The Desire for Food and Sex is Human Nature
You know, during World War I, Hong Kong was relatively peaceful. Many merchants made a wartime fortune as the demand for material goods rose sharply. As business was active, and formal events were numerous, West Quarry would naturally benefit from them. After the war, in the 1920s to mid-1930s, it was a prime time for the erotic romance of West Quarry. At the time, the erotic venues were divided into “Big Camps” (High-class brothels) and “Small Camps” (lower-class brothels). In such a small area as West Quarry, it was a surprise that there were about 100 big and small camps. Over 20 of them were big camps, each occupying a building of three to four storeys. Sometimes, they even needed to rent nearby buildings for business expansion. Each big camp had 60 to 90 prostitutes on average, while the small camp had about 30. It was estimated that there were about 4000 prostitutes in West Quarry at that time.
Back to my home, Fleur’s old home finally! According to the plot of , I, Fleur, was the sought-after prostitute of this high-class brothel in front of us, Yee Hung Lou! The building at the far end was the then prominent To Yuen Restaurant!
Among the big camps, four were most luxurious and of the highest quality. They were the adjoining ones located right here on Hill Road -Yee Hung, Wing Ngok, Choi Fa and Foon Tak. All were renowned both at home and abroad, and were crowned as “The Big Four”. At each brothel, a couplet, written by its private advisor using the name of the brothel as headwords, was hung at the entrance. The most classic one belonged to Choi Fa: “The vitality of the young master competing with the Spring with his whip first bent. The beauty of the lady resembling the flowers and the moon with her shadow scented”. At the time, the law set the service fees of the brothels. The “Fee for Staying Over-night” at the big camp was three tales six maces, and for the small camp, two tales four maces. That was why the small camps were also called “Two-Four Camps”.
