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			{{Short description\|Series of roads in Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong}}
	]
			{{About\|a collection of roads in Hong Kong\|other uses\|Queens Road (disambiguation)}}
			{{EngvarB\|date=July 2014}}
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=March 2020}}
			{{Infobox street
			\| name = Queen's Road
			\| native_name ={{native name\|yue\|皇后大道}}
			\| image = QRCDuddell_1900.jpg
			\| caption = Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, ca. 1900
			\| former_names =
			\| postal_code =
			\| addresses =
			\| length =
			\| width =
			\| location = ], ], ]
			\| client =
			\| owner =
			\| current_tenants =
			\| sector =
			\| category =
			\| coordinates = {{coord\|22.2808\|114.1560\|type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink\|format=dms\|display=title,inline}}
			\| commissioning_date =

			\| construction_start_date = {{Start date and age\|1841}}
	] on ], ], after the ].]]
			\| completion_date = {{End date and age\|1843}}
			\| inauguration_date =
			\| demolition_date =
			\| main_contractor =
			\| cost =
			\| embedded = {{Infobox mapframe \|wikidata=yes \|zoom=12 \|height=250 \| stroke-width=1.5 \|coord {{WikidataCoord\|display=i}}}}
			}}
			{{Chinese\|c=皇后大道
			\|y=wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6
			\|pic=Eduard Hildebrandt Hongkong Queen's Road.jpg
			\|piccap=A painting of Queen's Road Central in 1865}}
			'''Queen's Road''' is a collection of roads along the northern coast of ], in Hong Kong, within the limit of ]. It was the first road in Hong Kong, constructed ] between 1841 and 1843,<ref name=lim>{{cite book \|title= Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: Hong Kong Island and Kowloon\|last= Lim\|first= Patricia Pui Huen\|year= 2002\|publisher= ]\|isbn= 9780195927238\|page= 10}}</ref> spanning across Victoria City from ] to ].

			At various points along the route, Queen's Road marks the original shoreline before ] projects permanently extended land into ].
	'''Queen's Road Central''' (皇后大道中), '''Queen's Road East''' (皇后大道東) and '''Queen's Road West''' (皇后大道西) are three roads on the northern shore of the ], ]. The Queen's Road is the first road in Hong Kong, spanning over the ], form Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai.

			The four sections of the roads are, from west to east: '''Queen's Road West''' ({{Lang-zh\|links=no\|t=皇后大道西\|j=wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 sai1}}), '''Queen's Road Central''' ({{Lang-zh\|links=no\|labels=no\|t=皇后大道中\|j=wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 zung1}}), ] ({{Lang-zh\|links=no\|labels=no\|t=金鐘道\|j=gam1 zung1 dou6}}), and ] ({{Lang-zh\|links=no\|labels=no\|t=皇后大道東\|j=wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 dung1}}).
	The roads were named after ] of ]. In the Chinese name the word ''queen'' was mistakenly translated as ''wong hau'' (皇后), literally meaning king's consort.

			==History==
	==Queen's Road East==
			The road was originally 4 miles (6.5 km) long. The ] built the first section to ] with the help of 300 ] from ] (Hong Kong), then a territory of China. This section of Queen's Road ran parallel to the beach where ] set up his tent in 1842.<ref name=lim/> Originally named '''Main Street''', it was officially renamed Queen's Road in March 1842 after ] of the ].<ref>{{cite book \|title= Signs of a Colonial Era\|last1= Yanne\|first1=Andrew\|last2= Heller\|first2= Gillis\|year= 2009\|publisher=]\|page= 9\|isbn= 9789622099449}}</ref><ref></ref> It was mistakenly translated into Chinese as {{lang\|yue\|皇后}}, meaning "]",<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2021-07-06 \|title=The story behind Hong Kong’s famous Queen’s Road \|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3140017/story-behind-hong-kongs-famous-queens-road-named-after \|access-date=2022-08-24 \|website=South China Morning Post \|language=en}}</ref> instead of referring to the sovereign ruler ({{lang\|yue\|女皇}}).<ref>{{cite web \|last1=Pang \|first1=Diana \|title=Foreign influence Part 1: Lost in translation, Hong Kong's weird and wonderful street names {{!}} Hong Kong Free Press HKFP \|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2022/12/25/foreign-influence-part-1-lost-in-translation-hong-kongs-weird-and-wonderful-street-names/ \|website=hongkongfp.com}}</ref>
	'''Queen's Road East''' (皇后大道東) between ] and ]. The section between the junction with ] (originally known as Praya East) and the junction with ] was renamed as ] in 1967.

			When Hong Kong was founded as a ] in 1842, Queen's Road was the hub of the island's activity. The development of this island had been haphazard: winding paths connected the ] for ]s and ran along squatter huts, military encampments and taverns. The first governors built their homes along Queen's Road; subsequently, the first post office and Christian churches soon arrived. Instead of a properly paved road, newcomers to Hong Kong found Queen's Road as a pocked dirt path that was prone to dust clouds and puddles of mud.<ref>{{cite book\|title= Hong Kong\|last= Morris\|first= Jan\|year= 1997\|publisher= ]\|isbn= 9780679776482\|url= https://archive.org/details/hongkonghsiangka00morr_0\|url-access= registration}}</ref>
	Queens Road East runs along the old northern shoreline of Hong Kong Island. The land to the north of the road is all reclaimed land.

			=== The Great Fire of Hong Kong 1878 ===
	==Queen's Road Central==
			On Christmas Day 1878, a fire broke out<ref>{{Citation\|isbn = 9789881778802\|ol = 24362354M\|publisher = Bonham Media\|location = Hong Kong\|title = The Great Fire of Hong Kong\|author = Adam Nebbs\|year = 2010\|id = 9789881778802}}</ref> and destroyed a large area of the slums along Queen's Road. An eyewitness account was recorded by ] in her 1886 book ''Wanderings in China''.<ref>], (1886), at archive.org</ref> The fire raged for 17 hours and burnt down 400 houses across a {{convert\|10\|acre\|ha}} area. Thousands of residents were left homeless.<ref>{{cite book \|title= Old Hong Kong: 1860–1900 (Volume 1)\|last= Wiltshire\|first= Trea \|date= 2003\|orig-year= 1987\|publisher= FormAsia Books\|location= Central, Hong Kong\|isbn= 9627283592\|page= 66}}</ref> Nevertheless, the devastated ruins were recycled for ] adjacent to the area (modern-day ]).
	]]]

			After the Great Fire of 1878, Queen's Road become home to some of Hong Kong's most expensive land and famous buildings.
	'''Queen's Road Central''' (皇后大道中) is a road in ] and ]. It was the first road to be built, when the crown colony was founded (although the construction of ] was finished earlier). It was a major infrastructure of the Queen's Town, later renamed the ].

			==Roads==
	==Queen's Road West==
	~~'''~~Queen's Road West''' ~~(皇后大道西)~~ is ~~a road from~~ ] ~~to ].~~		]]]
			].]]
			]
			] on the left.]]

			===Queen's Road West===
			Queen's Road West ({{lang\|yue\|皇后大道西}}) runs from ] to Shek Tong Tsui. It begins in Sheung Wan at the junction with ] and ends where it meets the coastal road, Kennedy Town Praya.

			===Queen's Road Central===
	{{HK-road-stub}}
			Queen's Road Central ({{lang\|yue\|皇后大道中}}) runs from ] to ]. It was one of the first roads, along with ] to be built by the British. The road became an important infrastructure to Queen's Town, which was later renamed the ].

			Queen's Road Central intersects with the similarly named ], a short street perpendicular to the road and leads to a few blocks away from the ].
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]

			At the western end of Queen's Road Central, the name changes to Queen's Road West. At the eastern end, it merges with ] to become Queensway at the junction of ].
	]

			When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945, Queen's Road Central was briefly renamed Meiji-dori, after Emperor Meiji, by the ] government.

			===Queensway===
			{{main\|Queensway (Hong Kong)}}
			Queensway was originally the westernmost section of Queen's Road East. After the development of ] as a business district next to Central, this section was renamed '''Queensway''' ({{lang\|yue\|金鐘道}}) in 1967. It links Queen's Road Central to Queen's Road East and ].

			===Queen's Road East===
			{{main\|Queen's Road East}}
			Queen's Road East ({{lang\|yue\|皇后大道東}}) runs between ] and ]. At the western end, Queen's Road East starts at a fork junction with Queensway and Hennessy Road near ]. Although situated inland and south of five trunk routes (], ], ], Hennessy Road and ]) from the Victoria Harbour, Queen's Road East runs along the old, original shoreline of ].

			==In pop culture==
			Queen's Road has become an icon of the ]. During the transition period before ], there were rumours that all streets and roads named after the British and Commonwealth colonial figures, such as Queen's Road, would be renamed in honour of the ]. ], a local songwriter, and ] have therefore composed '']'' in 1991. This song was performed by the songwriter himself and Ram Cheung Chi Kwong ({{lang\|yue\|蔣志光}}) in 1991, to describe their fear of change once the communists have taken over.
			In the 1941 crime noir movie, "The Maltese Falcon", Humphrey Bogart's character (Sam Spade) looks into Mary Astor's character's (Brigid O' Shaughnessy) hat, there was a maker's label that read; "Lucille Shop – Queen's Road C Hong Kong".

			==See also==
			* ]
			* ]

			==References==
			{{reflist}}

			{{HKislandroads}}
			{{Queen's Road}}



			]
			]
			]
			]
			]
			]

Latest revision as of 22:16, 23 December 2024

Series of roads in Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong This article is about a collection of roads in Hong Kong. For other uses, see Queens Road (disambiguation).

Queen's Road
Construction
Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, ca. 1900
Native name	皇后大道 (Yue Chinese)
Location	Victoria, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
Coordinates	22°16′51″N 114°09′22″E / 22.2808°N 114.1560°E / 22.2808; 114.1560
Construction start	1841; 183 years ago (1841)
Completion	1843; 181 years ago (1843)

Queen's Road, Hong Kong

A painting of Queen's Road Central in 1865

Chinese

皇后大道

Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6

Queen's Road is a collection of roads along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, within the limit of Victoria City. It was the first road in Hong Kong, constructed by the British between 1841 and 1843, spanning across Victoria City from Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai.

At various points along the route, Queen's Road marks the original shoreline before land reclamation projects permanently extended land into Victoria Harbour.

The four sections of the roads are, from west to east: Queen's Road West (Chinese: 皇后大道西; Jyutping: wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 sai1), Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中; wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 zung1), Queensway (金鐘道; gam1 zung1 dou6), and Queen's Road East (皇后大道東; wong4 hau6 daai6 dou6 dung1).

History

The road was originally 4 miles (6.5 km) long. The Royal Engineers built the first section to Sai Ying Pun with the help of 300 coolies from Kowloon (Hong Kong), then a territory of China. This section of Queen's Road ran parallel to the beach where Sir Henry Pottinger set up his tent in 1842. Originally named Main Street, it was officially renamed Queen's Road in March 1842 after Queen Victoria of the British Empire. It was mistakenly translated into Chinese as 皇后, meaning "queen consort", instead of referring to the sovereign ruler (女皇).

When Hong Kong was founded as a British Crown Colony in 1842, Queen's Road was the hub of the island's activity. The development of this island had been haphazard: winding paths connected the Hong Kong Club for tai-pans and ran along squatter huts, military encampments and taverns. The first governors built their homes along Queen's Road; subsequently, the first post office and Christian churches soon arrived. Instead of a properly paved road, newcomers to Hong Kong found Queen's Road as a pocked dirt path that was prone to dust clouds and puddles of mud.

The Great Fire of Hong Kong 1878

On Christmas Day 1878, a fire broke out and destroyed a large area of the slums along Queen's Road. An eyewitness account was recorded by Constance Gordon-Cumming in her 1886 book Wanderings in China. The fire raged for 17 hours and burnt down 400 houses across a 10 acres (4.0 ha) area. Thousands of residents were left homeless. Nevertheless, the devastated ruins were recycled for reclamation adjacent to the area (modern-day Bonham Strand).

After the Great Fire of 1878, Queen's Road become home to some of Hong Kong's most expensive land and famous buildings.

Roads

Queen's Road West

Queen's Road West (皇后大道西) runs from Sheung Wan to Shek Tong Tsui. It begins in Sheung Wan at the junction with Possession Street and ends where it meets the coastal road, Kennedy Town Praya.

Queen's Road Central

Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中) runs from Central to Sheung Wan. It was one of the first roads, along with Hollywood Road to be built by the British. The road became an important infrastructure to Queen's Town, which was later renamed the City of Victoria.

Queen's Road Central intersects with the similarly named Queen Victoria Street, a short street perpendicular to the road and leads to a few blocks away from the International Finance Centre.

At the western end of Queen's Road Central, the name changes to Queen's Road West. At the eastern end, it merges with Des Voeux Road Central to become Queensway at the junction of Garden Road.

When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945, Queen's Road Central was briefly renamed Meiji-dori, after Emperor Meiji, by the Japanese occupation government.

Queensway

Main article: Queensway (Hong Kong)

Queensway was originally the westernmost section of Queen's Road East. After the development of Admiralty as a business district next to Central, this section was renamed Queensway (金鐘道) in 1967. It links Queen's Road Central to Queen's Road East and Hennessy Road.

Queen's Road East

Main article: Queen's Road East

Queen's Road East (皇后大道東) runs between Wan Chai and Happy Valley. At the western end, Queen's Road East starts at a fork junction with Queensway and Hennessy Road near Justice Drive. Although situated inland and south of five trunk routes (Gloucester Road, Jaffe Road, Lockhart Road, Hennessy Road and Johnston Road) from the Victoria Harbour, Queen's Road East runs along the old, original shoreline of Hong Kong Island.

In pop culture

Queen's Road has become an icon of the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. During the transition period before sovereignty transfer, there were rumours that all streets and roads named after the British and Commonwealth colonial figures, such as Queen's Road, would be renamed in honour of the Chinese communists. Lo Ta-yu, a local songwriter, and Albert Leung have therefore composed Queen's Road East in 1991. This song was performed by the songwriter himself and Ram Cheung Chi Kwong (蔣志光) in 1991, to describe their fear of change once the communists have taken over. In the 1941 crime noir movie, "The Maltese Falcon", Humphrey Bogart's character (Sam Spade) looks into Mary Astor's character's (Brigid O' Shaughnessy) hat, there was a maker's label that read; "Lucille Shop – Queen's Road C Hong Kong".

References

^ Lim, Patricia Pui Huen (2002). Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780195927238.
Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
CityLife: Queen's Road Central
"The story behind Hong Kong's famous Queen's Road". South China Morning Post. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
Pang, Diana. "Foreign influence Part 1: Lost in translation, Hong Kong's weird and wonderful street names | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com.
Morris, Jan (1997). Hong Kong. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679776482.
Adam Nebbs (2010), The Great Fire of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Bonham Media, ISBN 9789881778802, OL 24362354M, 9789881778802
Constance Gordon-Cumming, Wanderings in China (1886), at archive.org
Wiltshire, Trea (2003) . Old Hong Kong: 1860–1900 (Volume 1). Central, Hong Kong: FormAsia Books. p. 66. ISBN 9627283592.

v t e Streets and roads on Hong Kong Island
Central and Western District	Aberdeen Street Arbuthnot Road Battery Path Belcher's Street Bonham Road Bonham Strand Bonham Strand West Bridges Street Caine Road Centre Street Chater Road Cochrane Street Conduit Road Connaught Road Central Connaught Road West Connaught Place Des Voeux Road Central Des Voeux Road West Duddell Street Elgin Street Eastern Street Gage Street Garden Road Glenealy Gutzlaff Street Harcourt Road Hollywood Road Ice House Street Jubilee Street Ladder Street Lan Kwai Fong Lugard Road MacDonnell Road Magazine Gap Road Mosque Street Old Bailey Street Po Hing Fong Pottinger Street Peel Street Queen Victoria Street Queen's Road Central Queen's Road West Queensway Robinson Road Shelley Street Smithfield Staveley Street Tai Ping Shan Street Upper Albert Road Upper Lascar Row Water Street Wellington Street Western Street Wing On Street. Wing Sing Street Wyndham Street
Wan Chai District	Amoy Street Blue Pool Road Canal Road Causeway Road Gloucester Road Gresson Street Hennessy Road Jaffe Road Jardine's Bazaar Johnston Road Lee Tung Street Lockhart Road Luard Road Oi Kwan Road Paterson Street Queen's Road East Stone Nullah Lane Stubbs Road Swatow Street Tai Yuen Street Thomson Road Victoria Park Road Yee Wo Street
Eastern District	Chai Wan Road Fort Street Java Road King's Road Shau Kei Wan Road Tsat Tsz Mui Road Kai Yuen Street
Southern District	Aberdeen Main Road Aberdeen Praya Road Deep Water Bay Road Island Road Nam Fung Road Repulse Bay Road Wong Nai Chung Road Wong Chuk Hang Road
Spans more than one district	Bowen Road Electric Road Kennedy Road Pok Fu Lam Road Tai Tam Road Victoria Road Wong Nai Chung Gap Road
See also Streets and roads in Kowloon The New Territories

Queen's Road, Hong Kong

(In alphabetical order)

Queen's Road East

Landmarks

Intersections

Amoy Street
Anton Street
Chuk Kui Terrace
Gresson Street
Kennedy Road
Kennedy Street
Landale Street
Lee Tung Street
Li Chit Street
Lun Fat Street
McGregor Street
Monmouth Path
Ship Street
Siu Kin Lane
Spring Garden Lane
St. Francis Street
Stone Nullah Lane
Swatow Street
Tai Wong Street East
Tai Wong Street West
Tai Yuen Street
Wan Chai Road
Wing Lok Lane
Wing Fung Street
Yen Wah Steps

Queensway

Landmarks	Hong Kong Police Headquarters Harcourt Garden Pacific Place High Court Building Queensway Government Offices Hong Kong Park Lippo Centre Chater Garden Bank of China Tower
Intersections	Cotton Tree Drive Justice Drive Rodney Street Tamar Street

Queen's Road Central

Landmarks

Intersections

Queen's Road West

Landmarks	Government Civil Hospital [yue] St. Louis School St. Peter's Seamen's Church

Categories:

Latest revision as of 22:16, 23 December 2024

History

The Great Fire of Hong Kong 1878

Roads

Queen's Road West

Queen's Road Central

Queensway

Queen's Road East

In pop culture

See also

References