French International School of Hong Kong
French International School "Victor Segalen" of Hong Kong is a French international school in Hong Kong. It is the only accredited French school in HK (linked by an agreement with the Agency for French Teaching Abroad, it has over 2,500 students in four different campuses. Since September 2014, FIS expanded its operations to a new campus in Hung Hom. In September 2018, the FIS opened its new campus in Tseung Kwan O. FIS offers two Streams, the French and the International; the French stream follows the French National Education curriculum which leads to the "diplôme national du brevet" and the French "Baccalauréat". The "Option Internationale du Baccalauréat", which offers advanced level study in English, is available; the International stream is based on the UK curriculum and leads to IGCSE in Form 5 and the International Baccalaureate in Form 6. FIS was the first international school in Hong Kong to offer an International Baccalaureate programme in 1988. Established during the academic year 1963/64, it was the first international school in Hong Kong and had 35 students.
In 1994 the school was renamed after Victor Segalen. The Blue Pool Road Campus in Happy Valley houses the secondary school; the Jardine's Lookout Campus houses primary school classes. The Chai Wan Campus is located in the former Meng Tak Catholic School in Chai Wan; the Hung Hom Campus houses primary school students. A new campus in Area 67 of Tseung Kwan O is scheduled to open in 2018; the school operated a Kindergarten campus in Shops 2-4 on the ground floor of Tung Fai Gardens in Sheung Wan. Three canteens Infirmary 24 classrooms Two computer rooms Grand auditorium Multi-purpose room 3 Gym Six playgrounds Swimming pool Library 50 Parking 2 canteen 1 gym 1 library over 30 classrooms 3 computer rooms 2 arts room 5 science laboratories 1 music room 1 terrace 1 playground over 800 lockers 3 multi-purpose rooms 1 infirmary 1 garden more than 10 classrooms 1 computer room 1 foyer 1 playground 1 amphitheatre 1 canteen 1 staff room 1 infirmary 1 library 1 science room with garden 1 music room Since 2009, FIS has his own football, handball and rugby team.
Camille Cheng French people in Hong Kong "法國國際學校擴建增學額". Sing Tao Daily. 2012-12-07. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown Official website Lycée Français International Victor Segalen at the Wayback Machine
Queen's Road East
Queen's Road East is a street in Wan Chai, in the north of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, connecting Admiralty in the west to Happy Valley in the east. Queen's Road East is one of the four sections of Queen's Road, included Queensway. Queen's Road East forks to the south from Queensway near Justice Drive, where Queensway turns into Hennessy Road, it runs along the old northern shoreline of Hong Kong Island. It ends in the east at Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley; the settlement of Wan Chai began in pre-British times as a small Chinese community around the present Hung Shing Temple on Queen's Road East. The temple was built in 1847 and may have existed as a shrine. Built next to the shoreline, facing the sea, it is now surrounded by clusters of residential and commercial buildings, as the consequence of successive land reclamation. Queen's Road East was first developed into a European commercial and residential centre after the arrival of the British in 1841, it had become a Chinese residential and shop-keeping community by the 1860s.
The eastern part of the road was cut through Morrison Hill, which separated Wanchai from Happy Valley. This section was known as'Gap Road'; that name was still in use around 1930 though the high land to the north of the'gap' was levelled in the 1920s and the materials used to reclaim land from the harbour, under the Praya East Reclamation Scheme. Although associated with Queen's Road Central and Queen's Road West, the name'Queen's Road East' has been in use since at least the 1870s; the following list follows a west-east order. Indicates the northern side of the street, while indicates the southern side. > intersection with Queensway and junction with Justice Drive Sincere Insurance Building. First building on the northern side of the street. > junction with Monmouth Path Three Pacific Place Tesbury Centre > junction with Wing Fung Street, part of the Starstreet Precinct shopping and dining area > junction with Anton Street > junction with Wing Lok Lane > junction with Landale Street > junction with Li Chit Street > junction with St. Francis Street > junction with Gresson Street > junction with Lun Fat Street > intersection with Ship Street > junction with Tai Wong Street West Hung Shing Temple.
Grade I historic building. > junction with Tai Wong Street East > junction with Swatow Street > junction with Amoy Street Hopewell Centre Nos. 186–190 Queen's Road East. Tong-laus built in the 1930s. Grade III historic buildings. > junction with Lee Tung Street QRE Plaza > junction with Spring Garden Lane GARDENEast, a 28-storeys serviced apartments building Wu Chung House > junction with McGregor Street Old Wan Chai Post Office, a declared monument > junction with Wan Chai Gap Road > junction with Tai Yuen Street Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island MLC Tower Queen's Cube, a 29-storeys apartment building. Completed in 2010. > junction with Stone Nullah Lane > junction with Wan Chai Road Old Wan Chai Market. Grade III historic building. > junction with Kennedy Street Hong Kong Jockey Club Garden Ruttonjee Hospital. Merged with Tang Shiu Kin Hospital in 1998; the Hong Kong Tuberculosis and Heart Disease Association building is a Grade III historic building. > junction with Kennedy Road Wah Yan College. Located on Mount Parish.
Portals No. 79, 80 and 81 of the former air raid precaution tunnels, which were built under Mount Parish some time before the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. Wan Chai Park > junction with Wood Road > junction with Stubbs Road Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple. Grade II historic building. Queen Elizabeth Stadium Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong Hotel. Located at the eastern end of the street; the building was the location of the Hong Kong Branch of the Xinhua News Agency. > intersection with Wong Nai Chung Road opposite the northwestern part of Happy Valley Racecourse, junction with Morrison Hill Road Most streets and lanes having a northern junction with Queen's Road East connect with Johnston Road, located northward. The exceptions are McGregor Street and Wood Road. Since Queen's Road East runs along the original shoreline of Hong Kong Island, these streets have been built on early land reclamation; the streets and lanes connecting with the north side of Queen's Road East are from west to east: Anton Street. Named after Charles Edward Anton.
A short street connecting Queen's Road East to Queensway. Landale Street Li Chit Street. Part of the street was removed to give way to the Li Chit Garden apartment tower. Gresson Street; the Open Market in Gresson Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail. Lun Fat Street Ship Street Tai Wong Street West. Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple, it derives its name from the temple. Tai Wong Street East. Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple. Swatow Street. Named after Shantou. Amoy Street. Named after Xiamen. Lee Tung Street aka. Wedding Card Street Spring Garden Lane McGregor Street. Connects Queen's Road East with Cross Street. Tai Yuen Street aka. "Toy Street", after the toy shops of the street. The Open Market in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail. Wan Chai Road Wood Road is located f
Causeway Bay station
Causeway Bay is a station on the MTR network on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The station is between Wan Tin Hau stations on the Island Line, it serves the locality of the Happy Valley Racecourse within Wan Chai District. In 1967, Freeman Fox and Wilbur Smith Associates released the government-commissioned Mass Transport Study, which proposed a new underground railway; the plan included the Island Line between Kennedy Chai Wan stations. When the Mass Transport Provisional Authority was founded, minor alterations were made with the Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town section cancelled; the government gave approval on the 95-million-dollar construction of the line on 23 December 1980 and work started in October 1982. The first section of the line opened from Admiralty to Chai Wan on 31 May 1985; the station is situated between Wan Tin Hau stations on the Island Line. The typical off-peak service is 17 trains per hour in both directions, a train every 3–6 minutes. There was a time when there was a special service in operation between Admiralty and Tai Koo on the Island Line due to shortage of train operators.
This service was withdrawn after about 5 months after the extension to Sheung Wan. The platforms of Causeway Bay station are constructed in a stacked arrangement, with platform 1 above platform 2. Causeway Bay is a primary shopping district in Hong Kong with exits from the MTR leading directly into major outlets such as Sogo and Times Square, which can be accessed through a long, upward sloping pedestrian walkway at Exit A. Unlike other MTR stations, there are three different concourses in Causeway Bay station. After exiting the paid areas through the turnstiles, the other two concourses are inaccessible underground; the west and east concourses were opened on 31 May 1985 with the opening of the station, while the south concourse and Exit A were opened in 1994 with the opening of Times Square. In the basement of Times Square: A: Times Square In the basement of Causeway Bay Plaza: B: Causeway Bay Plaza C: Sino Plaza In the basement of Sogo Department Store: D1/D2/D3/D4: Sogo Department Store E: Great George Street, F1: Jardine's Crescent F2: Hysan Place These are the bus routes found in the vicinity of Causeway Bay station that provide connections with other areas not served by the MTR including Aberdeen/Wah Kwai Estate, Braemar Hill, Happy Valley, Jardine's Lookout, Kennedy Town, Lai Tak Tsuen, Lei Tung Estate, Park Road, Sham Wan/Wong Chuk Hang, Nam Cheong Station/Hoi Lai Estate, South Horizons, The Peak, Tin Wan, Tsing Yi/Cheung On, Wah Fu.
Hong Kong Island's tramway system consists of an inner loop branching out at Causeway Bay towards Happy Valley. The nearest tram stop is located along Percival Street near the end of Matheson Street. In November 2006, MTR announced they would build an underground shopping mall and expand the current Causeway Bay station; the station will add 5 new exits: E1: East Point Road E2: Great George Street at Hong Kong Building F1: Former Hennessy Center F2: Yee Wo Street at McDonald's Building F3: Paterson Streetand the current Exit E will be removed. The plan triples the current station size. Media related to Causeway Bay Station at Wikimedia Commons
Golden Bauhinia Square
The Golden Bauhinia Square is an open area in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The square was named after the giant statue of a golden Bauhinia blakeana at the centre of the area, situated outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the ceremonies for the handover of Hong Kong and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were held in July 1997. A flag-raising ceremony is held every day at 8:00 am, it is considered a tourist attraction. The sculpture, a gilded flower bauhinia, is six metres high; the major part is composed of a bauhinia on a base of red granite pillar on a pyramid. The sculpture is deemed an important symbol for the Hong Kong people after the handover. On the second day of Chinese New Year and National Day of the People's Republic of China, the square is lighted up by a firework show; the Golden Bauhinia has been nicknamed the "Golden Pak Choi" by locals. The official daily flag raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square located outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is conducted by the Hong Kong Police Force.
There are three types of ceremony: Daily Flag Raising Ceremony, Enhanced Flag Raising Ceremony and the Special Flag Raising Ceremony. The daily ceremony includes regular attire and includes the playing of the national anthem, while the enhanced ceremony includes a flag-raising party of Hong Kong police officers, accompanied by a rifle unit all in ceremonial dress, includes the playing of the national anthem by the Police Band followed by a 10-minute musical performance by the Police Pipe Band. Since July 2008, on the second Sunday of each month, the flag raising ceremony is conducted by different local youth uniformed groups; the UGs conduct the daily flag raising ceremony without a band performance. Lotus Square, Macau Monument in Commemoration of the Return of Hong Kong to China Wan Chai District Media related to Golden Bauhinia Square at Wikimedia Commons
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south; the area north of Gloucester Road is referred to as Wan Chai North. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with offices of many small and medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre; as one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay. Arousing considerable public concern, the government has undertaken several urban renewal projects in recent years. There are various landmarks and skyscrapers within the area, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre. Wan Chai began as Ha Wan meaning "a bottom ring" or "lower circuit".
As one of the earliest developed areas in Hong Kong along the Victoria Harbour, Sheung Wan, Sai Wan and Wan Chai are collectively known as the four rings by the locals. Wan Chai means "a cove" in Cantonese from the shape of its coastal line; the area is no longer a cove, due to drastic city development and continual land reclamation. Wan Chai was first home to the many Chinese villagers living along the undisturbed coastlines in proximity to Hung Shing Temple. Most of them were fishermen, who worked around the area near Hung Shing Temple overlooking the entire harbour. Hung Shing Ye, the God of the Sea, was one of the deities worshiped by the locals. With the growth of the British Hong Kong administration, centred in old Victoria, Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as "coolie" workers, who came to live on Queen's Road East. A focal point of development at that time was a red-light zone. By the 1850s the area was becoming a Chinese residential area. There were dockyards on McGregor Street for building and repairing ships.
The edge of Sun Street, Moon Street and Star Street was the original site of the first power station in Hong Kong, operated by the Hongkong Electric Company, which began supplying power in 1890. One of the first water-front hospitals was the Seaman's Hospital, built in 1843, funded by the British merchant group Jardine's, it was sold to the British Royal Navy in 1873 and subsequently redeveloped into the Royal Naval Hospital. After the Second World War, the hospital was revitalised as the Ruttonjee Hospital and became one of the main public hospitals in Hong Kong; the district was home to several well-known schools. One of these schools was established by Mo Dunmei. Started as a shushu in 1919, the school was renamed Dunmei School in 1934 after him, it taught Confucian ethics. In 1936, the Chinese Methodist Church moved its building from Caine Road, Mid-levels Central, to Hennessy Road, Wanchai, a thoroughfare of the district running from west to east; this church building became the landmark of the district.
In 1998, this building was replaced by a 23-storey building. During the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s, many bombardments took place in Wan Chai. There were abundant incidences of cannibalism, starvation and abuses of the local population by the Japanese soldiers, including the illegal use of child labour. Senior residents could recall vividly how they survived the hardships: this oral history became an important, first-hand source of the harsh life conditions in Hong Kong under the Japanese period; the Dunmei school was closed during the Japanese occupation period. After the war, the school continued to provide Chinese education for children from families of higher income. During the 1950s the pro-Communist underground cell network Hailiushe established their headquarters at the rooftop of a multi-story house on Spring Garden Lane; this group was raided by the Hong Kong police. Prostitution has been one of the oldest occupations in Wan Chai. There are numerous historical accounts of women trading sex for western merchandise with sailors from trading ships visiting this area.
In the 1960s, Wan Chai became legendary for its exotic night life for the US servicemen resting there during the Vietnam War. Despite rapid changes of Wan Chai's demography from reclamation and redevelopment, the presence of sex workers operating among ordinary residential areas has continued to be a distinctive feature; some of the lifestyle was illustrated in past movies such as The World of Suzie Wong. Wan Chai's HKCEC has been home to major economic events, it was the site of the Hong Kong handover ceremony in 1997, in which the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, formally concluded the British chapter and transferred Hong Kong to China. The WTO Ministerial Conference in 2005 was one of the largest international events hosted in Hong Kong, with delegates from 148 countries participating. In May 2009, 300 guests and staff members at the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai were quarantined, suspected of being infected or in contact with the H1N1 virus during the global outbreak of swine flu.
A 25-year-old Mexican man who had stayed at the hotel was found to have caught the viral infection. He had travelled to Hong Kong from Mexico via Shanghai. Wan Chai's coastal line has been extended outward after a series of land reclamation schemes. Early in 1841, the coastline was located at Queen's Road East; the first reclamation took place and new land
Traditional Chinese characters
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 the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, in the Kangxi Dictionary; the modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, have been more or less stable since the 5th century. The retronym "traditional Chinese" is used to contrast traditional characters with Simplified Chinese characters, a standardized character set introduced by the government of the People's Republic of China on Mainland China in the 1950s. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau. In contrast, Simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China and Malaysia in official publications. However, several countries – such as Australia, the US and Canada – are increasing their number of printed materials in Simplified Chinese, to better accommodate citizens from mainland China.
The debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. A large number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both character sets. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of China, there is no prohibition against the use of traditional characters. Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China in handwriting and used for inscriptions and religious text, they are retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear. Nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. In Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, simplified Chinese characters in Hong Kong and Macau has appeared to accommodate Mainland Chinese tourists and immigrants; this has led to concerns by many residents to protect their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters.
The use of simplified characters in official documents is prohibited by the government of Taiwan. Simplified characters are understood to a certain extent by any educated Taiwanese, learning to read them takes little effort; some stroke simplifications that have been incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, the semi-simplified name 台灣 is acceptable to write in official documents. 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, 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, used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan. 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 latter half of the 19th century, before the standardization of simplified characters. Therefore, United States public notices and signage in Chinese are in Traditional Chinese. Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world; the government of Taiwan calls traditional Chinese characters standard characters or orthodox characters. However, the same term is used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard and traditional characters from variant and idiomatic characters. In contrast, users of traditional characters outside Taiwan, such as those in Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities, users of simplified Chinese characters, call them complex characters.
An informal name sometimes used by users of simplified characters is "old characters". Users of traditional characters sometimes refer them as "Full Chinese characters" to distinguish them from simplified Chinese characters; some traditional character users argue that traditional characters are the original form of the Chinese characters and cannot be called "complex". Simplified characters cannot be "standard" because they are not used in all Chinese-speaking regions. Conversely, supporters of simplified Chinese characters object to the description of traditional characters as "standard," since they view the new simplified characters as the contemporary standard used by the vast majority of Chinese speakers, they point out that traditional characters are not traditional as many Chinese characters have been made more elaborate over time. Some people refer to traditional characters as "proper characters" and modernized characters as "simplified-stroke characters" (sim
