ated to Sun finally opened. Sun and his friends, known as the Four Desperadoes, were the nucleus of what became the republican revolution in China. The uprisings they planned led to the overthrow of the Ching Dynasty in 1911, and the formation of the Kuomintang. After years of civil war, victory went to the communists in 1949 and Sun's followers fled to Taiwan.
Sun formed his first revolutionary organization, the Xing Zhong Hui (Revive China Society) in 1894 in Honolulu. But that was too far from the action, so the society's headquarters was established at 13 Staunton Street in Central, under the cover of a commercial firm named Qian Heng Hang, on February 12, 1895.
That humble building is now in the heart of the hip bar and restaurant district Soho (south of Hollywood Road). Nearby is a popular bar with a sense of history - it's called 1911.
As the drinks menu spells out, the name is no accident: "The name of the bar is taken from the most eventful year in contemporary Chinese history: the year when the citizens of China led by Dr Sun Yat-sen overthrew the corrupt monarchy which had ruled China for centuries. The ambience of Bar 1911 is that of the era and characterized by 20th-century Chinese-Western motifs and decorations, which accurately suggest the decor of 1911. The lighting, stained glass windows and pictures are typical of a bar in old Hong Kong ...
"The carved wooden doors with multi-colored stained glass, black wood Chinese ceiling lanterns, colored glass hanging lights, hand-painted art nouveau wall lamps and mahogany back bar cabinet are authentic antiques of the period. The hand-waxed floor and bar top are typical of the early 20th century but rarely found in premises today." The owners hope it will stimulate yet more meetings between East and West.
Further along Staunton St, where it becomes Bridges St, another plaque tells the inquisitive that this is where the young Sun discovered Christianity and was baptized, thanks to the Preaching Home of American Congregational Mission. That site is now the Bridges St wet food market, one of the district's many local venues under threat of demolition by the Urban Renewal Authority.
Other high points include the former sites of the Central School where Sun received his secondary education, the To Tsai Church where he often met his comrades and the College of Medicine for Chinese where he became a doctor.
Today, the area is becoming a fashionable neighborhood, with CentreStage apartments touting for buyers, a beauty spa amid a clutch of church schools and a Chinese YMCA. It takes imagination to realize that in this neighborhood, Sun absorbed the values and ideals that helped underpin his dream of a modern China. He even found funding here, among rich Chinese and Eurasian families, such as the Ho Tung.
Hong Kong's biggest businessman for a generation was Sir Robert Ho Tung - later known, among many other things, as a financier of Sun's republican revolution. Sir Robert's brother was Ho Kom-tong, and the two men served as comparator, or agents, for Jardine, Matheson and Company, also known as the Noble House.
In 1914, Ho Kom-tong built a home to mirror his immense status, the massive Edwardian mansion just up the hill where Castle Rd meets Caine Rd - replete with sweeping balconies, rare tiles and columns. The house has a remarkable history. It later became headquarters of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Hong Kong, sending out young missionaries every day in black pants, white shirts and large name tags to try to score a different kind of riches - for the Lord.
When the Mormons decided they needed larger premises, it seemed the site would simply go to the highest bidder and become yet another Mid-levels high-rise.
But, in a startling change from the norm, the building was saved and the government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department allowed to plan its revival as a museum. Now called Kom Tong Hall, it has been renovated to a high standard.
Historians, however, are cautious about making any direct link between Sun and Ho Kom-tong.
"Ho Kom-tong was born in 1866, the same year as Dr Sun. They both graduated from the Government Central School in 1886, but we could not ascertain with evidence whether they knew each other. All we know for certain is that Ho Tung knew of Dr Sun and had made donations to the Guangdong Military Government," says Dr Joseph Ting, retired curator of Hong Kong's Museum of History, which oversees the Sun Yat-sen Museum.
Much of the museum's appeal stems from the nexus between Hong Kong as a British colony, perched on the edge of China at a time of massive change. In Hong Kong, many colonials were barely aware of the clashes between warlords, communists and nationalists just across the border, and few knew much about their own home's role in that struggle.
It was Hong Kong which gave the young Sun a home in an orphanage, his Western education, his Christian faith, and the money for revolution. But the colony also banned him once and, years afterward, failed to commemorate the man who brought down centuries of dynastic autocracy in China.
Chinese communities around the world boast Sun Yat-sen museums, but Hong Kong has resisted until now. Why did it take so long?
"Well, it's a difficult question," admits Ting. "I think the main reason for that is the atmosphere before 1997 and after 1997.
"Before 1997 we were under British colonial rule, since 1841, and modern history was seldom mentioned even in the school curriculum, not to mention Dr Sun Yat-sen as national hero. So, at that point of time, the colonial government tended to play down [Chinese] nationalism," he says.
Now, it's politically fashionable to laud Chinese national heroes, and so easier to get the support for this impressive display in Sun's name.
"We want to tell people the role of Hong Kong in the shaping of modern China and that starts with the shaping of Dr Sun Yat-sen's ideas," says Ting.
In other words, it was politically incorrect to bother with figures such as Sun during British colonial times. It's easier now - although while China has supported this museum and loaned important items for exhibit, there remains ambivalence in some minds about lauding the man who founded the movement that challenged the communist party for control of all China.
The politics of it all give Hong Kong a special role to play in marking Sun's life, believes Ting and others. At the museum, there are many exhibits which remind Hong Kong people about what is special about their hybrid territory.
It was Hong Kong's freedoms, its education system and even its sanitary system that caused Sun to see so clearly why China had to change.
"Because Sun Yat-sen was educated in Central School [now Hong Kong's Queen's College], the lessons were taught in English, they had geography, history - Chinese Western and European - algebra, mathematics and science. On the mainland, in those days, people were still attending civil service examinations, still studying the teachings of Confucius, the sages. So it was a completely different type of education.
"The first Chinese newspaper appeared in Hong Kong and, under British rule, we also had a very good sanitary system," Ting explains.
"You could see the roads were well paved, the buildings impressive and Dr Sun actually mentioned that in his talks. He said when he first came to Hong Kong he was impressed by the buildings, the sanitary system, by the hospitals. He compared it to his native town. That shows how Hong Kong, compared to other cities in China, was far more developed.
"And with the emergence of Chinese elites in Hong Kong, we had wealthy Chinese who were able to support the revolution," he says.
Opened in December 2006, just in time to mark 140th anniversary of Sun's birth, the museum offers fresh insights into the often fascinating relationship between Hong Kong and China - and into how a British-run trading city inspired Sun.
After Ting oversaw the museum's successful opening, he wrote about the experience for the Royal Asiatic Society, and hopes it will spark more local curiosity.
"Apart from showing Dr Sun's activities in Hong Kong, there are more intriguing questions: why and how did Hong Kong in the late 19th century nurture someone like Dr Sun Yat-sen who possessed such progressive revolutionary ideas? What elements characterized the education system, as well as the political, social and economic atmosphere of Hong Kong at Dr Sun's time? If we can find out answers to these questions, we will not only be able to probe into the role of Hong Kong in modern Chinese history, but also gain insight into the future development of Hong Kong," he wrote.
He notes that museums in China and Taiwan have shied away from fully exploring the importance of Christianity in Sun's life and the formation of his ideas.
"Christianity had a great influence on Dr Sun Yat-sen during his early life. He was baptized a Christian in Hong Kong, and most of his tutors and friends were also Christians, including Ho Kai and Ou Fengchi, who were instrumental in shaping his thoughts. Without the recommendation and encouragement from Reverend Charles Hager, Dr Sun Yat-sen might not have pursued medical studies as a matter of course.
"However, both China and Taiwan have refrained from mentioning Dr Sun's intricate relationship with Christianity or only touched upon the subject superficially, but in Hong Kong we are able to explore this relationship between Dr Sun and Christianity in depth. This religious connection was an indispensable part of Dr Sun Yat-sen's relationship with Hong Kong," he says.
The museum includes important memorabilia from the two churches with which Sun had close relations - the China Congregational Church (where he was baptized) and the Hop Yat Church (formerly the To Tsai Church where he attended services).
Incredibly, the Hong Kong Museum of History possessed only three items relating to Sun before it started work on this museum: a letter written to his nephew, Sun Chang, donated by the Queens College; a scroll inscribed with the wordings Bo Ai (Fraternity) by Sun as a gift to the Luen Yee Seamens Society in Hong Kong; and, Guan Jingliang's marriage certificate bearing the name of Sun as a witness, donated by Guan's descendants.
A massive effort to beg, borrow and buy items from around the world ensued, including from China and Taiwan.
In 2002, an American woman offered a body of Sun family memorabilia. Later, one of the most precious donations was the seal of Long Live the Republic of China and the calligraphies of Yau Lit under the donation of Yau Dick Kwong and Yau Dick Woon, the great grandsons of Yau Lit (one of the Four Desperadoes).
The Wellcome Library in London possesses a collection of exquisite items from Sun's teacher Dr James Cantlie, which includes his answer sheet at an examination in the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, a dinner menu of the college's graduation ceremony and a letter of reply from Stewart Lockhart, colonial secretary of the Hong Kong government, to Sun on the latter's banishment from Hong Kong.
Among the many documents on display is an announcement from St Martin's Town Hall, Charing Cross Rd, London. It announces a lecture on "Things Chinese," illustrated by lantern slides and curios, to be given by Sun and Cantlie.
Nearby is a large photo of Sun and his co-plotters huddled in overcoats on a ship in Hong Kong harbor. And therein lies a tale: Sun organized the uprisings which broke out in Guangzhou and Huizhou in 1895 and 1900 respectively. In between, on March 4, 1896, the Hong Kong government banned his activities in the territory, claiming he was upsetting peace and order.
So he held his meetings on a ship in the harbor instead - and used the harbor as a handy conduit for getting weapons and fighters into China.
Roughly a decade later, a young Vietnamese revolutionary called Ho Chi-minh also hid on a boat in the harbor while a British lawyer fought a habeas corpus case on his behalf to save him from being repatriated to French Indo- China for almost certain trial and execution.
It's not hard to see how good drains, an efficient port and a free flow of ideas could inspire Sun and - with the help of this museum and trail - some of the generations who followed him.
