The sex industry had always been a controversial issue in old Hong Kong. Some advocated for a total ban, while some inclined for exerting control over operation. The stand of the Hong Kong Government likewise underwent various changes. Starting from the 1850s, the Government decided to issue a yearly license to prostitutes. The licensing system was managed by the Registrar General ( i.e. Secretary for Chinese Affairs). To be granted a license, prostitutes had to undergo a medical check-up and make a declaration that they had engaged in the sex industry voluntarily. However, with control through licensing, a number of derivative social problems came into being.

Do you know where all prostitutes longed to visit most? It was the then most luxurious hotel, Hong Kong Hotel!

Hong Kong Hotel had a specially built dance hall, which was a venue for socializing for the upper class. Many of the well-known businessmen and the handsome elites hoped to bring along a lady with both beauty and wisdom to show off at the balls! The high-class foreign prostitutes and the famed prostitutes of West Quarry were not only beautiful, but most were also apt at both dancing and singing, and those full of artistic aura were especially adored. In West Quarry, only a handful of popular prostitutes, who had received Western education or had come from Shanghai, knew foreign languages and Western etiquette like kissing, holding the waist, shaking hands, social dance and so on. Only this group of prostitutes, who had abilities and were looked upon favorably by the God of Luck, would have the chance to be brought to the Hong Kong Hotel by their clients. And the ultimate lucky ones were those who could marry into a wealthy and powerful family, and “got off the street to live on drinking water from the wells”.