Queen's Road, Hong Kong

Queen's Road
皇后大道

Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, ca. 1900
Location Victoria, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
Construction
Construction start 1841
Completion 1843
Queen's Road, Hong Kong

A painting of Queen's Road Central in 1865
Chinese 皇后大道

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, from west to east, are respectively: 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).

History

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".

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.[4]

On Christmas Day 1878, a fire broke out[5] and destroyed a large area of the slums along Queen's Road. An eyewitness account was recorded by Constance Gordon-Cumming in his 1886 book Wanderings in China.[6] 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.[7] 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 has shrugged its past and become home to some of Hong Kong's most expensive land and famous buildings at that time.

Roads

Queen's Road West near Sai Ying Pun
An old road sign of Queen's Road Central outside Central Market.
Queen's Road East Wan Chai Section. Hopewell Centre on the left.

Queen's Road West

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

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

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

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.

In pop culture

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, in order to describe their fear of change once the communists have taken over.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Lim, Patricia Pui Huen (2002). Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780195927238.
  2. ↑ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
  3. ↑ CityLife: Queen's Road Central
  4. ↑ Morris, Jan (1997). Hong Kong. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679776482.
  5. ↑ Adam Nebbs (2010), The Great Fire of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Bonham Media, ISBN 9789881778802, 9789881778802
  6. ↑ Constance Gordon-Cumming, Wanderings in China (1886), at archive.org
  7. ↑ Wiltshire, Trea (republished & reduced 2003) [1987]. Old Hong Kong: 1860–1900 (Volume 1). Central, Hong Kong: FormAsia Books. p. 66. ISBN 9627283592. Check date values in: |date= (help)

Coordinates: 22°16′51″N 114°09′22″E / 22.2808°N 114.1560°E / 22.2808; 114.1560

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