Sedan chairs and rickshaws waiting outside the Peak rest house next to the Peak Tram terminus, c1930s. Public Records Office, Government Records Service

That well-known symbol of the East, the rickshaw, was still transporting passengers around Hong Kong when I arrived in the early nineteen seventies. Lined up at Star Ferry on both sides of the harbour, runners waited with their two-wheeled carts to carry commuters to the office. But with only one man to pull the rickshaw, it was impossible to scale the steep inclines on Hong Kong island. An even older form of human transport, the sedan chair, had been introduced after the colony was founded, and old timers recall ranks of chairs at the bottom of Wyndham Street in Central waiting to carry passengers up to Mid Levels and the Peak. But once the motor car grew in popularity after the war, the era of the sedan chair was over, and the last one was found abandoned in the mid nineteen sixties.

The sedan chair was borne on the shoulders of bearers in front and behind, often strong Hoklo men from Fujian province, who moved at a loping half trot, the skin on their necks hardened and calloused by the countless loads they carried. The long supporting poles were attached to the chair about two-thirds from the top so the passenger sat up high. The general public travelled in chairs made of bamboo, some open to the elements, others were covered with a dusty black oil-cloth, and carried by two groaning bearers. In swanky four-bearer chairs covered with a blue cloth and decorated with braids and tassels, wealthy merchants usually sat with the door closed, stifled by the heat, bumping and swaying and peering through small curtained windows.

Some private companies had liveried bearers, the number increasing with status, and 10 per chair was not uncommon. The Governor’s bearers were a colourful sight with their scarlet coats, white knickerbockers and bright red straw hats as they carried their esteemed passenger up Old Peak Road to his summer retreat high above on Mount Austin at The Peak.

With its cooling breezes and lower temperatures, the Peak became the place of choice for many rich families once the Peak Tram was completed in 1888. George Benjamin Dodwell was a wealthy businessman who built a large Spanish style house in the 1890s which he named La Hacienda on Mount Kellett Road. He founded a prosperous trading company in the late 20th century, and many can remember Dodwell Motors and especially Dodwell Stores on Queen’s Road Central, which carried a selection of Marks and Spencer clothing displayed on open wooden counters. Dodwell lived with his wife and four children, two European governesses and a staff of some 24 Chinese servants, including 12 sedan chair bearers to carry the family to and from the Peak tram half a mile away.

Chair coolies were not against deceiving inexperienced customers, as a visitor of Mrs Dodwell’s found out. When returned to the Tram terminus, this visitor had offered 50 cents as payment, to which the coolie, on receiving it, stared at his palm as if to say it wasn’t enough. The lady was about to add more when Mrs Dodwell caught up to them and promptly took back the 50 cents and paid the correct fare of 20 cents, all to the great amusement of the other coolies around.

For those who didn’t employ their own bearers, chairs could be hired. In 1932, the Hong Kong government set the rate at 15 cents for 10 minutes with two bearers, rising to 80 cents for one hour with four bearers. Rest stations were placed around the colony, and one small pavilion remains at the start of Mount Kellett Road, built in a Chinese style with green glazed roof tiles and red balustrades, shaded by overhanging trees. This provided shelter for these itinerant coolies from the hot sun and heavy summer rains while they rested and waited for residents to hail them for the run down to the tram.

At the Peak Tram terminus, there was a much larger rest house built in 1900, which fell into disuse during the war and in 1952 was converted into a cafeteria. For many years it operated as the Peak Café, famous for its Hainan Chicken rice dish, but the former terminus has been now transformed into the popular Peak Lookout restaurant. Even though the sedan chair has long gone, it’s still possible to revisit its habitat and reminisce about Hong Kong’s past over a memorable meal.

Pedder Street in Central lined with sedan chairs; the clock tower on Queen’s Road in the background. Photo by William Prior Floyd c.1869. Courtesy of Wattis Fine Art.