Wan Chai District

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灣仔 區
Wan Chai District
Wan Chai
Location of the Wan Chai District in Hong Kong
Location of the Wan Chai District in Hong Kong
Basic data
Country People's Republic of China
Special Administrative Region Hong Kong
surface 10 km²
Residents 180,123 (2016)
density 17,976 inhabitants per km²
founding 1981
ISO 3166-2 HK
Website Wan Chai District Council (en, zh)
politics
Chairman NG, Kam-chun Stephen (as of 2019)
吳錦 津
Political party Independent of party
Wan Chais Skyline at Causeway Bay (2009)
Wan Chais Skyline at Causeway Bay (2009)

Coordinates: 22 ° 16 ′ 47 "  N , 114 ° 10 ′ 18"  E

Wan Chai District ( Chinese  灣仔 區  /  湾仔 区 , Pinyin Wānzǎi Qū , W.-G. Wan-Tsai Ch'ü , Jyutping Waan 1 zai 2 Keoi 1 ) is one of the 18 districts in Hong Kong and includes the actual district of Wan Chai ( 灣仔  /  湾仔 , Wānzǎi , Jyutping Waan 1 zai 2  - "small bay") some more districts in the north of Hong Kong Island . With 600,000 commuters daily, Wan Chai is one of the most important business districts in Hong Kong and is characterized by office buildings, hotels and a conference center , but is also a residential area for 150,000 residents.

Together with the two districts that flank it, Central and Western and Eastern , it forms the area of ​​the former Victoria City in the north of Hong Kong Island . In addition to the eponymous district of Wan Chai, the district also includes Happy Valley and parts of Causeway Bay , but without Kellett Island and Victoria Park . Inland, the district is assigned the areas around Mount Cameron , Mount Nicholson and Jardine's Lookout . Since the British colonial era, the arable area has been gradually increased through land reclamation in Victoria Harbor . The total area of ​​the district is 9.96 km².

Wan Chai district

The district of Wan Chai extends from the border with the Central and Western District in the west to about Route 1 in the east. In contrast to the district, the district of Wan Chai is not an administrative unit and therefore does not have an official boundary. The business district north of Gloucester Road to Victoria Harbor is also known as Wan Chai North .

history

Land reclamation Wan Chai
coastline shift in the 20th century (animation)
Golden Bauhinia Square , Wan Chai
HK Convention and Exhibition Center (2004)

Wan Chai was a fishing village until British colonial times. The original coastline was just north of today's Queen's Road East ( 皇后大道東  /  皇后大道东 ). The Hung Shing Temple, probably built in 1847 ( 洪 聖 古廟  /  洪 圣 古庙 , Hóngshèng Gǔmiào , Jyutping Hung 4 sing 3 Gu 2 mui 6 * 2 ) was in close proximity to the water. In 1890, Hong Kong Electric commissioned Hong Kong's first coal-fired power station in Wan Chai . It had an electrical output of 50 kilowatts and was replaced in 1919 by a larger power station on Electric Road in North Point ( 北角 , Běijiǎo , Jyutping Bak 1 gok 3 ).

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Johnston Road emerged after land reclamation. In the 1920s, the Praya East Reclamation Scheme project, about 35 acres of land was backfilled, creating Hennessy Road and Gloucester Road. Cape East Point , location of the Noonday Gun , was now integrated into a continuous coastline.

In the 1960s, Wan Chai was known as a red light and entertainment district. The 1957 novel Suzie Wong by Richard Mason contributed to its fame , as did the 1960 film Die Welt der Suzie Wong . Bars and nightclubs on Lockhart Road catered to the needs of US Army personnel who were in Hong Kong during the Vietnam War .

In 1980 the Hopewell Center was opened on Queen's Road East . In addition to its unusual shape as a round skyscraper, it was also the tallest building in Hong Kong until the Bank of China Tower was completed . In the same year, the multi-purpose hall Queen Elizabeth Stadium was opened. In another large land reclamation project, the area from Wan Chai North was created, initially to Convention Avenue and the Wan Chai Ferry Pier . In addition to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, which was founded in 1984, there are various office buildings here. This includes the Central Plaza , which opened in 1996 and was the tallest building in Hong Kong for several years.

In 1988, the first part of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center was completed in Wan Chai North . For an extension opened in 1997, a piece of land protruding into Victoria Harbor was raised. In 1997 the handover ceremony of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China took place in the conference center .

During the 2009 swine flu pandemic , 300 people were quarantined at the Metropark Hotel on Hennessy Road and diagnosed with H1N1 in a 25-year-old guest .

Attractions

Lovers' Rock ( 姻緣 石  /  姻缘 石 )
view over Victoria Harbor
Hung Shing Temple ( 洪聖廟  /  洪圣庙 ) - a Daoist temple

The Lovers' Rock , also Lover's Rock , so "rock of lovers" ( 姻緣 石  /  姻缘 石 , Yīnyuán Shí , Jyutping Jan 1 jyun 4 sec 6  - "stone of marital happiness or rock of fortune"), is a stone formation on the Bowen Road ( 寶雲 道  /  宝云 道 ). It can only be reached on foot and is a popular destination for visitors. According to the vernacular, the rock has the power to help young couples achieve parenting happiness. There are numerous memorials, small altars and places of worship in the vicinity.

The Hung Shing Temple ( 洪 聖 古廟  /  洪 圣 古庙 , Hóngshèng Gǔmiào , Jyutping Hung 4 sing 3 Gu 2 mui 6 * 2 ), colloquially also Tai Wong Temple ( 大 王廟  /  大 王庙 , Dàwáng Miào , Jyutping Daai 6 wong 4 Mui 6 * 2 ) on Queen's Road East is one of the oldest temples on Hong Kong Island. The Hong Kong government estimates the year of construction to be 1847, although it is believed that a shrine previously existed on the site. The temple is classified as a Grade 1 Historic Building , which is a recommendation that it should be listed .

Other attractions are:

  • Blue House, a four-story tenement building, expanded from the former two-story hospital in 19th century South China Tonglau architecture on Stone Nullah Lane 72-74A
  • Central Plaza , a 78 story skyscraper
  • Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and Golden Bauhinia Square
  • Hopewell Center
  • Lockhart Road, red light and entertainment district from the novel or film adaptation of The World of Suzie Wong
  • Old Wan Chai Post Office, a former post office from the early 20th century on Queen's Road East 221
  • Southorn Playground, a sports or recreation facility, social gathering place for local citizens between Johnston and Hennessy Roads
  • Wan Chai Market, a Streamline Modern building built in 1937 at 264 Queen's Road East
  • Wedding Card Street Market on Lee Tung Street

traffic

Wan Chai is by Iceland Line of the MTR connected to the network of the Hong Kong subway and has two stations: Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. The approximately 7 km long South Island Line connecting the Southern District , which should be completed according to plan in 2015, opened and went into operation on December 28, 2016 after a construction delay of about one year. The Hong Kong Tramways trams cross the district in an east-west direction along Johnston Road and Hennessy Road. A branch line loops through Happy Valley.

Star Ferry ferries connect Wan Chai with Tsim Sha Tsui at regular intervals.

Gloucester Road is part of Route 4 on the Hong Kong expressway network . In Causeway Bay there is a connection to Route 1 , which leads through the Cross-Harbor Tunnel to Kowloon . The 4.5 km long bypass, the Central-Wan Chai Bypass , which has been under construction since the beginning of 2011 and which runs through the Wan Chai North, is expected to be completed between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. To this end, land is being poured again in Victoria Harbor and the location of the Wan Chai Ferry Pier is being relocated further north.

Web links

Commons : Wan Chai  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Citypopulation: [1] on citypopulation.de, accessed on August 25, 2017 - online
  2. ↑ Politiker-Info 01 (Chinese): [2] , on neodemocrats.hk, accessed on June 1, 2018 - online
  3. ↑ Politiker-Info 02 (Chinese): [3] , on stephenng.hk, accessed on June 1, 2018 - online
  4. ↑ Wan Chai District Council: District Highlights ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.districtcouncils.gov.hk archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last updated December 29, 2011, at districtcouncils.gov.hk, accessed April 22, 2013 - Online
  5. ^ Census and Statistics Department: 2011 Population Census - Fact Sheet for The Whole Territory of Hong Kong , at census2011.gov.hk, accessed April 22, 2013 - Online
  6. ^ The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Lands Department: Area by District Council , October 2012, at landsd.gov.hk, accessed April 22, 2013 - Online
  7. ↑ a b Chan Wai Shun: Office Development in Wanchai (PDF; 8.9 MB) . Center of Urban Studies & Urban Planning, University of Hong Kong . Pages 9-11, at ebook.lib.hku.hk, accessed April 24 - Online
  8. ↑ a b Brief Information on Proposed Grade I Items ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.3 MB) , page 205, on lcsd.gov.hk, accessed on April 24 - online  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lcsd.gov.hk
  9. ↑ "MTR's South Island Line to open on December 28", English: [4] on rthk.hk - Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). Retrieved October 10, 2017 - Online
  10. ↑ "South Island Line (East) (南港 島 綫 - 東段 / 南港 岛 綫 - 东段)", Chinese / English: [5] on hyd.gov.hk - HK Highway Department. Retrieved October 10, 2017 - Online
  11. ^ "Launch date set for Hong Kong MTR's new South Island Line", English: [6] on scmp.com - South China Morning Post. Retrieved October 10, 2017 - Online