Historian Jason Wordie outside St Andrew’s Church, one of the historical landmarks on his walking tours of Hong Kong

Historian Jason Wordie has carved out an offbeat business niche in Hong Kong with his insightful guided tours.

The long-term resident, a former English teacher, has acquired a near-encylopaedic knowledge of the city's past. Most people on his walking tours are amazed to find just how many reminders there are of the old days, even in the most modern urban districts.

Mr Wordie has a variety of themes for the three-hour strolls, all of them accompanied by entertaining anecdotes from the dry-witted Australian, who makes his home in a small New Territories village.

Visitors discover, for example, that the former railway clock tower on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront near the Star Ferry is still pock-marked by shrapnel - a legacy of WWII. Likewise, they are surprised to be shown secret tunnels behind St Andrew's church on Nathan Road, where British military munitions were once stored.

"I get many different kinds of people who come on the walks; some are geared for locals, others for tourists. Sometimes I get Hong Kong kids who have studied overseas. The walks make them feel more connected with the place they live in."

Most people say they had no idea Hong Kong still had so many interesting relics from the past.

Multicultural contribution re-lived

"Communities that played a prominent role in Hong Kong's early development, like the local Portuguese, the Parsees and the Eurasians, have largely vanished over the past 40 years," Mr Wordie continued. "In the walk around Causeway Bay and Western their lives and contributions can be re-written back into the fabric of the place, and put in a contemporary context."

One of Mr Wordie's most important projects has been researching material for the 75th anniversary of the Peninsula hotel this year. The venerable waterfront property is one of Hong Kong's most renowned symbols, built during the British colonial heyday and now a favourite with well-heeled travellers from all over the globe.

It was built across from the former Kowloon railway station, where people once embarked on trains for the long journey to Europe, across China and Russia, which was quicker than taking the same passage by ocean liner.

Mr Wordie's walks include the Central itinerary taking in St John's Cathedral and its precincts, the back streets of the market area around Peel and Graham streets and the old Supreme Court building, now housing the Legislative Council.

Further afield trips go to the Peak, where the rich and influential of Hong Kong have traditionally lived, to Stanley with its war graves, and even across to the former Portuguese colony of Macau, an hour away up the Pearl River estuary.

The price for the walks depends on the number of people taking part. Further information from www.jasonswalks.com