What kind of old Hong Kong content can I find on Gwulo?

Gwulo is a community-built archive of old Hong Kong history, and its own welcome page describes it as holding over 60,000 pages and over 40,000 photos. If you are looking for historical photographs, wartime diaries, or first-hand stories about Hong Kong's past, this is the kind of material you can expect to browse. The content is contributed by "a friendly community of people who enjoy sharing what we know about Hong Kong's history," so the range is broad rather than limited to one collection or institution.

Historical photos of old Hong Kong

The photo collection is the largest single category on the site — more than 40,000 images according to the homepage. These are not just official or professional photographs. The site's own newsletter references community material such as a contributor's "Hong Kong Color Slide Service" slides, which suggests personal and family photo collections are part of the mix alongside other historical images.

If you are researching a specific street, building, or period, the photo archive is the most likely starting point.

Wartime diaries and prisoner-of-war records

Gwulo hosts an active project to put Leo Landau's Prisoner of War diary online. According to the site's newsletter, volunteers have already processed the pages from 1942 and 1943 and are making progress on 1944. The diary pages from 1941–43 are readable on the site, and volunteers can help process scanned pages by emailing the site with "DIARY" in the subject line.

The wartime diaries also include dated entries from the period, for example:

• 25 Aug 1942 — The MS Gripsholm repatriation ship sails into New York Harbour, nearly two months after the Americans left Japanese-occupied Hong Kong.
• 8 Sep 1942 — The Japanese release the Chinese members of the HKVDC from the Sham Shui Po POW camp. Eric MacNider later notes in his Stanley Camp diary on 17 Sep: "124 Chinese, Malay & Annamite HKVDC men released from P.O.W. camp by Japs."
• 30 Aug 1945 — The Allied fleet sails into Victoria Harbour; Admiral Harcourt visits Stanley Internment Camp, gives a short speech, and there is a flag-raising ceremony.
• 11 Sep 1945 — Internees in Hong Kong and POWs in Japan begin their long journey home.
• 16 Sep 1945 — Japanese officials in Hong Kong sign their surrender at Government House, followed by a fireworks display from ships in the harbour.

These entries show the kind of dated, first-hand wartime material available — useful if you are tracing a specific event, camp, or person.

Community-contributed pages and stories

Beyond photos and diaries, the site is built around member contributions. The welcome message invites visitors to "join us," and the newsletter credits individual volunteers and contributors by name. This means you will find:

• Pages about specific places, people, and events in old Hong Kong
• Stories and recollections shared by people with a connection to Hong Kong
• Ongoing volunteer projects, such as the diary transcription effort

Because content is community-added, coverage varies — some subjects will be richly documented, others may have only a single page or photo.

Newsletter updates with new photos and stories

Gwulo publishes a free weekly newsletter that highlights what is new and updated on the site. The newsletter is also where you will hear about events, such as the site's talks in York, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, and Exeter. If you want a steady stream of new old Hong Kong photos and stories without checking the site manually, subscribing to the newsletter is the simplest way to follow along.

What this means for you

The main limitation to keep in mind is that Gwulo is community-driven, so the depth of coverage depends on what contributors have added. For a broad sweep of old Hong Kong history it is a substantial resource; for a narrow or obscure topic, you may need to search rather than browse.