Subject: Re: [weihsien_camp] [stanley_camp] - Visit to the Russian cemetery in Harbin (Happy Valley Cemeteries - July 9, 2020)

The discussion about graves on the Stanley Camp group is indeed interesting but what originally caught my attention was the concern raised that the Happy Valley cemeteries might suddenly be in danger because of Hong Kong’s national security law … I cannot see how the national security of the PRC can impact a cemetery in one of its relatively small, albeit important, cities.

It seems the western press and many of its politicians are currently having a field-day in blaming China for absolutely everything including, recently, the “death" of Hong Kong … I have lost count of the number of times I have heard that false prophesy since arriving here in 1983! Anyway, having spent the last 12 years travelling extensively on the Mainland, I have different views and believe that there is a much to be admired in China today.

Two great-great uncles of mine were interned at Weihsien and one, William May Howell, died there and was buried in the small cemetery; of course I would very much liked to have been able to visit his grave when I was in Weifang in April 2016.. The Weihsien cemetery has long been gone and I recognise that many, if not virtually all western cemeteries on the Mainland have been destroyed. But it should be remembered that these cemeteries were targeted during the Cultural Revolution by the Red Guards; all the gravestones were removed and, having been smashed, were generally used in minor construction projects. On a visit to Gulangyu, Xiamen, we discovered half a gravestone from the 1800s being used in a series of steps on a small hillside. Without the grave markings and in the absence of documentary details it would be hard to move a cemetery in any meaningful form. That is not to say that hasn’t been done though. In 1980, local government authorities in Guangzhou created a terraced cemetery on what had been called French Island and moved the surviving memorials and graves they could identify there; it’s now a lovely spot to visit. More recently, when in Shanghai the grave of a British sailor was unearthed, his remains were reinterred in a surviving cemetery and a British consular official and senior Royal Navy officer officiated at the ceremony.

As regards the Happy Valley cemeteries, I do not share the concern of others, and believe these will be safe for many decades to come. That being said, there is precedent. In order to construct Aberdeen Tunnel, the Government needed to acquire a chunk of the Hong Kong Cemetery which, as it happened, contained some of the oldest graves (incidentally, including that of a J. Kitto from 1864!). These were individually cremated and reinterred in a columbarium specially built for the purpose and sited as close to the old area as practical. As for the value of the land, that is a trifling when compared to that of Hong Kong’s Country Parks which occupy 40% of the total land mass here, including at least that ratio on Hong Kong Island alone. I worry about potential commercial incursions into our Country Parks far more than into the Hong Kong cemeteries which would surely cause a huge outcry given the number of religions and historical icons involved. Indeed, declaring each of the Happy Valley cemeteries as Monuments might help but if you’re worried about history not holding firm on notable people, who is to say that a Declared Monument cannot be declassified? In the meantime, being included as a Declared Monument would make the bureaucracy of family members cleaning graves (as I intend to do on a great-great aunt’s grave there shortly) and new burials all the more tiresome.

That’s my two-pennies’ worth,
Nick