Queen's Road
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Queen's Road is the first road in Hong Kong, spanning over Victoria City, on the northern part of Hong Kong Island from Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai. At most points, it marks the original shoreline before land reclamation projects permanently extended the land into Victoria Harbour. Over time the road has evolved into four: Queen's Road West (皇后大道西), Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中), Queensway (金鐘道), and Queen's Road East (皇后大道東).
History
The road was named after Queen Victoria of the British Empire. In the Chinese name, the word queen was mistakenly translated as 皇后 (Pronunciation in Cantonese: wòhng hauh? / wong4 hau6 ?; Pronunciation in Mandarin: huáng hòu ?), literally meaning king's consort.Well into the second half of the 19th century, many new arrivals were surprised at the road's condition. Named after the Queen, in the largest British outpost east of Singapore travellers expected a proper road. Instead they would find a pocked dirt road. In dry weather it was a cloud of choking dust and in wet weather a barely traversable puddle of ankle deep mud.
Near Hong Kong's founding as a Crown Colony, Queen's Road was the center of activity. Development along the road was as haphazard as it's winding path through the newly-founded city. In between squatter huts, military encampments, and taverns, the first governors made their homes along the road, the first post office was built, and Christian and Catholic churches were built.
Queen's Road now contains some of the world's most expensive land and most famous buildings.
Queen's Road West
Queen's Road West (皇后大道西) is a road from Sheung Wan to Shek Tong Tsui. It is a continuation of Queens Road Central, starting at the Possession Street junction.Queen's Road Central
Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中) is a road in Central and Sheung Wan. It was the first road to be built, when the crown colony was founded (although the construction of Hollywood Road was finished earlier). It was a major infrastructure of the Queen's Town, later renamed the City of Victoria.
Queen's Road Central actually has an intersection with the similarly named Queen Victoria Street, a short street that ends a few blocks near One ifc.
Queen's Road Central merges with Des Voeux Road Central to become Queensway at Garden Road.
Queensway
A section of Queen's Road East in what is now Admiralty was re-routed and renamed as Queensway (金鐘道) in 1967. It merges with the Queen's Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central at its west end and connects with Hennessy Road and Queen's Road East to the east.
Queen's Road East
Queen's Road East (皇后大道東) runs between Happy Valley and Wan Chai. Queens 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.References
- Some facts in the history section taken from the book Hong Kong by the author, Jan Morris.
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