Admiralty, Hong Kong

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Admiralty

金鐘

金钟

Literal meaning:

"Golden Bell"

Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Jīnzhōng
Yue (Cantonese)
- Jyutping:	gam1 zung1

Commercial buildings in Admiralty, Hong Kong, with the Conrad Hotel on the left and JW Marriott on the right

Admiralty is the eastern extension of central business district of the Central 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. The name of Admiralty refers to the former Admiralty Dock in the area which housed a naval dockyard. The dock was later demolished when land was reclaimed and developed northward as the HMS Tamar naval base. The Chinese name, Kam-chung (金鐘), lit. Golden Bell, refers to a golden bell once housed at the dock.

[edit] History

The area was chosen to military area by British military. The built Wellington Barracks, Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks and Admiralty Dock at the site.

The area split urban area on the north shore of Hong Kong Island. The Hong Kong Government had tried many time to get the land from the military to connect two urban parts, but the military refused. It is not until the 1970s that the land was gradually returned to government and changed to commercial buildings and gardens.

The Admiralty Station of MTR was built on the former site of the Hong Kong dockyards which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s. A cannon discovered during construction is still displayed inside the station. After completion, the area became increasingly known as Admiralty, rather than Central.

[edit] Major buildings

Queensway Plaza is a shopping centre located above the station. The Pacific Place shopping mall, an additional shopping centre, a number of hotels and several office tower complexes, all located on the former site of the Victoria Barracks, are connected to the MTR station via an underground walkway. Other major buildings in the area include Admiralty Centre, United Centre, Far East Financial Centre, CITIC Tower, and the Lippo Centre Towers.

Queensway and Harcourt Road are the major roads in the area.

The High Court and Hong Kong Park are located south of Queensway.