Lyndhurst Terrace

Lyndhurst Terrace, looking toward Hollywood Road from the Central-Mid-Levels escalators.
Lyndhurst Terrace, looking toward Wellington Street from the Central-Mid-Levels escalators.
Tai Cheong Bakery, Lyndhurst Terrace branch in 2007.

Lyndhurst Terrace (Chinese: 擺花街) is a street in the Central area of Hong Kong. Built on a slope in southern Central district, the terrace links Hollywood Road and Wellington Street, at its intersection with Pottinger Street. In the middle it meets Gage Street and Cochrane Street, and also the Central-Mid-Levels escalators.

Name

The terrace was named after John Singleton Copley Lyndhurst, an Assistant Magistrate.[1] The Cantonese name 擺花 (baai2 faa1) literally means "flower arrangement", possibly because of presence of numerous stalls in the area in the mid-19th century, selling flowers[2] to the customers of the nearby brothels.[3]

History

Lyndhurst Terrace and the surrounding area were the location of some of the earliest brothels established in Hong Kong,[4][5][6][7] in the mid-19th century. Western prostitutes concentrated there, while Chinese brothels were located in the Tai Ping Shan area near Po Hing Fong. They gradually moved to Possession Street and relocated to Shek Tong Tsui in 1903.[8] The name of the street appears in this context in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, published in 1939.[9][10]

The original Site of Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant (杏讌樓西菜館) was located at 2 Lyndhurst Terrace. The restaurant was a historical meeting place for Dr Sun Yat-sen when he was studying at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese,[11] from where he graduated in 1892, and a refuge for revolutionaries outside Hong Kong, who took part in the failed "1895 Guangzhou uprising" (廣州起義) against the Qing Dynasty in Guangzhou.[12][13] The site, located at the intersection with Pottinger Street, is part of the Central and Western Heritage Trail and the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail. It is now occupied by a commercial building (8 Lyndhurst Terrace).[11]

Tai Cheong Bakery

The Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家) first opened at Lyndhurst Terrace in 1954.[14] Their egg tarts gained fame when Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, called them "the best Egg Tarts in the world".[15] It later received intense media attention[16] when it closed in May 2005, citing increasing rent,[17][18] reaching HK$80,000 per month.[19] It reopened at another location in the street in September 2005 and went on to open several new outlets across Hong Kong.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Roads named after British Official (Chinese)
  2. ↑ Film Service Office. Location Library: Lyndhurst Terrace
  3. ↑ Andrew Yanne, Gillis Heller (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-962-209-944-9.
  4. ↑ Lim, Patricia (2011). Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery. Hong Kong University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-962-209-990-6.
  5. ↑ Hong Kong Government Gazette 16 Feb 1884
  6. ↑ Hong Kong Government Gazette 22 March 1884
  7. ↑ Hong Kong Government Gazette 15 March 1884
  8. ↑ "Early Hong Kong Brothels", Exhibition at the University Museum and Art Gallery, 26 November 2003 to 29 February 2004
  9. ↑ Finnegans Wake, Etext, p. 351
  10. ↑ McHugh, Roland (2005). Annotations to Finnegans Wake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-8018-8381-1.
  11. 1 2 Home Affairs Department, "Research on the culture and history of HK for the design of tourism routes", Centre for Culture and Development, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 14 January 2011
  12. ↑ Antiquities and Monuments Office: Original Site of Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant
  13. ↑ Brochure of the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail, "The Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant - 2 Lyndhurst Terrace", p. 32, Central & Western District Council, 2007
  14. 1 2 MS, "Tourists fall for distinctly Hong Kong flavours", The Independent, 24 February 2010
  15. ↑ Hong Kong Tourism Board : Tai Cheong Bakery
  16. ↑ Angie Wong, "Chinese Cake-away", HK Magazine, November 16, 2006
  17. ↑ Hiufu Wong, "Behind the scenes of Hong Kong's most loved egg tart bakery", CNN Go, 2 August, 2010
  18. ↑ Frederik Balfour, Bruce Einhorn, Simon Cartledge, "Hong Kong: It's Back!", Bloomberg Businessweek, May 30, 2005
  19. ↑ Richard Spencer, "Rent rise means the end of Fat Pang's tarts shop", The Telegraph, 12 May 2005
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Coordinates: 22°16′57″N 114°09′15″E / 22.28248°N 114.15421°E / 22.28248; 114.15421

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