Soldier, Soldier - Robson Green (1992) - Pak Sha O Ha Yeung, Sai Kung

I've experienced a couple of strange coincidences over the past few weeks regarding locations for which I had no clue, only to have a photo pop up somewhere on social media that gave me the answer. This one comes from the first HK-based episode of Soldier, Soldier called A Touch of the Sun.

The episode involves the company being put through their paces on a speedmarch and sees them going through various areas of the New Territories including the place below.

I'll be honest, I was stumped until just today when a nice person on Facebook posted some pictures of the place today. It's called Pak Sha O Ha Yeung and is in Sai Kung near to Hoi Ha Wan. It seems that a nice chappy called Toby took over the place some time in the early 80's when it was almost falling apart and has lovingly restored it to its former glory.

I'll try and get some of my own snaps the next time I am out that way.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

As the base for the fictional King's Fusiliers throughout their stay in HK, Stanley Fort features fairly heavily throughout the series (so I am sure this is the first of several similar posts). Here are a few shots from A Touch of the Sun.

I've never been to Stanley Fort and therefore am not 100% sure of the building identities, but I'll give it a stab. The first picture is of the accommodation of the battalion commander, Lt Col Fortune, which, I believe, is Conway House (aka Building 18).

Conway Hse/Building 18?

Next up we see the swimming pool down by the lowest row of accommodation blocks that face Stanley Bay - although in the background we can see the row of blocks on the higher terrace. They are (from right to left) Richmond, Halifax, Chester and Windsor (Buildings 89 thru 86).

The next building is one we have seen on this blog before - it can be seen in Bloodsport - but I am not sure of whereabouts it is within the fort. I am guessing it is the nameless E-shaped block on the maps in the centre of the Fort (now called Chek Chue Barracks, by the way) that has the bowling green in front of it?

Another block, also seen in the above Bloodsport link, is what I believe to be Building 10. An elongated colonial building that sits on the road just above the parade ground and sports field.

Building 10 - also seen in Bloodsport

We get to see a brief glimpse of the road in front of the lower accommodation blocks (buildings 90 - 95), although I am not sure which one we are looking at.

And rounding off this post with a quick look at the parade ground with Building 10 in the background.

I'm not familiar with the fort and so can't say how much has changed since the P.L.A moved in to Chek Chue Barracks (Chek Chue is the Chinese name for 'Stanley' in case you didn't know), but judging from GoogleEarth, the majority of landmarks we see in the series are still around as far as I can tell. I'd love to hear from anyone familiar with the compound or perhaps who actually lived there with the army.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - The Noon Day Gun, Causeway Bay

I've never been down to the Casueway Bay harbourfront to watch this thing being fired, in fact I think I've only ever heard it being fired a couple of times in the last 10 years. Perhaps I will make the effort to do the touristy thing at some point. Until then, here is a brief glimpse from A Touch of the Sun.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Harbourfront, Hong Kong

Another TV series for the blog and this time one that I missed when it was originally shown back in 1992 - I was grotty student in Leeds at the time spending most of my time listening to music rather than watching the box. Strictly speaking the episodes I am looking at are from series 2, when the so-called King's Fusiliers move to Hong Kong. The first two episodes of the series were still based back in the UK but the remaining 4 episodes were filmed in their entirety in Hong Kong.

One of the first scenes we are shown an army helicopter flying along the harbour front with a few sights to look at including the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan (pic 1), the old vehicular ferry pier (pic 2 & 3) and finally the Bank of China and its surrounding buildings such as the Furama Hotel, the Ritz Carlton (both redeveloped), Hutchison House, Bank of America tower etc.