined the Force until his retirement in 2004, and spent nearly 40% of his more than 30 years as a police officer stationed at the border, including two times in Sha Tau Kok, from 1979 to 1981 and from 1985 to 1986. When he was first stationed, Yao was at the rank of sergeant. By 1985, he had been promoted to station sergeant, and that was the year the iconic photograph was taken.
In January 2011, Yao Zhiming donated police uniforms and other cultural relics to the Chung Ying Street History Museum, and saw the first photos of himself being secretly taken in the museum, and he had mixed feelings. Courtesy of Yao Zhiming
Looking closely at this black-and-white picture, two Hong Kong policemen are looking at the Chinese boundary, where there are just two border guards standing guard, and there is a stele between them. Yao Zhiming pointed to the picture and said, "The shorter one is me." The reporter said that his current figure is similar to that in the photo, but not as straight as when he was young. He said with a smile that many old compatriots on the border "can't forget him."
Yao said that one of the duties of the police sergeant is to "extort more", that is, to inspect the work of subordinates, when he went to Sha Tau Kok Market, he patrolled Chung Ying Street by the way, and at that time the police rank was not allowed to enter Chung Ying Street, unless there was an emergency to deal with, so he was accompanied by the squad leader Sergeant Feng Baosheng on the day of the photo, "At 10 o'clock in the morning, at 11 o'clock in the morning, I started from entering the No. 3 boundary pillar of Zhongying Street, and turned back to the No. 7 boundary pillar at Qiaotou, which generally took about 10 minutes. Feng and I immediately twisted the crooked face. "It turned out that filming was not allowed in the British Forbidden Zone at that time, and the photographer stood in the Chinese Boundary to shoot, and walked away a little after filming.
After the reform and opening up, the border defense became harmonious
In 2009, historian Professor Liu Shuyong saw the photo at the Zhongying Street History Museum in Yantian, Shenzhen, and immediately traced who the person in the photo was. Two years later, in 2011, Yao set foot on Chung Ying Street again, and donated the police uniform, badge, epaulettes and silver rooster ropes he wore when he was stationed on Chung Ying Street to the Chung Ying Street Museum. Soon after, a heavy party was held at the museum, attended by not only him, but also the two Chinese border guards in the photo, Zhong Jun and Zhang Qiuhua, and the photographer He Huangyou.
Haishan Building, a restaurant in front of the forbidden area of Zhongying Street, has a rooftop that can look at Zhongying Street, and the stele in the middle is the No. 3 boundary monument, where Yao and his colleagues stood on the left and two border guards stood on the right.
Yao Zhiming later learned that the two soldiers had been arranged in advance, but it just reflected the situation of that era, "At that time (in 1985) it had been opened, Chung Ying Street (British Boundary) became a golden street, with the most gold shops, at least ten, and other shops and stalls buried, there were dozens of shops on the street, a large number of mainland tourists bought things, and the crowds were packed, and when they saw me patrolling the streets, they would immediately return to the Chinese Circle, but after I left, I immediately went into the British Boundary to continue shopping." "The border guards are also very friendly, Yao Zhiming and other officers will greet each other whenever they enter Zhongying Street, which is very different from before.
In the past, Yao Zhiming was stationed in Sha Tau Kok for the first time in 1979, when the reform and opening up was still in the early stages, the atmosphere in Zhongying Street was still very tense, there were no tourists, most of the shops were closed, and the militia stationed there were all wearing green People's Liberation Army uniforms, carrying long guns and trousers with grenades.
It has a unique history and culture that is worth exploring
After two periods of stationing, Yao Zhiming saw the changes brought about by the reform and opening up policy. The classic black-and-white photos of him and his colleagues have become meaningful historical materials in the Chung Ying Street History Museum, a patriotic education base. However, unfortunately, due to policy reasons, Hong Kong people are not allowed to enter Chung Ying Street, including the museum, from Sha Tau Kok Market in Hong Kong or Yantian in Shenzhen. A few months ago, he entered Sha Tau Kok in Shenzhen via the Liantang Port and tried to register for a permit to enter Chung Ying Street through a computer.
More than 10 years ago, at a heavy gathering at the Chung Ying Street History Museum, Yao Zhiming was standing, but his colleague Feng Baosheng did not attend. Other attendees include: (from right) Yang Hualan, Deputy Political Commissar of the 6th Detachment of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Frontier Corps, photographer He Huangyou, veteran soldier Zhong Jun, and from left, curator Sun Xiao, Professor Liu Shuyong and veteran soldier Zhang Qiuhua. Image source: Historical Atlas "Chung Ying Street and Sha Tau Kok Forbidden Area"
He understands that further opening up of Sha Tau Kok, that is, allowing Hong Kong people to enter Chung Ying Street is "spicy and spicy"; The border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen is too close to each other, and it is easy to do illegal activities, but this is a forbidden area within a forbidden area, and there is a unique history and culture under the veil of mystery, which is worth exploring. He felt that it would be a good national education activity to try to organize some guided tours for the educational and cultural circles.
Reporter: Zheng Yujun
Editor: Lu Xin
Cover: He Jie
Reviewer: Jin Xia
Executive Producer: Yushan