Native name | 皇后大道 (Yue Chinese) |
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Location | Victoria, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong |
Coordinates | 22°16′51″N114°09′22″E / 22.2808°N 114.1560°E |
Construction | |
Construction start | 1841 |
Completion | 1843 |
Queen's Road, Hong Kong | |||||||
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Chinese | 皇后大道 | ||||||
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Queen's Road is a collection of roads along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island,in Hong Kong,within the limit of Victoria City. It was the first road in Hong Kong,constructed by the British between 1841 and 1843, [1] spanning across Victoria City from Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai.
At various points along the route,Queen's Road marks the original shoreline before land reclamation projects permanently extended land into Victoria Harbour.
The four sections of the roads are,from west to east:Queen's Road West (Chinese: 皇后大道西),Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中), Queensway (金鐘道),and Queen's Road East (皇后大道東).
The road was originally 4 miles (6.5 km) long. The Royal Engineers built the first section to Sai Ying Pun with the help of 300 coolies from Kowloon (Hong Kong),then a territory of China. This section of Queen's Road ran parallel to the beach where Sir Henry Pottinger set up his tent in 1842. [1] Originally named Main Street,it was officially renamed Queen's Road in March 1842 after Queen Victoria of the British Empire. [2] [3] It was mistakenly translated into Chinese as 皇后,meaning "queen consort", [4] instead of referring to the sovereign ruler (女皇). [5]
When Hong Kong was founded as a British Crown Colony in 1842,Queen's Road was the hub of the island's activity. The development of this island had been haphazard:winding paths connected the Hong Kong Club for tai-pans and ran along squatter huts,military encampments and taverns. The first governors built their homes along Queen's Road;subsequently,the first post office and Christian churches soon arrived. Instead of a properly paved road,newcomers to Hong Kong found Queen's Road as a pocked dirt path that was prone to dust clouds and puddles of mud. [6]
On Christmas Day 1878,a fire broke out [7] and destroyed a large area of the slums along Queen's Road. An eyewitness account was recorded by Constance Gordon-Cumming in her 1886 book Wanderings in China. [8] The fire raged for 17 hours and burnt down 400 houses across a 10 acres (4.0 ha) area. Thousands of residents were left homeless. [9] Nevertheless,the devastated ruins were recycled for reclamation adjacent to the area (modern-day Bonham Strand).
After the Great Fire of 1878,Queen's Road become home to some of Hong Kong's most expensive land and famous buildings.
Queen's Road West (皇后大道西) runs from Sheung Wan to Shek Tong Tsui. It begins in Sheung Wan at the junction with Possession Street and ends where it meets the coastal road,Kennedy Town Praya.
Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中) runs from Central to Sheung Wan. It was one of the first roads,along with Hollywood Road to be built by the British. The road became an important infrastructure to Queen's Town,which was later renamed the City of Victoria.
Queen's Road Central intersects with the similarly named Queen Victoria Street,a short street perpendicular to the road and leads to a few blocks away from the International Finance Centre.
At the western end of Queen's Road Central,the name changes to Queen's Road West. At the eastern end,it merges with Des Voeux Road Central to become Queensway at the junction of Garden Road.
When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945,Queen's Road Central was briefly renamed Meiji-dori,after Emperor Meiji,by the Japanese occupation government.
Queensway was originally the westernmost section of Queen's Road East. After the development of Admiralty as a business district next to Central,this section was renamed Queensway (金鐘道) in 1967. It links Queen's Road Central to Queen's Road East and Hennessy Road.
Queen's Road East (皇后大道東) runs between Wan Chai and Happy Valley. At the western end,Queen's Road East starts at a fork junction with Queensway and Hennessy Road near Justice Drive. Although situated inland and south of five trunk routes (Gloucester Road,Jaffe Road,Lockhart Road,Hennessy Road and Johnston Road) from the Victoria Harbour,Queen's Road East runs along the old,original shoreline of Hong Kong Island.
Queen's Road has become an icon of the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. During the transition period before sovereignty transfer,there were rumours that all streets and roads named after the British and Commonwealth colonial figures,such as Queen's Road,would be renamed in honour of the Chinese communists. Lo Ta-yu,a local songwriter,and Albert Leung have therefore composed Queen's Road East in 1991. This song was performed by the songwriter himself and Ram Cheung Chi Kwong (蔣志光) in 1991,to describe their fear of change once the communists have taken over. In the 1941 crime noir movie,"The Maltese Falcon",Humphrey Bogart's character (Sam Spade) looks into Mary Astor's character's (Brigid O' Shaughnessy) hat,there was a maker's label that read;"Lucille Shop –Queen's Road C Hong Kong".
Wan Chai is situated at the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island,in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east,Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often referred to as Wan Chai North.
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island,known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong",had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of 16,390 per square kilometre (42,400/sq mi),as of 2008. The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War (1839–1842). In 1842,the island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the UK under the Treaty of Nanking and the City of Victoria was then established on the island by the British Force in honour of Queen Victoria. The Central area on the island is the historical,political and economic centre of Hong Kong. The northern coast of the island forms the southern shore of the Victoria Harbour,which is largely responsible for the development of Hong Kong due to its deep waters favoured by large trade ships.
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in the northeastern corner of the Central and Western District,on the north shore of Hong Kong Island,across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui,the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula. The area was the heart of Victoria City,although that name is rarely used today.
The City of Victoria,often called Victoria City or simply Victoria,was the de facto capital of Hong Kong during its time as a British dependent territory. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon known as Victoria. It was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong and its boundaries are recorded in the Laws of Hong Kong. All government bureaux and many key departments still have their head offices located within its limit.
Admiralty is the eastern extension of the central business district on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It is located on the eastern end of the Central and Western District,bordered by Wan Chai to the east and Victoria Harbour to the north.
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong,located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island,between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively,it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District,or Gateway District.
Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan,on Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. The street runs between Central and Sheung Wan,with Wyndham Street,Arbuthnot Road,Ladder Street,Upper Lascar Row,and Old Bailey Street in the vicinity.
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Sai Wan,on Hong Kong Island,in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Des Voeux Road Central and Des Voeux Road West are two roads on the north shore of Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. They were named after the 10th Governor of Hong Kong,Sir William Des Vœux. The name was sometimes spelt with the ligature œin pre-war documents but is nowadays spelt officially as Des Voeux Road.
Queen's Road East is a street in Wan Chai,in the north of Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong,connecting Admiralty in the west to Happy Valley in the east. Queen's Road East is one of the four sections of Queen's Road,and historically included Queensway.
East Kowloon line was one of the original five MTR lines proposed in the late 1970s in Hong Kong,which would have connected Sheung Wan with East Kowloon.
Queensway is a major road in the Admiralty area of Central,Hong Kong. It was originally a section of Queen's Road East and forms part of the continuum of Queen's Road that had been split into Queen's Road West,Queen's Road Central,Queensway,and Queen's Road East after World War II. At its western end it splits into Queen's Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central while at its eastern end it merges into Hennessy Road,at the junction with Queen's Road East.
Praya was a term used in 19th-century Hong Kong to refer to a promenade by the waterfront. The name comes from the Portuguese word praia,which means "beach," but in China it came to mean a stone-faced waterfront road. In Hong Kong,it was a broad road running parallel along the harbour in front of the city. HSBC and Dent &Co. were just some of the major companies based in the area.
Queen Victoria Street is a one-way street in Central,Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. Named after Queen Victoria,the street stretches from Connaught Road Central to Queen's Road Central. The street is noted for the many landmarks that it runs past,namely Central Market and the headquarters of the Hang Seng Bank.
The Central Elevated Walkway is an extensive footbridge network spanning Admiralty,Central and parts of Sheung Wan,near Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong.
Aberdeen Street is a border street dividing Sheung Wan and Central on Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. It ascends from Queen's Road Central to Caine Road in Mid-Levels. The street is named after George Hamilton-Gordon,4th Earl of Aberdeen,Foreign Secretary at the time of the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom in 1842.
Wellington Barracks was a military barracks located to the east of Garden Road in Admiralty,Hong Kong. One of many military complexes constructed by the British Army in the area,the land was returned to the Hong Kong government in the 1970s and gradually reverted to civilian use. As a result,the barracks was closed at the end of that decade,demolished in the mid-1980s and replaced with Harcourt Garden.
Johnston Road is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong.
The Central and Western District located on northwestern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 243,266 in 2016. The district has the most educated residents with the second highest income and the third lowest population due to its relatively small size.
"Queen's Road East" is a song by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Lo Ta-yu,featuring Hong Kong singer Ram Chiang. It was released on 23 January 1991 as the title track of Lo's Cantonese-language compilation album of the same name. The song was composed by Lo and written by Hong Kong lyricist Albert Leung. It is named after Queen's Road East,a street in Hong Kong,and satirically expresses the anxiety felt by the city's residents over the impending handover of Hong Kong in 1997.