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.
 Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, ca. 1900 | |
| Native name | |
|---|---|
| Location | Victoria, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong |
| Coordinates | 22°16′51″N 114°09′22″E / 22.2808°N 114.1560°E |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 1841 |
| Completion | 1843 |
 | |
| Queen's Road, Hong Kong | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A painting of Queen's Road Central in 1865 | |||||||
| Chinese | |||||||
| |||||||
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:
History
editThe 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
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]
The Great Fire of Hong Kong 1878
editOn 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.
Roads
edit
.jpg)
Queen's Road West
editQueen's Road West (
Queen's Road Central
editQueen's Road Central (
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
editQueensway 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 (
Queen's Road East
editQueen's Road East (
In pop culture
editQueen'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
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Lim, Patricia Pui Huen (2002). Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780195927238.
- ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
- ^ CityLife: Queen's Road Central
- ^ "The story behind Hong Kong's famous Queen's Road". South China Morning Post. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ Pang, Diana. "Foreign influence Part 1: Lost in translation, Hong Kong's weird and wonderful street names | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com.
- ^ Morris, Jan (1997). Hong Kong. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679776482.
- ^ Adam Nebbs (2010), The Great Fire of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Bonham Media, ISBN 9789881778802, OL 24362354M, 9789881778802
- ^ Constance Gordon-Cumming, Wanderings in China (1886), at archive.org
- ^ Wiltshire, Trea (2003) [1987]. Old Hong Kong: 1860–1900 (Volume 1). Central, Hong Kong: FormAsia Books. p. 66. ISBN 9627283592.