1.
Tsim Sha Tsui
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Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui, the area is bounded north by Austin Road and in the east by Hong Chong Road and Cheong Wan Road. Geographically, Tsim Sha Tsui is a cape on the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula pointing towards Victoria Harbour, several villages had been established in this location before Kowloon was ceded to the British Empire in 1860. Tsim Sha Tsui in Chinese means sharp sand mouth and it was also known as Heung Po Tau, i. e. a port for exporting incense tree. Tsim Sha Tsui is a major tourist hub in metropolitan Hong Kong, with many high-end shops, many of Hong Kongs museums are located in the area. Before any land reclamation, Tsim Sha Tsui consisted of two parallel capes with a bay in between in the south, the bay between the capes extended as far north as the present-day Mody Road. Today, Canton Road marks the edge of Tsim Sha Tsui. The area is hilly, although many hills were levelled for reclamation, before Kowloon was ceded to Britain in 1860, many villages were present in the area. Incense trees from New Territories were gathered at some quays in Tsim Sha Tsui and it was thus known as Heung Po Tau, the fragrant quay. In 1888, the Star Ferry offered regular transport between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, and the area has flourished ever since, the place has an international reputation for the large number of tiger sharks resident in the waters close by. Tsim Sha Tsui was a city exclusive for westerners in that era. In the early 20th century, Chinese people were allowed to live in the area to more people to trade in the colony. Garden houses were replaced with crowded residential blocks, wharves and godowns were built along the west shore. Major developers like Hormusjee Naorojee Mody and Catchick Paul Chater actively participated in the development of Tsim Sha Tsui, the Kowloon–Canton Railway commenced service on 1 October 1910. Kowloon Station in Tsim Sha Tsui was built on the new southern reclamation from 1913 to 1915, the rails extended along the western reclamation parallel to Chatham Road, with old Hung Hom Station near the Gun Club Hill Barracks at the junction of Chatham Road and Austin Road. Another major road, Salisbury Road, was completed in approximately the same period, the landmark Peninsula Hotel was built on the reclamation in 1928, opposite to the station. The Kowloon Station was relocated to a new Hung Hom Station in 1978, the whole station and rails were demolished except the landmark Clock Tower
2.
Victoria Harbour
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Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in Hong Kong. The harbours deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kongs establishment as a British colony, throughout its history, the harbour has seen numerous reclamation projects undertaken on both shores, many of which have caused controversy in recent years. Environmental concerns have been expressed about the effects of these expansions, in terms of water quality and it has also been proposed that benefits of land reclamation may be less than the effects of decreased harbour width, affecting the number of vessels passing through the harbour. Nonetheless Victoria Harbour still retains its role as a port for thousands of international vessels each year. Long famous for its views, the harbour is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. Lying in the middle of the dense urban region, the harbour is the site of annual fireworks displays. During the Taiping Rebellion, armed rebels paraded the streets of Hong Kong, on 21 December 1854, the Hong Kong police arrested several armed rebels who were about to attack Kowloon City. On 23 January 1855, a fleet of Taiping war boats was on the verge of a battle against Chinese imperial war boats defending the harbour. The Chinese defenders were ordered away by the British colonial authorities and these incidents caused rising tension that would eventually lead to the Arrow War. The harbour was originally called Hong Kong Harbour, but was renamed as Victoria Harbour. The subject of pollution came to the fore in the 1970s with the growth of the manufacturing sector. The water club races were stopped in 1973 due to pollution in the harbour, studies also showed excessive nitrogen input from discharges of the Pearl River Delta into the harbour for decades. After completion of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Feasibility Study in 1989 and it consists of three district development cells separated by parks, namely, Central, Tamar and Exhibition. The latest proposed reclamation, extending along the waterfront from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay, faced public opposition, I believe an insightful and visionary chief executive would support our stance and work with us to protect the harbour. Reclamation work also led to the demolition of Queens Pier and Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier, structures of historic significance, Victoria Harbour covers an area of about 41.88 km2 as of 2004. The eastern boundary is considered to be the line formed between the westernmost extremity of Siu Chau Wan and A Kung Ngam. Among the best places to view the harbour are the Peak Tower atop Victoria Peak, rides on the Star Ferry, particularly the route between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, are another popular way to view the harbour and cityscape. As the natural centre of the territory, the harbour has played host to major public shows
3.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
4.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
5.
Standard Chinese
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Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
6.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
7.
Cantonese
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Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
8.
Jyutping
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Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping
9.
Central business district
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A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
10.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
11.
Central and Western District
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The Central and Western District located on northern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 251,519 in 2011, the district has the most educated residents with the second highest income and the third lowest population due to its relatively small size. Central is the business district and the core urban area of Hong Kong. Western District covers Shek Tong Tsui, Kennedy Town and Sai Ying Pun, and was part of the City of Victoria, Central District, as Victoria City, was the first area of planned urban development in Hong Kong during the colonial era. The British held a sale in June 1841, six months after the flag was raised at Possession Point. A total of 51 lots of land were sold to 23 merchant houses to build offices and warehouses, the property buyers included Dents, Jardines, Russells and Olyphants. At the time, the two roads Albany Nullah and Glenealy Nullah were mainly used by the British, the streets later became known as Government Hill. In 1857, the British government expanded Victoria City and divided it into seven districts and those located in present-day Central and Western are, Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Tai Ping Shan, Central. The area was essentially a European area until 1860 when Chinese merchants begin buying up European properties around Cochrane, Wellington, the Central district was the principal European business district, hence the arrival of the first major bank HSBC. The Western district was the centre for Chinese businesses. When property values in the rose, a meeting was held in February 1866 to establish a District Watch Force to police. In 1880, Shek Tong Tsui was established, followed by Kennedy Town in the 20th century, by the 1890s the majority of Hong Kongs population was concentrated in the district with about 200,000 residents, mostly in Victoria City. The corresponding body for the district is Central and Western District Council, District council elections are held every four years, the last one was held on November 7,2011, for terms beginning January 1,2012. 15 constituency members are elected while 4 are appointed by the government, the constituency areas are smaller than the commonly used geographic areas, which are in turn based on the old 1857 and 1880 divisions. In Hong Kongs 2011 Census the district population was 251,519, down four percent from 261,884 in the 2001 census, among the 18 districts, Central and Western has the second highest median household income in the territory. In terms of size of households, it is third smallest at 2.8 persons, behind only Wan Chai and Yau Tsim Mong District. Central and Western District has an ethnically diverse population. 83% of the residents are Chinese, and the largest ethnic groups are Filipinos
12.
Hong Kong Island
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Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its density is 16, 390/km². 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, the Central area on the island is the historical, political and economic centre of Hong Kong. The northern coast of the forms the southern shore of the Victoria Harbour. The island is home to many of the most famous sights in Hong Kong, such as The Peak, Ocean Park, many historical sites, the mountain ranges across the island are also famous for hiking. The northern part of Hong Kong Island, together with Kowloon and Tsuen Wan New Town and their combined area is approximately 88.3 square kilometres and their combined population is approximately 3,156,500, reflecting a population density of 35, 700/km². The island is referred to locally as Hong Kong side or Island side. This style was applied to many locations but is now only heard in this form and Kowloon side. Hong Kong Island comprises the following suburbs/localities of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island is not part of the Islands District, Hong Kong island became a colony of the British Empire when their forces defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War. The island was populated by only a few thousand people when British empire colonized it, the Second World War was a dark period for Hong Kong. In the 1930s, the British anticipated a Japanese attack on Hong Kong, as Wong Nai Chung Gap was a strategic important place of defence, large-scale defensive works were constructed there, including anti-aircraft batteries, howitzers, and machine gun nests. The Battle of Hong Kong began on 8 December 1941, British, Canadian, Indian armies and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces resisted the Japanese invasion commanded by Sakai Takashi, which began eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the Japanese were able to control of the Hong Kong skies on the first day of attack. The defenders retreated from the Gin Drinkers Line and consequently from Kowloon under heavy aerial bombardment, on 18 December, the Japanese had conquered North Point, reaching Wong Nai Chung Gap on the next day. However, Allied forces there were defeated by the Japanese on 23 December. As Wan Chai Gap had also fallen that day, the British had no choice. Hong Kong was surrendered on 25 December 1941, thereafter often called Black Christmas by locals. The Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Young, surrendered in person at the temporary Japanese headquarters, on the floor of the Peninsula Hotel
13.
Kowloon Peninsula
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The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collectively known as Kowloon, geographically, the term Kowloon Peninsula may also refer to the area south of the mountain ranges of Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tates Cairn, Kowloon Peak, etc. The peninsula covers five of the eighteen districts of Hong Kong, Kowloon Bay is located at the northeast of the peninsula. The main rock type of the consists of a medium grained monzogranite with some fine granite outcrops. Early maps and photographs show flat, low-lying land behind the beach of Tsim Sha Tsui Bay with an area, Kowloon Hill. The peninsula has been expanded through land reclamation from the sea. In the south and west most of the reclamation was carried out before 1904, Reclamation in several other small areas along the main Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront was completed by 1982. The West Kowloon Reclamation was formed as part of the Airport Core Programme, before the actual Kowloon boundaries were established, the Kowloon Peninsula served as one of the first destinations for escape during Chinas dynastic times. In 1287, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Bing was fleeing from the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, taking refuge in a cave in the Kowloon peninsula, the inscription wrote Sung Wong Toi or Song Emperors Pavilion. In the 17th century, after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Kowloon Peninsula had a population of 800 when it was ceded to the British empire in 1860. In 1898 a resolution was passed by the Colonial Hong Kong Legislative Council to preserve the land where some of the caves stand, boundary Street Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong Kowloon List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong New Kowloon
14.
Victoria, Hong Kong
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Victoria, officially the City of Victoria, was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong after it became a British colony in 1842. It was initially named Queenstown but was known as Victoria. It served as the de facto capital of Hong Kong during the British colonial period, present-day Central is at the heart of Victoria City. Although the city expanded over much of what is now Kennedy Town, Sheung Wan, and Wan Chai, however, the name is still used in places such as Victoria Park, Victoria Peak, Victoria Harbour, Victoria Prison, and a number of roads and streets. It is also retained in the names of organisations such as the Victoria City District of the Hong Kong Scout. The name Victoria District Court had been used into the 1980s, the city is centred in present-day Central, and named after Queen Victoria in 1843. All remain, except for the one in Magazine Gap Road, in 1857, the British government expanded the scope of Victoria City and divided it into four wans. The four wans are Sai Wan, Sheung Wan, Choong Wan or Chung Wan, except Ha Wan, Sai Wan, Sheung Wan and Choong Wan retain the same name in Chinese today. The four wans are further divided into nine yeuks, the coverage also included parts of East Point and Happy Valley. In 1903, boundary stones were established to mark the Citys boundary, the stones spread from Causeway Bay to Kennedy Town. In the 1890s the capital city extended four miles west to east along the coastal strip, buildings were made of granite and brick. Buses and the new tramway would become the form of transportation in the area
15.
Government Hill
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The Government Hill is a hill in Central, Hong Kong, bounded by upper section of Upper Albert Road on the south, Queens Road Central north, Garden Road east, and Glenealy, west of Hong Kong Island. The hill has been the centre of Hong Kong since the early days of British colonial rule. The Government House, residence of chief executive and colonial governor, st. Johns Cathedral of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, the Anglican Church in Hong Kong, is also on the Government Hill. Adjacent to it is the Court of Final Appeal, inside the Former French Mission Building, beside the already crowded central business district, the hill is free from skyscrapers and preserved many century-old trees. Higher up the hill in the south is Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, in 2011, an application was made to the Town Planning Board to rezone the area as Historic, and cap the building heights to the height of the existing buildings. Parliament Hill, Ottawa Parliament Hill, London Queens Park, Toronto Capitol Hill, Washington, capital Hill, Canberra Hong Kong portal Our Government Hill
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Victoria Peak
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Victoria Peak is a mountain in the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak, with an elevation of 552 m, it is the highest mountain on Hong Kong island, ranked 31 in terms of elevation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The summit is occupied by a radio telecommunications facility and is closed to the public, however, the surrounding area of public parks and high-value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name The Peak. It is a major tourist attraction that offers views over Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma Island, the sixth Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Richard MacDonnell had a summer residence built on the Peak circa 1868. Those that built houses named them whimsically, such as The Eyrie, and these original residents reached their homes by sedan chairs, which were carried up and down the steep slope of Victoria Peak. This limited development of the Peak until the opening of the Peak Tram funicular in 1888, the boost to accessibility caused by the opening of the Peak Tram created demand for residences on the Peak. Between 1904 and 1930, the Peak Reservation Ordinance designated the Peak as a residential area reserved for non-Chinese. They also reserved the Peak Tram for the use of passengers during peak periods. The Peak remains a residential area, although residency today is based on wealth. The Peak is home to species of birds, most prominently the black kite. With some seven million every year, the Peak is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. It offers spectacular views of the city and its waterfront, the viewing deck also has coin-operated telescopes that the visitors can use to enjoy the cityscape. The number of visitors led to the construction of two major leisure and shopping centres, the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria, situated adjacent to each other. The Peak is also accessible by taxi and private car via the circuitous Peak Road, the nearest MTR station is Central. Victoria Peak Garden is located on the site of Mountain Lodge, the Governors old summer residence and it can be reached from Victoria Gap by walking up Mount Austin Road, a climb of about 150 metres. There are several restaurants on Victoria Peak, most of which are located in the two shopping centres, however, the Peak Lookout Restaurant, is housed in an older and more traditional building which was originally a spacious house for engineers working on the Peak Tramway. It was rebuilt in 1901 as an area for sedan chairs. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Hong Kong, at the peak of The Peak, properties are more expensive than anywhere else in the world
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Central and Wan Chai Reclamation
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Central and Wan Chai Reclamation is a project launched by the government of Hong Kong since the 1990s to reclaim land for different purposes. The project was first mentioned in the 1985 planning strategy by the Government, the Government then completed a feasibility study in 1989, followed by endorsement of the then Land Development Policy Committee on the project. The proposed reclamation extends along the waterfront from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay, the project is divided into five phases. It also provided land for new piers, replacements of other facilities affected by reclamation, works started in 1993 and were completed in June 1998. This phase of reclamation is part of the Airport Core Programme, upon completion of the project, the coastline of Central was extended up to 350 metres beyond the original coastline. The Central Reclamation Phase 2 reclaimed 5.3 hectares of land at the former Tamar naval base, the reclamation formed land for the Tamar Site, and also five commercial development sites. Works started in December 1994 and were completed in September 1997 and it has been proposed that a new complex housing the headquarters of the Government and the Legislative Council be built on the reclaimed land. It was originally planned to reclaim 32 hectares of land, but has reduced to 18 due to public opposition. Above-ground construction is scheduled to be completed in 2011, the underground Central-Wan Chai Bypass is scheduled for completion in 2017. The island configuration is to ensure water quality in the vicinity remained at satisfactory levels after reclamation was completed. Works commenced in March 1994 and were completed in July 1997, Wan Chai Development Phase II extends along the waters edge from the Central Reclamation Phase III to Causeway Bay. Construction work commenced in 2009 and is planned to be completed in 2017, the works involve the temporary reclamation – for a period of several years – of Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter and the former public cargo working area. It undertook to keep the temporary reclamation to the minimum and to reinstate the seabed after completion of the construction works, not everyone welcomed with the reclamation plan warmly. Some Hong Kong residents thought the action was totally unnecessary, it did nothing good, instead of building a bypass, the opponents urge the government to start an electronic road toll scheme in the community. On 5 October 2003, over 1,000 protesters dressed in blue marched on the Central Government Offices calling for a halt to work in the harbour. They also promised to follow up with a three-pronged protest next month using land, sea, the government had lost the first round of a court battle, but then appealed against the decision. The government resumed work to reclaim 230,000 m² of the harbour after the society failed in its bid to get hold of an order to provisionally halt work ahead of Decembers judicial review. Both have become potent symbols for environmentalists, who have staged protests, the SPH requested judicial reviews on the Reclamation, on 27 February 2003 and 25 September 2003 respectively
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General Post Office, Hong Kong
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The General Post Office is the headquarters of Hongkong Post. Built in 1976, it is located at Connaught Place, Central, the office was adjacent to the former Star Ferry Pier, and it is adjacent to Jardine House and the International Finance Centre. The current building occupied a seafront location until 2007, since when reclamation works have led to it becoming inland, the GPO has been moved three times after several reclamations as it was essential to locate the office near the shore for receiving letters from ocean liners. Past locations of the GPO were, 1841–1846, Above St. were transformed into Government Treasury, Supreme Court and this land was auctioned in 1921, when it achieved a price of HK$50 per square foot. The resulting China Building was completed in 1924, reclamations had taken place in the meantime in the late 1890s, and the first General Post Office was relocated in 1911 into new premises on the newly reclaimed section of Pedder Street. It was a typical Edwardian municipal construction of granite and red brick and this old General Post Office building was demolished in 1976, and was functionally relocated to Connaught Place to make way for the construction of the Central station of the MTR below ground. Below the building is the interchange of Hong Kong Station and Central Station of MTR, world-Wide House, an office block, was constructed above ground. Joseph Ting, former curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History. The building was constructed on reclaimed land, in 1967, the Government had planned for a 30 storey block, with 5 floors for the GPO, and 25 for government offices. The site directly to its south was secured by Hongkong Land at a record price, the GPO was designed by architect K. M. Tseng, as a 5 storey building, and the foundation to support another 2, up to the maximum permitted height of 120 feet. The building houses the first central vacuum-cleaning system in Hong Kong, without the need to change bags
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Hong Kong City Hall
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Hong Kong City Hall is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Instead, it is a complex providing municipal services, including performing venues and libraries, the City Hall is managed by the Governments Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Urban Council managed the City Hall and held its meetings there prior to its dissolution in December 1999, prior to its dissolution the UrbCo served as the municipal council for Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The UrbCo had its meeting chamber in the Low Block of the City Hall, Hong Kongs first City Hall, which existed from 1869 to 1933, occupied the current sites of the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building and the Bank of China Building. The current site of the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building was occupied in part by the old City Hall, the City Hall was built on Government land, and funds were raised for its construction, which started in 1866, from public subscriptions. The two-storey hall was designed by Me A. Hermite, a French architect, in a Renaissance style, with cupolae, the facilities available for use by the local community included a theatre, library, museum and assembly rooms. A fountain, sponsored by Dent & Co. was located at the front of the Hall, the building was inaugurated by HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on 28 June 1869 on his visit to the colony. The land was acquired by the Hong Kong Bank in 1933 for its third generation headquarters, the remaining part was demolished in 1947 to make way for the Bank of China Building. The second and current City Hall complex was built in the late 1950s on a 10,000 square metres plot of land on the newly reclaimed seafront, about 200 metres from the first generation building. The foundation stone laying took place on February 25,1960 with then Governor Robert Brown Black. The City Hall was placed under the responsibility of the Urban Council and it has been listed as a Grade I historic building since 2009. It was designed between 1956 and 1958 by British architects Ron Phillips and Alan Fitch, with its clean lines and stark geometric forms, the new Hall is an example of the International style fashionable at the time. The structure was constructed using steel and concrete, and much of the equipment was of steel, glass, the two separate blocks and gardens were laid out as a cohesive whole, along a central axis. The entrance to the block of the City Hall formed an axis with Queens Pier to lend a sense of occasion to visiting dignitaries. One major consideration was juxtaposing the city bustle whilst maximising public access to the surrounding area, thus, the out-sized public areas of the Memorial Gardens and the piazza in front were conceived as a natural extension to promote the freedom of movement and a sense of unlimited space. City Halls Concert hall and theatre have been an important home to the arts in Hong Kong since its inauguration. The conference room of the former Urban Council was also at the building of the City Hall. The High block once housed Hong Kongs principal public library, until a new Central library was opened in 2001, the Hong Kong Museum of History relocated in 1975, and the Hong Kong Museum of Art also moved out of City Hall in 1991
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Island Line (MTR)
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The Island Line is one of eleven lines of the MTR, the mass transit system in Hong Kong. It runs from Kennedy Town in the Central and Western District to Chai Wan in the Eastern District, the line first opened on 31 May 1985. It currently travels through 16.3 kilometres in 34 minutes along its route, the line is indicated by the colour blue on the MTR map. The Hong Kong Government authorised the construction of the 13.1 km long Island Line in December 1980, on 31 May 1985 the Island Line opened with services operating between Admiralty and Chai Wan stations in six-car trains. On 23 May 1986, the Island Line was extended to Central Station, both Admiralty and Central stations became interchange stations with the Tsuen Wan Line. As part of extension, each train was extended to eight cars in length. On 4 August 2002, both stations became interchange stations with the new Tseung Kwan O Line which had taken over the harbour crossing section from the Kwun Tong Line. In 2002, the MTRC announced that it would use HK$300 million to construct the West and South Island Lines, no sooner, in May 2002, the first proposal from the MTRC detailed a western extension of the existing Island Line towards Kennedy Town. However, the current plan for the new lines to the Southern District would require parts of the Western extension in order for it to be completed. New intermediate stations at Sai Ying Pun and the University of Hong Kong also opened as part of the extension, however, construction delayed the opening of Sai Ying Pun station to 29 March 2015. The Island Line resembles the deep-level lines of the London Underground, as most of the route and stations along the line are deep underground and consist of cylindrical tunnels. This is the result of a lack of land, as the construction plans for the line required it to be built under major roads. The route of the underground section of the line is also served by local trams at surface level. Because of the depth of the line, most underground stations on this line have curved walls on the platforms, because most stations were built under roads, most of the platforms are curved, resulting in large platform gaps. The few stations where the platforms are otherwise relatively straight are those on the West Island Line as well as North Point, Quarry Bay, Tai Koo, Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan. All Island Line stations except Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan have their Chinese station names written in Chinese calligraphy as part of the stations livery. This explains why Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan stations do not have calligraphy forming part of its livery and this feature is also shared amongst some newer MTR stations such as those on the Tseung Kwan O Line and Lam Tin Station on the Kwun Tong Line. Also, due to problems, the platforms of Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tin Hau
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MTR
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The Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system of Hong Kong. Opened in 1979, the system now includes 218.2 km of rail with 161 stations, operated by the MTR Corporation Limited, the MTR is one of the most profitable metro systems in the world, with a high farebox recovery ratio of 186%. Under the governments rail-led transport policy, the MTR system is a mode of public transport in Hong Kong. It consistently achieves a 99. 9% on-time rate on its train journeys, as of 2014, the MTR has a 48. 1% market share of the franchised public transport market, making it the most popular transport option in Hong Kong. The integration of the Octopus smart card fare-payment technology into the MTR system in September 1997 has further enhanced the ease of commuting on the MTR, construction started soon after the release of the study, and the first line opened in 1979. The MTR was immediately popular with residents of Hong Kong, as a result, there are continual debates regarding how and where to expand the MTR network. As a successful operation, the MTR has served as a model for other newly built systems in the world. During the 1960s, the government of Hong Kong saw a need to accommodate increasing traffic as Hong Kongs economy continued to grow strongly. In 1966, British transportation consultants Freeman, Fox, Wilbur Smith & Associates were appointed to study the system of Hong Kong. The study was based on the projection of the population of Hong Kong for 1986, on 1 September 1967, the consultants submitted the Hong Kong Mass Transport Study to the government, which recommended the construction of a 40-mile rapid transit rail system in Hong Kong. The study suggested that four rail lines be developed in six stages, detailed positions of lines and stations were presented in the study. These four lines were the Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line, the study was submitted to the Legislative Council on 14 February 1968. The consultants received new data from the 1966 by-census on 6 March 1968, a short supplementary report was submitted on 22 March 1968 and amended in June 1968. The by-census indicated that the projected 1986 population was reduced by more than one million from the estimate to 5,647,000. The dramatic reduction affected town planning, the population distribution was largely different from the original study. The projected 1986 populations of Castle Peak New Town, Sha Tin New Town, and, to an extent, Tsuen Wan New Town, were revised downward. In this updated scenario, the reduced the scale of the recommended system. The other lines would be placed in the list of extensions and this report led to the final study in 1970
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Metro station
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A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a Metro or Subway. The station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, access trains stopping at its platforms, the location of a metro station is carefully planned to provide easy access to important urban facilities such as roads, commercial centers, major buildings and other transport nodes. Most stations are located underground, with entrances/exits leading up to ground or street level, the bulk of the station typically positioned under land reserved for public thoroughfares or parks. This is especially important where the station is serving high-density urban precincts, in other cases, a station may be elevated above a road, or at ground level depending on the level of the train tracks. The physical, visual and economic impact of the station and its operations will be greater, planners will often take metro lines or parts of lines at or above ground where urban density decreases, extending the system further for less cost. Metros are most commonly used in cities, with great populations. Alternatively, a railway land corridor is re-purposed for rapid transit. At street level the logo of the company marks the entrances/exits of the station. Usually, signage shows the name of the station and describes the facilities of the station, often there are several entrances for one station, saving pedestrians from needing to cross a street and reducing crowding. A metro station typically provides ticket vending and ticket validating systems, the station is divided into an unpaid zone connected to the street, and a paid zone connected to the train platforms. The ticket barrier allows passengers with tickets to pass between these zones. The barrier may operated by staff or more typically with automated turnstiles or gates that open when a pass is scanned or detected. Some small metro systems dispense with paid zones and validate tickets with staff in the train carriages, access from the street to ticketing and the train platform is provided by stairs, concourses, escalators, elevators and tunnels. The station will be designed to minimise overcrowding and improve flow, permanent or temporary barriers may be used to manage crowds. Some metro stations have connections to important nearby buildings. Most jurisdictions mandate that people with disabilities must have unassisted use of the station and this is resolved with elevators, taking a number of people from street level to the unpaid ticketing area, and then from the paid area to the platform. In addition, there will be stringent requirements for emergencies, with lighting, emergency exits. Stations are a part of the evacuation route for passengers escaping from a disabled or troubled train
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Central Station (MTR)
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Central is an MTR station located in the Central area of Hong Kong Island. The stations livery is red but brown on the Tsuen Wan Line platforms. The station is the terminus of the Tsuen Wan Line, a stop on the Island Line, and connects to Hong Kong Station, which serves the Tung Chung Line. The station was originally named Chater Station and it was initially conceived to cater for 330,000 passengers daily and was planned to be 380 metres long – one of the longest stations in the world. More than 200,000 passengers use this station daily, the longest distance between two exits is approximately 700m. Central Station was included in the Hong Kong Mass Transport Study, together with Western Market Station, it was to serve as an interchange station of the Kwun Tong Line and Island Line. In the recommended system, the Tsuen Wan Line would end at Admiralty, the station was originally planned to be located under Des Voeux Road Central between Jubilee Street and Pedder Street. The station first opened as Chater Station on 12 February 1980 as the terminus of the Modified Initial System, only a portion of the station came into operation as the Island Line had not been opened yet. The station was named Chater in English but 中環 in Chinese and this would be misleading as many thought that the Chinese name would be 遮打, a transliteration. When the Island Line between Admiralty and Chai Wan opened on 31 May 1985, MTR renamed Chater to Central together with the renaming of some stations on the Tsuen Wan line. Construction for the Island Line was carried out in early 1983, the Island Line began servicing Central on 23 May 1986 when it was extended beyond Admiralty to Sheung Wan and the Island Line platforms came into service. One component of the Airport Core Programme between 1991 and 1998 was a railway connecting the new Hong Kong International Airport to the city centre. To link Central with the nearby Hong Kong Station, the terminus of the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express. The passageway starts at the Pedder Street concourse and was refurbished with a similar to that of Hong Kong Station. Central Station has four platforms on three levels, the platform serves Chai Wan-bound trains on the Island Line and this level includes the connecting walkway to Hong Kong Station. The middle level includes platforms 1 and 2 using a shared island and they serve the Tsuen Wan Line and were built directly under Chater Road, extending from Des Voeux Road Central to Club Street. The bottom level, two levels from the top level, is platform 4, for Island Line trains in the direction of Kennedy Town, passengers from platform 3 transferring to platforms 1 or 2 use the regular escalators on the Chater Road concourse. There are designated escalators from platforms 1 and 2 to platform 4 for the purpose of transfer
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Northern and southern China
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Northern China and southern China are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between two regions are not precisely defined. Often used as the dividing line between northern and southern China is the Huai River–Qin Mountains Line. This line approximates the 0 °C January isotherm and the 800 millimetres isohyet in China, culturally, however, the division is more ambiguous. In the eastern provinces like Jiangsu and Anhui, the Yangtze River may instead be perceived as the boundary instead of the Huai River. This may have been deliberate, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and Han Chinese Ming Dynasty established many of these boundaries intentionally to discourage regionalist separatism. The Northeast and Inner Mongolia, areas that are thought of as being outside China proper, are also conceived to belong to northern China according to the framework above. Historically, Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai were not usually conceived of as being part of either the north or south, however, Xinjiang is now regarded as being part of the north due to the spread of north Chinese culture and the use of Mandarin. The concepts of northern and southern China originate from differences in climate, geography, culture, there are also major differences in language, cuisine, culture, and popular entertainment forms. For a large part of Chinese history, northern China was economically more advanced than southern China, the population of Shanghai increased from 12,000 households to over 250,000 inhabitants after Kaifeng was sacked by invading armies. This began a shift of political, economic and cultural power from northern China to southern China, the east coast of southern China remained a leading economic and cultural center of China until the Republic of China. Today, southern China remains economically more prosperous than northern China, during the Qing dynasty, regional differences and identification in China fostered the growth of regional stereotypes. Such stereotypes often appeared in historic chronicles and gazetteers and were based on circumstances, historical and literary associations. These differences were reflected in Qing dynasty policies, such as the prohibition on local officials to serve their home areas, as well as conduct of personal and commercial relations. During the Republican period, Lu Xun, a major Chinese writer, wrote, According to my observation, Northerners are sincere and honest, yet sincerity and honesty lead to stupidity, whereas skillfulness and quick-mindedness lead to duplicity. Some of this was based on the idea there would be conflict between the bureaucratic north and the commercial south. In addition there are cultural divisions that exist within and across the north–south dichotomy. Nevertheless, the concepts of North and South continue to play an important role in regional stereotypes and it should be noted that these are only rough and approximate stereotypes among a large and greatly varied population
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Admiralty, Hong Kong
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Admiralty is the eastern extension of the central business district on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It is located on the end of the Central and Western District, bordered by Wan Chai to the east. The name of Admiralty refers to the former Admiralty Dock in the area housed a naval dockyard. The dock was demolished when land was reclaimed and developed northward as the HMS Tamar naval base. The Chinese name, Kam Chung, lit, golden Bell, refers to a gold-coloured bell that was used for timekeeping at Wellington Barracks. The area was developed as an area by the British military in the 19th century. They built the Wellington Barracks, Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks, following the urbanisation of the north shore of Hong Kong Island, the military area split the urban area. The Hong Kong Government tried many times to get the land from the British military to connect the two areas, but the military refused. It was not until the 1970s that the land was returned to government and changed to commercial buildings. The Admiralty Station of the MTR was built on the site of the Hong Kong dockyards which was built in 1878. After its completion, the area became known as Admiralty. During the 2014 Hong Kong protests, substantial tracts of the area were occupied by suffragists, buildings in Admiralty consist primarily of office buildings, government buildings, shopping malls and hotels. There are also several parks in the area, Hong Kong Park, Tamar Park, the main development of the area in recent years has been the development of the Tamar site into the Central Government Complex, which started operating in 2011. Facing Victoria Harbour, the houses the Office of the Chief Executive, the Legislative Council Complex. The complex is connected to the MTR Admiralty Station via an underground walkway, both roads run from west to east and connect Central to Wan Chai. Other streets include Rodney Street and Tim Mei Avenue, trams are running across Admiralty along Queensway. Most of the buildings of the area are connected through the Central Elevated Walkway, the area is served by the peaktram and Admiralty Station of the MTR. It is a station between Island Line, Tsuen Wan Line and South Island Line
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Admiralty Station (MTR)
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Admiralty is an MTR station located on Hong Kong Island, in an area often referred to as Admiralty. The stations livery is blue, white and yellow, the station connects the Tsuen Wan Line with the Island Line in cross-platform interchange type. Before the opening of the Tsuen Wan branch line in 1982, the station is named after HMS Tamar, once the headquarters of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong – this, even though HMS Tamar had never actually been called the Admiralty. It was built on the site of the Hong Kong naval dockyards. In 2011 to 2016, the station underwent major expansion to two new sets of platforms for a new station underneath it. The new Admiralty station serves two more MTR lines, the South Island Line and the North South Corridor. The Government had given the MTR Corporation first refusal on the 60, 000-square-foot site, the Admiralty Centre, United Centre and Queensway Plaza formed part of development, and sit directly above the station. On 12 February 1980, the segment of the first MTR line between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui was opened, at the time, Admiralty Station and Central Station were the only two MTR stations on Hong Kong Island. The platforms began serving the Tsuen Wan Line on 10 May 1982, Admiralty was always expected to be a transfer station to the Island Line. On 31 May 1985, the first phase of the Island Line was opened, when the second part of the Island Line opened in 1986, the termination platform became the Sheung Wan-bound platform, while the other platforms remained unchanged. The driver decided to complete the journey and passengers were evacuated from the train in Admiralty, Admiralty Station was expanded to serve two additional lines, the South Island Line on level L6 level and the North South Corridor of the Sha Tin to Central Link project on level L5. The opening date was delayed from 2015 due to problems in the deep tunnels for the new platforms. The North South Corridor, expected to open in 2021, will allow commuters from the northeast New Territories to interchange directly from the East Rail Line. A new underground interchange concourse with natural light was built to the east of the current concourse, taking up one level, the station expansion, located under Harcourt Garden, incorporated 34 escalators and five lifts to integrate with the existing station. The Sha Tin to Central Link will be one level under the interchange concourse, exits E1 and E2 are being rebuilt as one exit to accommodate the glass roof of the interchange concourse. This new exit E will not open until the Sha Tin to Central Link platforms open. While the Sha Tin to Central Link tracks will have sidings for terminating trains south of the station, the South Island Line tracks end at bumper blocks north of the station with no overrun track. The narrowest part of the platforms on L3 level was widened to make better use of the first and second car of the Tsuen Wan Line train
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Sheung Wan
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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. Sheung Wan was one of the earliest settled places by the British, the site of the original occupation of Hong Kong Island by British forces in 1842 was at Possession Street, between Queens Road Central and Hollywood Road. A plaque to this effect can be found in Hollywood Road Park at the top of Possession Street, the foot of Possession Street, Possession Point, was at that time on the shoreline, but is now several hundred yards inland due to reclamation. Sheung Wan is surrounded by Sai Ying Pun in the west, Central in the east, Victoria Harbour in the north, part of the Mid-Levels is located within Sheung Wan. Garfield Mansion is in Sheung Wan while Green Field Court is in Central. The borders location south of Seymour Road in the Mid-Levels is unknown, the route covers 35 historic buildings and sites in Sheung Wan. Streets in Sheung Wan include, Aberdeen Street, marking the border with Central Bonham Strand, named after Charles Saint George Cleverly, the 2nd Surveyor General of Hong Kong Government. Kennedy Town became the new terminus of the Island on December 28,2014, trams also run through Sheung Wan, and one of the tram termini, Western Market, is located at the junction of Des Voeux Road Central and Morrison Street near its namesake. The Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in the Shun Tak Centre has ferries and helicopters to Macau, numerous bus routes run through Sheung Wan. Central Bus Terminus, located next to the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, is one of the largest bus termini on Hong Kong Island, previously the French International School of Hong Kong operated a Kindergarten campus in Shops 2-4 on the ground floor of Tung Fai Gardens in Sheung Wan. Central and Western Heritage Trail, Sheung Wan Route Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail List of areas of Hong Kong
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Aberdeen Street
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Aberdeen Street is a border street dividing Sheung Wan and Central on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It ascends from Queens Road Central to Caine Road in the 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. South of Hollywood Road was the Alice Memorial Hospital and the College of Medicine where Sun Yat-sen graduated with distinction in 1892, after the college was merged into the University of Hong Kong, the hospital was also moved to Bonham Road and renamed to Nethersole Hospital. After reclamation of island north, Aberdeen Street was extended in the north by Wing Kut Street, the following list follows a north-south order. Indicates the western side of the street, while indicates the eastern side, > Junction with Queens Road Central This section is a ladder street > intersection with Wellington Street Lin Heung Tea House Located at 160-164 Wellington Street, at the corner with Aberdeen Street. The restaurant opened in 1928 and changed several times before opening at its present location. It serves dim sum for breakfast and lunch and traditional Cantonese dishes for dinner, > junction with Kau U Fong Lan Kwai Fong Hotel Located at No.3 Kau U Fong, at the corner with Aberdeen Street. Despite the name, it is not located at Lan Kwai Fong, > junction with Wa On Lane > junction with Gough Street > junction with Gage Street Original site of the school where Yang Quyun was assassinated by Qing agents in 1911. Located at No.52 Gage Street, at the corner with Aberdeen Street, a marker, part of the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail is located in Aberdeen Street. The site is included in the Central and Western Heritage Trail. > junction with Sam Ka Lane > intersection with Hollywood Road PMQ The compound occupies the block west of Aberdeen Street and it is located on the site of the former Central School. The school had established in 1862 at Gough Street and moved to the Aberdeen Street location in 1889. At that time, the school was one of the largest and most expensive buildings in Hong Kong and it was renamed Queens College in 1894. The campus was destroyed during World War II, and the school was subsequently relocated, the buildings at Aberdeen Street were demolished in 1948 and the Quarters were opened in 1951. They were completely vacated in 2000 and it has been revitalized as a creative hub for local design talents in 2014. N. A gatepost of the remains in front of the building on Caine Road. St. 41–55, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol.44
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Mid-Levels
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Mid-Levels is an expensive and affluent residential area in Central and Western District, Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is located halfway up Victoria Peak, directly above Central, residents are predominantly affluent local and expat professionals. The Mid-Levels is bound by Bonham Road, Caine Road, Upper Albert Road, Kennedy Road to the north, in the west it extends as far as the University of Hong Kong, and in the east to the south of Wan Chai. It is mainly divided into East Mid-Levels above Admiralty, Central Mid-Levels above Central and Sheung Wan, many streets are named after former Governors of Hong Kong. Examples include Bonham Road and Kennedy Road, many of the roads in this area are within walking distance of the Central Business District, which is accessible by the Mid-Levels escalator from Central. An added attraction of the Mid-Levels is its proximity to nature. Many wealthy people in Hong Kong are willing to pay top market price for a residence that is away from pollution, many choices for housing are available, from ultra-luxurious apartments to compact, near-luxury apartments. The costs of these vary considerably according to the size, location. The cost ranges from the ten million dollars to over five hundred million Hong Kong dollars for an apartment in a Frank Gehry-designed building. Hong Kong Park, which is 80,000 m2 in area, is located next to Cotton Tree Drive in Central, there are modern facilities surrounded by a natural landscape. The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest Zoological and Botanical centres in the world and it is located on the northern slope of Victoria Peak and has been opened to the public since 1862. In 1871, it was renamed to Botanical Gardens, and in 1975. This venerable park was previously named Bing Tao Garden, meaning the Chief Commanders Garden and it was then linked to the garden of the Government House. In 1941, a statue of King George VI was erected in the garden to mark the centenary year in which Hong Kong became a British Colony. Keeping wild animals in the garden can be traced as early as 1876, at that time, animals were kept merely for entertainment. From 1970s, the changed to techniques in captive breeding. Today, the garden has a collection of over 600 birds,70 mammals and 40 reptiles which are housed in about 40 enclosures, the collection includes orangutans, gibbons and other primates, the American flamingo, jaguar and Burmese python can be found here as well. There is a breeding programme for many of these species, notably the orangutans, gibbons
30.
Court of Final Appeal Building
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The Court of Final Appeal Building, also known as the Old Supreme Court Building, is the home of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. It housed the former Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983 and the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2011 and it is located at 8 Jackson Road, in Central, along the eastern side of Statue Square, directly west of Chater Garden. As the Old Supreme Court, its exterior is one of the monuments of Hong Kong. Construction of the Building started in 1900 and it was opened on 15 January 1912 by the Governor Sir Frederick Lugard, the two-storey granite building is neo-classical in style supported by Ionic columns. It is surmounted by a 2.7 m high blind-folded statue of Justice, represented by Themis and this statue is inspired by the one erected on the Old Bailey of London. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the building was used as the headquarters of the Kempeitai, in 1978, this building was severely affected by the construction of MTR, therefore, it had to undergo some restoration afterwards. As a consequence, for a time in the early 1980s, the Supreme Court was moved to the Former French Mission Building, which was then used by the Victoria District Court. The building became the Legislative Council Building in 1985, and the Supreme Court was moved to the Supreme Court Building in Admiralty and was renamed the High Court Building in 1997. In 2011 the Legislative Council was moved to the Legislative Council Complex within the Central Government Complex at Tamar site, on 7 September 2015, the building reverted to its former judicial function. It is now housing the Court of Final Appeal, the opening ceremony was held on 25 September 2015 by the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal Geoffrey Ma Tao-li. The building was erected on reclaimed land and its foundation was formed by driving hundreds of Chinese fir tree trunks into the mixture of reclamation materials and silt on the site. As a consequence, the Building is in effect floating on a timber raft, such a foundation system requires the groundwater level to be maintained at a constant level, and a groundwater replenishment system is installed to replace groundwater as required. The plan of the building follows a pattern and is symmetrical. The Building occupies an area of around 2,660 square metres and is surrounded by columns, the height of the building, from street level to the highest point, which is in the form of a bronze Tudor Crown, is about 40 metres. A pediment surmounts the central section of the building facing Statue Square, the pediment is topped by a Statue of Justice and under it is the inscription Erected AD MDCCCCX. The pediment incorporates a semi-circular window and the carving of the British Royal Coat of Arms is above it, the shield is supported by the English lion and Scottish unicorn and is surmounted by the royal crown. The motto of the sovereign, Dieu et mon droit, is displayed underneath it, the figures of Mercy and Truth are located on both sides of the British Royal Arms
31.
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
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The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the unicameral parliamentary legislature of the Hong Kong special administrative region of the Peoples Republic of China. Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2010, there are five District Council new functional constituencies nominated by the District Councillors, the Legislative Council was first established in 1843 under the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong as an advisory council to the Governor. The powers and functions of the legislature expanded throughout its history, the PLC ceased to exist and was replaced after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997. Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states the aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. Together with the article for Chief Executive, The articles have made universal suffrage of the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule, the Council had four Official members including the Governor who was President and Member when it was first established. The Letters Patent of 1888, which replaced the 1843 Charter, added the significant words, the first ever elections to the Council were held in 1985, following by the first direct elections of the Legislative Council were held in 1991. The Legislative Council became an elected legislature for the first time in 1995. The Peoples Republic of China government did not agree with reforms to the Legislative Council enacted in 1994, instead, the Chinese government resolved to set up an alternative legislative council in preparation for the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China. The Provisional Legislative Council, in operation from 25 January 1997 to 30 June 1998, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR was established on 1 October 1998 under The Basic Law of the HKSAR. The first meeting of the Council was held in July of the year in Hong Kong. Since the Basic Law came into effect, five Legislative Council elections have been held, the most recent constitutional reform proposal, which suggested the electoral method of the Legislative Council remained unchanged, was vetoed in 2015. The first meetings of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, from 1844 to 1846, were convened in the residence of Governor Pottinger. In 1985, LegCo moved down to the nearby Old Supreme Court building in Central Hong Kong where it remained until November 2011 and it took up residence in its present accommodation at the Legislative Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar in December 2011. Unlike many other former and current Commonwealth legislatures, the Hong Kong Legislative Council does not have a ceremonial mace placed in its chambers, however, the high courts of Hong Kong use a mace to open sessions, and it represents the authority and powers of the court. The high block, which will be named as the Office Block, mainly houses offices for members, officially opened on 1 August 2011, administrative staff had already taken occupation on 15 January 2011. The Legislative Council consists of 70 elected members, the term of office of a member is four years, except for the first term when it was set to be two years. In both the 2008 and 2004 elections,30 members were elected by universal suffrage from geographical constituencies and 30 were elected from functional constituencies
32.
Possession Point
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Possession Point is a former point of land on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, before land reclamation moved the coast further north. The area is where Commodore James Bremer, commander-in-chief of British forces in China, accompanied by officers of the naval squadron the next day, Bremer took formal possession, under a feu de joie from the Royal Marines and a royal salute from the men-of-war ships. The area, which came to be known as Possession Point, was kept an open space, and used for recreation by the local Chinese, who called it Tai Tat Tei. It was developed in the 1980s and formed into a hotel and commercial complex, the point has now disappeared from the coastline, but Possession Street and the sudden turn of Queens Road West reveals its original location. In maps of the 1980s and before, Hollywood Road Park is marked as Possession Point and this marks the original site which, owing to land reclamation, is no longer located on the coast. The Chinese name, 水坑口, means the mouth of water trench, convention of Chuenpi History of Hong Kong Central and Western Heritage Trail - Old Site of the Possession Point
33.
Western world
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The Western world or the West is a term usually referring to different nations, depending on the context, most often including at least part of Europe. There are many accepted definitions about what they all have in common, the Western world is also known as the Occident. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Its political usage was changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, Western culture was influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, Sumer, Babylonia, and also Ancient Egypt. It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, Greece, over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and west to include the rest of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas, conquering and absorbing. Later, they expanded to the north of the Mediterranean Sea to include Western, Central, numerous times, this expansion was accompanied by Christian missionaries, who attempted to proselytize Christianity. There is debate among some as to whether Latin America is in a category of its own, specifically, Western culture may imply, a Biblical Christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around the Post-Classical Era and after. European cultural influences concerning artistic, musical, folkloric, ethic and oral traditions, the concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic, much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Oceania. The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the civilized world. Use of the term West as a cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use, herodotus considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of Europa versus Asia. The terms West and East were not used by any Greek author to describe that conflict, the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade confirmed this deviation. The Renaissance in the West emerged partly from currents within the Roman Empire, Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula about the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. In its 12-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy, to a republic, nonetheless, despite its great legacy, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire
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Central Market, Hong Kong
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Central Market was a fresh food market in Central, Hong Kong. Located between Jubilee Street, Queen Victoria Street, Queens Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central, by its side is the first public female toilet and first above-ground toilets in Hong Kong. It is one of two existing Bauhaus market buildings, the precursor of the market was Canton Bazaar, which was established in 1842 on Queens Road Central between Cochrane Street and Graham Street. In 1843 it was known as the Middle Bazaar. The Chinese population were forced to relocate from Central to the Tai Ping Shan area due to a series of fires. The market was replaced by residential houses for Europeans. The bazaar was moved to Queensway, where the present-day High Court stands and it housed Chinese furniture dealers, joiners, cabinet makers and curio shops. Due to its proximity of Naval Yard and the construction of cantonment, in the 1850s, it was moved to its current location on Des Voeux Road. Its name also changed to Central Market, the market was rebuilt in 1858, then completely replaced with a Western marble structure in 1895. The rebuilt market was a three-storey Victorian-style structure with a tower in the middle, the market was demolished again in 1937, this time replaced with a Bauhaus structure. Construction was completed in 1938, and cost HK$900,000, the market re-opened on 1 May 1939. During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945, the Chinese name of the market was changed from 中環街市 to 中央街市, the Chinese name displayed at the Des Voeux Road Central entrance was not restored until 1993. Central Market was the biggest meat market in Southeast Asia and the then-Governor of Hong Kong David Trench made a visit to the market in 1967, the importance of the market attracted another Governor Alexander Grantham to pay another visit. It was managed by the Urban Council until its dissolution in 1999, the market was then closed in March 2003. The market is housed in a 4-storey reinforced concrete structure, the market is spacious with a central court, high ceiling and window walls for natural light and ventilation. There are two entrances of the market, the Des Voeux Road Central entrance is one the ground floor while the Queens Road Central entrance bridges the first floor. In the early days, the floor were offices and quarters of hygiene inspectors. The building is abandoned with few stores along a renovated pedestrian corridor inside
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Cochrane Street
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Cochrane Street is a hilly street between Queens Road Central and the junction with Gage Street and Lyndhurst Terrace in Central, Hong Kong. The whole street hosts the Central-Mid-levels Escalators, the street was named after Thomas John Cochrane, a Rear Admiral of Second in Command and commander-in-chief in East Indies and China Station of Royal Navy. At the time, he stayed in Hong Kong, the street is near the Central Market across the Queens Road. Cochrane Street was at the area of Cantonese residents. It was re-zoned in 1844 under the administration of Henry Pottinger to improve the condition of water supply. The Cantonese residents was later removed to Tai Ping Shan area, at about 11pm oo 14 August 1901, two houses at No.32 and 34 of Cochrane Street collapsed suddenly, claiming 43 lives. The street runs uphill and many restaurants are on this street, List of restaurant districts and streets List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
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Graham Street
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Graham Street is a street in Hong Kong and the location of Graham Street Market, one of the oldest continuously operating street markets in Hong Kong. The Street Market occupies the section between Queens Road Central and Hollywood Road, the market dates back more than 160 years. The street is narrow but allows a row of stalls on either sides, one of the earliest cinemas in Hong Kong, the Bizhao Dianying Yuan, opened in Graham Street in 1907. Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Governor Murray MacLehose, visited the Graham Street market on 5 May 1975 to speak with locals, Graham Street was featured in a scene from the 2001 film Rush Hour 2. The Urban Renewal Authority is redeveloping Graham Street and Peel Street and this will affect over 37 buildings in the process. HK magazine, Marked for Death, July 20th,2007 HK magazine, Market Raiders, September 14th,2007 HK magazine, Market Values, February 1st,2008 Kinoshita, chapter 2, The Street Market as an Urban Facility in Hong Kong. Public places in Asia Pacific cities, current issues and strategies, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press
37.
Demographics of Hong Kong
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Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with an overall density of some 6,300 people per square kilometre. At the same time, Hong Kong has one of the world’s lowest birth rates—1.11 per woman of child-bearing age as of 2012, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. It is estimated that 26. 8% of the population will be aged 65 or more in 2033, Hong Kong recorded 8.2 births per 1,000 people in 2005-2010. Ethnically, Hong Kong mainly consists of Han Chinese who constitute approximately 92% of the population, of these, many originate from various regions in Canton. There are also a number of descendants of immigrants from elsewhere in Southern China, in English, the term Hong Kongers is also used to refer to Hong Kongese people, while the term Hongkongese is sometimes used as an adjective to describe people or things related to Hong Kong. The following census data is available for Hong Kong between the years 1841-2011, in 2011, Hong Kong had a population of just over 7 million, with a density of approximately 6,300 people per square kilometer. This makes Hong Kong the fourth most densely populated region in the world, after Macau, Monaco, the national census does not subdivide people of European descent, nor does it categorise Chinese ethnic subgroups. However, the majority of Hong Kongers of Chinese descent trace their ancestry to various parts of Southern China, some Cantonese people also originate from Hakka-speaking villages in the New Territories. Most Teochew-speaking migrants immigrated to Hong Kong from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, many Taishanese and Cantonese also migrated after 1949. Currently, the ethnic groups include the Punti, Hakka, Cantonese, Hoklo. Punti and Tanka are Hong Kong indigenous people, while Cantonese people are not Hong Kong indigenous people, the following table shows birth rates and mortality rates in Hong Kong between 1950-2015. At the end of the 20th century, Hong Kong had one of the lowest birth rates in the world. However, the number of births doubled in the decade between 2001-2011, largely due to an increase in the number of children born in Hong Kong to women with residence in Mainland China. In 2001 there were 7,810 births to Mainland women out of a total of 48,219 births and this increased to 37,253 births to Mainland women out of a total of 82,095 births. According to The World Factbook in 2013, the infant mortality rate in Hong Kong was 2.89 deaths/1,000 live births. People in Hong Kong follow a range of religions, although most people of Chinese descent follow Taoist, Confucian, or Buddhist faiths
38.
Government House, Hong Kong
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Government House, located on Government Hill in the Central District of Hong Kong Island, is the official residence of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. The building was constructed in 1855 as a Colonial Renaissance style, Government House was the official residence of the Governor from 1855 to 1997, when the city was under British rule. 25 governors of Hong Kong, out of total 28, used this building as official residence, Government House was designed by Charles St George Cleverly. Construction started in 1851, eight years after Hong Kong was declared a British colony, the first governor to live there was Sir John Bowring, the fourth governor of the territory. The last one was the last governor, Chris Patten, during the Japanese occupation during World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese Military Governor. The form of the changed to a hybrid Japanese/neoclassical image by Seichi Fujimura in 1944, primarily through the addition of a tower. Government House also housed the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1855 to the 1930s, the Council used the ballroom from 1891 onward. After the handover of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China in 1997, Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive, did not reside in Government House. Donald Tsang, the second Chief Executive moved into Government House in January 2006, the Standard criticised that the renovation cost was estimated at HK$14.5 million, including a sum of HK$300,000 allocated to a new fish pond designed to accommodate Tsangs collection of koi. The main entrance of the house faces south towards Victoria Peak, down on the northern side is the Former Central Government Offices, where most government secretariat offices were situated until 2011. Government House has a front lawn and a back garden, eminent among the plants in the garden are the numerous azaleas that come to full bloom in spring. Inside, the ballroom, the room, the dining room. At the front entrance on Upper Albert Road, there are two buildings with a gate known as the Gate Lodges. The lodges once housed the Government House Guards, who stood in front of the house, various units of the British Army stationed in Hong Kong were used as guard units. The garden of Government House is opened twice a year to the public, at least one will be arranged in spring to enable members of the public to share the delight in viewing the full bloom of the azaleas. Visitors are usually allowed to pass by the room, dining room and ballroom where key official functions are held. The open days are arranged during weekends. Dates are announced through press releases one week in advance, the ballroom of Government House was made available in the 1990s on three Fridays each month for bookings by charitable, non-profit or public organisations to host events that benefit the community
39.
Flagstaff House
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Flagstaff House, built in 1846, is the oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong. It is located at 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central - within the Hong Kong Park and it has been a longtime residence of the Commander of the British forces in Hong Kong during colonial times. Today Flagstaff House houses the Museum of Tea Ware, the building is a popular setting for wedding photography. Flagstaff House had been named as Headquarter House until 1932, the site chosen was a small bluff above the barracks and above Queens Road, then at the waterfront. The building was designed in Greek revival style, historians suspect it was designed either by Murdoch Bruce, a Scot who was inspector of buildings, or by Lieutenant Bernard Collinson of the Royal Engineers. The first occupant was Major-General George Charles DAguilar, General Officer Commanding from 1844 to 1846 who also held the post of Lieutenant Governor, the west and east wings were shelled during the Japanese invasion in the Second World War, it also suffered bomb damage. The Japanese repaired it and the Commandant took the building as his residence during the occupation, after the war, Flagstaff House was again the Commanders residence until 1978, when the Commander moved to a purpose built house on Barker Road. It was handed over by the military to the civilian Hong Kong Government as part of the recovery of Victoria Barracks, the Government put it under the responsibility of the Urban Council in 1981. The building was declared a monument in 1989 and it was restored as far as possible to its original mid-19th-century appearance, structurally reinforced, and the interior was to be modified so that it could be used as a museum. In 1984, it was converted into the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, lo Gallery, was built and opened in 1995. It is named after local collector, who made a donation to the city in the 1970s and this donation now constitutes the core of the museums collection. The new gallery contains a collection of ceramics and Chinese seals, history of Hong Kong Hong Kong tea culture List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong Museums in Hong Kong LCSD - Tea Museum
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Paul Chater
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Sir Catchick Paul Chater CMG, was a prominent British businessman of Armenian descent in colonial Hong Kong. Chater was born Khachik Pogose Astwachatoor in Calcutta, British India, one of thirteen offspring of Armenian parents Miriam and his father was a member of the Indian civil service. Chater was orphaned at the age of seven, and he gained entry into the La Martiniere College in Calcutta on a scholarship, to honour his contribution to the school, Sir Paul Chaters name was included in the school prayer. In 1864, he moved to Hong Kong from Calcutta and lived with the family of his sister Anna, in the early days in Hong Kong, he was an assistant at the Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan. Later, with the aid of the Sassoon family, he set up business as a broker, resigned from the bank. He took sea-bed soundings at night in a sampan and was instrumental in plotting the reclamation of Victoria Harbour. He is credited with a role in the colonial governments success in acquiring lands then held by the military. In 1886, He helped Patrick Manson establish Dairy Farm, and he entered the Legislative Council that same year, in 1889, he established Hongkong Land with James Johnstone Keswick. Hong Kong Land commenced the land reclamation project under the Praya Reclamation Scheme in 1890, in 1890 the Hongkong Electric company went into production with his help as an informal member of the Executive Council. Chater was enthusiastic in two sports, He played for the Hong Kong Cricket Club 1st IX, and was a horse racing enthusiast. He reportedly never missed the races at the Happy Valley Racecourse in 60 years. He set up the Chater Stable in Hong Kong in 1872 that won races at Happy Valley. The Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup, the Group One third leg of the Hong Kong Triple Crown, is named in his honour. In 1896, Chater joined government ranks when he was appointed to the Executive Council of Hong Kong, and served there until 1926, in 1901, Chater constructed a very fine home with imported European marble at 1, Conduit Road, Hong Kong which he named Marble Hall. Therein, he housed his collection of fine porcelain, in 1904, Chater single-handedly financed the construction of St. Ltd. D. The remainder of his went to the Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth in Calcutta. He was interred at the Hong Kong Cemetery, Chaters wife lived in Marble Hall as a life tenant until her death in 1935. Ownership then passed to the government and it became “Admiralty House” – the official residence of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, and was commandeered by Japanese during their occupation
41.
James Johnstone Keswick
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James Johnstone Keswick was a Scottish businessman in Hong Kong and China and the taipan of the Jardine Matheson & Co. He was the son of the Thomas Keswick and younger brother of William Keswick and he arrived in the Far East in 1870 and remained for 26 years. He became a partner of the Messrs Jardine, Matheson & co. and he founded Hongkong Land together with close associate Sir Paul Chater, a development company established in 1889 which remained closely associated with Jardine Matheson. Chater and J. J. Keswick became permanent joint managing directors of the new company and he was also appointed as unofficial member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Hong Kong, chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Hong Kong Fire. He was the chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in five spells between 1890 and 1900 and he had been resident in Japan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. During his residence in China he was one of the best known figures in the community and was nicknamed James the bloody polite. He married to Marion Minnie Parkes, daughter of Harry Smith Parkes, former British minister in Tokyo and he died at an hotel at Bath, Somerset at the age of 68 in 1914. List of Executive Council of Hong Kong unofficial members 1896–1941
42.
Hong Kong Park
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This article is about a park in Central, Hong Kong. For general information on the parks in Hong Kong, please refer to List of urban public parks, the Hong Kong Park is a public park next to Cotton Tree Drive in Central, Hong Kong. Built at a cost of HK$398 million and opened in May 1991, it covers an area of 80,000 m2 and is an example of modern design, part of the site was known as Cantonment Hill in early colonial days in 1841. At the upper part of the location of the Victoria Barracks. Glenealy Junior School occupied part of site up until 1988. After the school vacated the site, the area was turned into the present park, Hong Kong Park was officially opened on 23 May 1991 by Sir David Wilson, the Governor of Hong Kong at that time. It covers an area of 8 hectares and is an example of modern design. The construction of the park was a joint project by the Urban Council, wavell House, former quarters for married British officers, converted in 1991 into the aviary support centre. These historic buildings are graded as Grade II Historic Buildings, the park can be easily reached by walking through the Pacific Place and its nearby escalator. Hong Kong Park captures the landscape in the busy and crowd business centre. Its main feature is Edward Youde Aviary which is the Hong Kongs largest aviary while the Vantage Point is another place to see the bird exhibition. Moreover, inside the Hong Kong Park, there is a greenhouse which holds plant exhibition such as Orchid Exhibition temporarily, there are also many modern gardens, including Garden Plaza and Tai Chi Garden. In order to suit the sport-lovers, a centre and a squash centre were also built in Hong Kong Park. The design of the park won Honour Award for Urban Design of Hong Kong Chapter, the park was awarded as one of the Top Ten Buildings of the 90s by a building journal in March,2000. List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong List of urban public parks and gardens of Hong Kong Official website The Hong Kong Visual Art Centre
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HSBC
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HSBC Holdings PLC is a British multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the sixth largest bank by total assets and the largest in Europe with total assets of US$2.374 trillion. It was established in its present form in London in 1991 by The Hongkong, the origins of the bank lie mainly in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name is derived from the initials of the Hongkong, the company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as its home markets, HSBC has around 4,000 offices in 70 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America, and around 37 million customers. As of 2014, it was the worlds sixth-largest public company, HSBC is organised within four business groups, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, and Global Private Banking. HSBC has a primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a capitalisation of £102.7 billion. It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris, in February 2015 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks. The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with tax evaders, in 2016, HSBC was sued by Mexican families involved in deaths by organised-crime gangs for processing funds for the Sinaloa Cartel. It was formally incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 14 August 1866, in 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. HSBC Holdings acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC a substantial presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the conditions for the acquisition, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10. 3bn. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, in July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc. through a new subsidiary, Wealth, the new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, in November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9 billion to acquire Household Finance Corporation, in a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted when banking historians look back, they may conclude that was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century
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Hong Kong/Central travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related to Central, Hong Kong at Wikimedia Commons
