Noonday Gun

The bell

The Noonday Gun ( Chinese 午炮 ) is a coastal gun on Causeway Bay in Hong Kong that is fired every day at noon . The tradition originated in British colonial times and is maintained by the Jardines .

history

According to tradition, in the 19th century the Jardines trading house fired 21 gun salutes upon arrival or departure of a Tai-Pan in Victoria Harbor . In the 1860s, a Royal Navy officer was bothered by the practice, which was reserved for senior military and government officials. He ordered the Jardines to fire a cannon shot at noon every day as a time signal .

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941, the ritual was suspended and the gun was lost. A new 6 pound gun was installed under British administration and the ritual resumed. In 1961 it was exchanged for a smaller and less loud gun. This is a QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss , which was manufactured in Portsmouth in 1901 .

Location

The Noonday Gun is located on a small stone pedestal and is oriented towards Victoria Harbor . The site was previously known as Cape East Point , but is no longer identifiable as a Cape due to land reclamation measures. On the water side, the site is surrounded by Kellett Island and the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter , a barrage to protect boats from typhoons .

Victoria Park Road is located towards the land and can not be crossed at this point. A pedestrian tunnel leads from the Noonday Gun to the underground car park of the luxury hotel The Excelsior opposite . The hotel is part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , which is owned by the Jardines.

ritual

A small group of onlookers gathers at lunchtime to watch the event. A uniformed worker from the Jardines loads the gun. At 12 o'clock he strikes a bell, fires the gun, and strikes the bell again. He then opens the gates of the fenced-in site for a few minutes to give those present the opportunity to see the site up close.

Web links

Commons : The Jardines Noonday Gun - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Michael Ingham: Hong Kong: a cultural history . Oxford University Press US, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-531496-0 , pp. 76 ( Google Books [accessed April 6, 2013]).

22.28258 114.1839Coordinates: 22 ° 16 ′ 57.3 " N , 114 ° 11 ′ 2" E

[Ingham2007-1] Michael Ingham: Hong Kong: a cultural history . Oxford University Press US, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-531496-0 , pp. 76 ( Google Books [accessed April 6, 2013]).