Aging relics show city's resistance in WWII

Even as Hong Kong geared up to celebrate the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japanese occupation, some of the relics of the city's terrible battle - which local historians feel are worthy of World Heritage status - were left in utter neglect. Chitralekha Basu reports.

Caked in a thick layer of dark green gunk, the concrete pile almost merges with the green landscape. A closer look shows the structure is a phalanx of plastic sacks, stacked in a tight semicircle, and covered with slime and a layer of rotting leaves. A long-tailed grass lizard slithers by, one of the few signs of life in an otherwise desolate area. Sand inside the bags is frozen solid - stratified under 74 years of apathy.

These are the remains of a blast wall at Station 2 on the Wong Nai Chung Gap Trail. The fortification was built around a platform where two 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns were mounted in what was one of the last outposts of Allied defense before Hong Kong surrendered to Japanese forces in December 1941.