It was a journey shrouded in secrecy—and for former Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam, it began with his very first helicopter ride.

The date was 3 December 1988. Yam met five representatives from mainland China at the Man Kam To Bridge on the Hong Kong side. From there, they boarded a helicopter and flew directly to a destination few knew about: Fanling Lodge.

Just four years earlier, in 1984, China and Britain had signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, affirming that Hong Kong’s sovereignty would return to China in 1997. In the years that followed, the two sides held countless discussions—some public, many behind closed doors. And Fanling Lodge became one of the most confidential backdrops for those high-stakes talks.

On that December day, Yam was joined by Financial Secretary Sir Piers Jacobs and Secretary for Monetary Affairs David Nendick. Together, they represented Hong Kong in a full day of closed-door negotiations. It was the first time both sides had engaged in detailed dialogue on establishing a monetary authority in Hong Kong—a conversation that would lay the very foundation for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Then, in the autumn of 1991, another secret chapter unfolded. Chen Zu’er—who had served as director of the Basic Law Committee Secretariat under the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office—accompanied Lu Ping, then Director of the Office, to Hong Kong for confidential talks with Governor David Wilson. Once again, the venue was Fanling Lodge.

Built in 1934, the lodge was originally known as the Governor’s Fanling Lodge before the handover—later renamed the Chief Executive’s Fanling Lodge. Its origins date back to 1932, when Governor Sir William Peel, an avid golfer and equestrian, proposed a countryside retreat in the New Territories. What began as a pastoral escape for governors, however, would evolve into a stage for diplomatic intrigue.

Over the decades, the lodge hosted visiting dignitaries, official banquets, and quiet getaways. But it was the covert Sino-British negotiations of the 1980s and 90s that forever etched Fanling Lodge into the annals of Hong Kong’s history.

Though its gates remain closed to the public, Fanling Lodge stands as a silent witness to a city in transition—a place where backroom talks helped shape a future still unfolding today. Its story, hidden in plain sight, is one worth remembering.