Hongkew Park as it was

Back in February I posted some pictures of Hongkew Park before 1949 and as it is now as Lu Xun Park. The stadium now leans over a portion of the old open ground. Here’s one more picture of Hongkew Park I came across recently. The bandstand and all the lovely old buildings in a sort of compradoric style the background are long gone. I don’t have an exact date though the dress of the family in the picture out for a stroll in the park is clearly Edwardian placing this some time before the First World War.Interesting I do believe that some of the saplings still exist as full grown trees now. The youth of the trees indicates that this picture is probably from not that long after the park in this form was laid out – 1905 (though open land used for sports and rifle practise existed from the 1890s).