Ting was involved in the establishment of Dr Sun Yet-sen Museum which was transformed from a residential building. Photos by Edmong Tang

Wearing sneakers and wind jackets, and carrying a backpack with Vaseline and a bottle of mineral water, Joseph Ting Sun-pao could pass as a tour guide. But that's until he leads you off the beaten track and into the city's less visible corners, and telling you all kinds of fascinating stories about the place.

In fact, this is what the 56-year-old has been doing for the past decade - roaming the city streets and discovering hidden charms and forgotten histories.

Ting loved walking around the city even when he was director of the Hong Kong Museum of History.

"To tell the truth, I never liked administrative work," he said. "For me , to take a walk around would be a bonus, and a compensation for the countless hours spent in the office."

That walk had taken him to places which he wouldn't have otherwise visited, and the places he later visited again and again. The result, however, has been his latest book A Saunter In the History of Hong Kong, which will hit the stands in July.

But, there's a problem in writing a book on history. "From time to time, you'll bump into new clues and feel compelled to add something - maybe just one paragraph," he said. "History never gives a definitive answer to your question. Instead, it beckons you forward, and only reveals one part of the picture at each step."

Over the years, Ting not only travels to the back alleys of Hong Kong, but also explores the depth of history.

Sheung Wan is his most favorite area. "Historically, Central has been the island's political, economic and religious center. As a result, its development has been well-documented," Ting said. "But it was in Sheung Wan where local people and the earliest immigrants had settled in the second half of the 19th century."

Starting from Central, we crossed a few streets and made a few turns. Having left the din and bustle behind, we found ourselves in a sleepy street that, but for the red lantern hanging above the heavy wooden doors, might appear a little bit deserted. The sign reads: So Hung Street.

"This street was lined at one time with some of the oldest shops in Hong Kong, it still is." Ting said, peeking through the grid of an iron door. Lit partially by faint daylight, the inside was barely visible. But Ting lingered for a while, soaking in probably the quaint air that filled the space.

"Look at the stones," said Ting, pointing to a few stone stairs that, sandwiched between two walls, rise almost vertically upward. "They were taken directly from the mountain. The stairs must have been built a long, long time ago."

But not all the history is written in stone. Over the past century, the area has witnessed a sea change. "Believe it or not, this area used to be the coastline," said Ting, standing on Bonham Strand West, a street crammed with shops selling seafood. "In fact, the word 'strand' means sand beach."

Ting's tour in Sheung Wan invariably leads to one place - the Hollywood Park, or Possession Point as known in history. On January 25, 1841, the British landed there claiming the island for Britain.

There is not even one brick, or street sign, or an inch of land in the area, that does not evoke history, Ting said. Take the Victoria Park in Tai Ping Shan District for example. Outside the park hangs a wooden plaque that marks the area as the place where the bubonic plague first broke out.

Traveling with Ting and listening to his anecdotes is a delightful experience. "The plague was transmitted by rats," he said. "A French doctor and a Japanese doctor made the discovery at around the same time. But the former became well-known as he had his research first published in French in an international magazine."

Walking for a few more minutes, Ting stopped at a salmon-colored brick house. "This is the Young Men's Christian Association," he said. "Lu Xun gave a lecture here in 1927."

"Hong Kong was once the home or final resting place for many great personages in contemporary Chinese history, including writers, scholars, activists and revolutionaries. The places where they lived and were buried should be marked so that visitors, especially those from the mainland, will recognize the names and relate to the places."

Ting's knowledge of Chinese history, especially contemporary history, is incredible. Names, dates, events and anecdotes - all information seems to have been "trapped" in his brain.

Talking about Tung Wah Hospital, one of his favorite places, Ting said the oldest Chinese hospital once served as a hub for the Chinese society.

"When a Chinese died overseas, Tung Wah Hospital would arrange for his bones to be collected and buried, often in some southern Chinese province," he said.

Ting is currently involved in a research project to mark the hospital's 140th anniversary in 2010.

Years of research have convinced Ting that the contemporary history of Hong Kong, even under colonial rule, is inextricably linked to the rest of China.

"History is like a tunnel, and a spider's web - always extending. And Hong Kong was and still is one crucial junction on that web," he said.

No one better exemplifies the status of Hong Kong in contemporary Chinese history than Dr Sun Yat-sen, who is Ting's hero. In fact, Ting ended the tour in front of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on Castle Road.

The building - an elegantly-decorated, three-storey, Edwardian-style mansion - was first constructed in 1914 by Ho Kom-Tong, brother of Sir Robert Ho Tung and one of the most colorful figures of his time. "Keeping in mind that Ho Tung is a close friend of Sun, it's probable that the doctor himself had seen, if not visited, the house," Ting said.

So, when the building was available in 2004, after serving first as Ho Kom-Tong's private residence and then as the Hong Kong headquarters of the Mormon Church for over forty years, Ting lobbied the government to buy it up, and transform it into a museum and a memorial.

He also supervised the entire project. One week after the museum was officially baptized on December 12, 2006, Ting retired from his position as Director of the Kong Hong Museum of History - a post he had held for 18 years.

"In a speech given by Sun to students at the University of Hong Kong in 1923, the doctor said, 'Hong Kong is the source of my thinking and the origin of my ideas'," Ting paused, as if to chew the words once again.

"To me, it means a lot - not just the role of Hong Kong in history, but its place in the future."

(HK Edition 04/10/2008 page4)