In the 1920s Hong Kong was booming. Life on the mainland

had become increasingly precarious as rival political factions

struggled to get the upper hand, and the ancient subsistence

farming system clashed with a new industrial revolution, and the

British colony had begun to look like a safe refuge – stable and

prosperous. It had become cheaper and easier for immigrants to

travel there, and the city’s working-class population expanded

exponentially. Guangzhou was already shipping most of its

produce down the Pearl River into the maw of the British colony,

and the openings for good products with enterprising salesmen

were potentially limitless.