The main source of foreign clients was the British naval sailors and sailors from different countries. The naval officers and sailors were mostly young and strong men, and as warfare was frequent; pirates were rampant; the sea was risky; and also, the medicine was primitive at the time, not everyone could go home alive. As a result, they lived from day to day, leading an ephemeral life and a life of instant gratification. Stuck on the ship surrounded by the sea for days on end, they couldn’t help feeling bored to death. Once they disembarked and set foot on Hong Kong, they were instantly brought back to life! At that time, the naval officers and the sailors went ashore at the Royal Navy’s base in Admiralty or the cargo terminal in Wan Chai. Towards the west side in Central, there was the base camp of high-class foreign prostitutes. For the naval officers and the sailors of senior ranks, it was a natural choice. But the lower level helpers and junior-grade sailors had less buying power with their limited income, so they had to look for fun in the “Big Number” establishments at Spring Garden in Wan Chai. 

To tell you about the Erotic Romance of West Quarry, I have to begin from the early development of Hong Kong in the 1840s.

After taking over the Hong Kong Island, the British opened Hong Kong as a free port, enabling free entry and exit of capital, people and cargo. This attracted an influx of enterprising people from all over the world who aspired to make it big in this new emerging market. Among them, along with the British and Chinese, there were many bachelors from Europe, the USA, India and Southeast Asia. Because they were young, or because of the poor conditions in Hong Kong at the time, or because they just treated Hong Kong as a place for making money in the short-term, nearly all of them came alone. According to an official survey conducted in 1845, there were 31 brothels and about 150 prostitutes in Hong Kong. In the subsequent year, the Government started to issue licenses to brothels and to levy a tax on them.