Battle for the Peak: Childhood, the Great War and Cultural Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong

Abstract

The impact of the First World War in Asia brought restrictions on the ability of European children and families to travel and exposed the fragility of foreign communities’ claims upon imperial privilege and power. During the war, foreign communities in colonial contexts responded by launching demands for far-reaching and controversial reforms in defence of childhood. Taking the example of the foreign community in Hong Kong, this article shows how racialised visions of childhood in wartime shaped the development of the Peak Hill District and left a legacy of ‘difficult’ heritage that continues to shape Hong Kong’s most-visited tourist site today.