The shallow mudflat that skirted the two sides of the Lung Tsun Bridge revealed the natural landscape of the Kowloon City coast. Not only was it a mooring for small fishing boats; being an execution ground, it was for the foreigners a must-see tourist spot.

Although the furious gang of Cheung Po Tsai had surrendered to the Qing court long before Hong Kong’s open-up, other pirates were still active. They were a threat to both the Chinese and the British empires, so also to the Hong Kong government. Naturally the three bodies came to terms with each other in cracking down these freebooters. The Dapeng Brigade was especially predatory to pirates — the captured was invariably beheaded.

The Qing officials as a rule would formally invite British representatives to attend the execution, for which almost all foreigners in the Victoria City were burnt with curiosity.

This shallow bank, which was to become the terminal building of the Kai Tak Airport, is now a sandlot as desolate as it was in the beginning…