The Disappearing of the Kowloon-Canton Railway
There has been a well-known railway between Guangzhou and Hong Kong through Shenzhen since 1911, a hundred years before the high-speed train from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. However, this train line is disappearing.
Staring from Guangzhou, and ending in Kowloon, Kowloon-Canton Railway, with a length of 112 miles, is one of the most important railways in modern China. In the late period of Qing Dynasty, China was becoming one of the most popular countries in the world in building railways. The government borrowed money from foreign banks and hired foreign engineers. By this way, many railways appeared in China, such as Myanmar-Yunnan Railway by French, Shanghai-Nanjing Railway by British and Hankow-Canton Railway by American. One of the most famous was Tangshan-Tianjin Railway, given its commercial success for the use of railway in both passengers and goods.
Map showing early railway expansion in China.
In 1890, Yi Xuehao, a Cantonese government official suggested to build a local railway as an imitation of the others who were commercially profitable. Although his idea was not implemented, the blueprint of his railway was very close to the subsequent Kowloon-Canton Railway.
Canton Kowloon Railway Map 1898
In 1897, Chinese government authorized a Belgian company to build Peking-Hankow Railway, which dissatisfied British government. Because they believed it would harm British benefits along Yangtze River. MP Balfour announced it was an act of “betray”. As a compensation, in 1898, British government asked Chinese government for the right to build Kowloon-Canton Railway by diplomacy. But due to the unfinished Hankow-Canton Railway, investors thought that the profits of Kowloon-Canton Railway were limited. So, its building lay aside after pre-work, until 1903, when the new Canton Governor Cen Chunxuan came into power.
Canton Governor Cen Chunxuan (1861-1933)
Cen insisted that this railway should be built by Canton government and Cantonese people, rather than by foreign companies. Furthermore, he refused to borrow money from foreign banks or to hire foreign engineers to take part in the building. However, due to the pressure of the British Empire, the central government agreed that Kowloon-Canton Railway could be jointly built by both Canton Government and the British. Under this arrangement, the west section of Kowloon-Canton Railway, from Sibeidi to Luohu, would be built under the guidance of Canton Governor, while the east section, from Luohu to Kowloon, would be built by British Hong Kong government.
The Contract of Kowloon-Canton Railway, 1906
Besides, Chinese government agreed to hire British engineers and employ the authorized British corporation to issue 1.5 million pounds bond for financing the west section. As a manner of exchange, the British engineers should source from Chinese local enterprise, Hanyang Iron Works, as foremost option of procurement.
Mr. Liu Zhubo (1867-1922)
This railway project has profound impact in Canton and in Shenzhen over centuries. Some of the infrastructure of this railway is still in use after 100 years. For example, the Pinghu Station. Mr. Liu Zhubo, a local leader of chamber of commerce in Hong Kong, whose hometown was in Pinghu, Shenzhen, lobbied the British administrator in Hong Kong to alter the rail plan and made Pinghu as one of the destinations along the railway. Benefited from this alternation, Pinghu became an emergent business hub in the 20th century in Canton and attracted many immigrants from both Hongkong and Guangzhou. Today, Pinghu is still playing an important role in the international trade network as one of the busiest clusters of Amazon sellers in the world.
Huo Zhiting (1877-1939) and his Shenzhen Grand Hotel
Another proof is Shenzhenxu, a station at the junction of the west and east sections. After the construction of the railway, many wealthy brought their money to Shenzhenxu for entertainment, among which, gambling was the most popular. New casinos started appeared in Shenzhenxu and all customers’ requirement could be satisfied, while Huo Zhiting’s Shenzhen Grand Hotel was the most well-known one. It is said that gamblers didn’t need to concern their fare to go home. Because the casino would prepare for them, even if they had lost all their money. Gambling industry developed quickly in Shenzhenxu, making it the second largest gambling city in Canton in the early period of 20th century. Nowadays, although gambling is illegal and we cannot find any casinos there anymore, Shenzhenxu is still a prosperous market.
Diesel Electric Locomotives for Kowloon-Canton Railway 1955
During World War II, Kowloon-Canton Railway was partially destroyed because of the invasion of Japanese armies in 1938 and the Civil War in 1949. In 1978, Kowloon-Canton Railway was slowly revived due to the start of The Reform and Opening-up. Shenzhen, as a special Economy Zone, a lot of funds, orders, companies and well-educated managers came to it through this railway and supported its fast development.
The Southern Railway Bridge in Shilong, Dongguan
(Photo by the author. We can identify the old bridge pier in the middle. It is said that the old bridge was designed by famous Chinese engineer Zhan Tianyou.)
Nowadays, Kowloon-Canton Railway is not as prosperous as what it was like—Because of completion of the high-speed trains and the overwhelming popularity for the tourists, the old Kowloon-Canton rail has been generally disappearing from our eyes. Anyway, it has already finished its historic mission and time for “retire”. But the original west section of Kowloon-Canton Railway is upgraded and becomes Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway only for passenger transport. It still works very well, serving people in Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen day by day. According to data on the Internet, in 2023, it transported 59 million people and profited 26 billion yuan. The expectation of Cantonese 100 years ago now turns into truth.
References
陈伯陶：《东莞县志》,卷十九,建置略四,铁路
宓如成：《帝国主义与中国铁路（1847-1949）》，上海人民出版社，1980
宓如成：《中国近代铁路史资料 1863-1911》，科学出版社，2016
[清]盛宣怀：《愚斋存稿》
《外交报》1906年12月30日,第六卷，33期，4-9页
王铁崖:《中外旧约章汇编》，三联书店，1957
Canton Kowloon Railway map. 1898. https://picryl.com/media/canton-kowloon-railway-map-1898-8c9a0f
Map showing early railway expansion in China. History of rail transport in China. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_China
Norman Miners. “Building The Kowloon-Canton-Hankow Railway”. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 46, 2006, pp.5-24
Tymon. The Kowloon Canton Railway (British section) Part 5-The Post War Years. The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group. 2023. https://industrialhistoryhk.org/the-kowloon-canton-railway-british-section-part-5-post-war-years-1945-to-1978/
The North-China Daily News (1864-1951) October 18th, 1911