Shek Tong Tsui 石塘咀 / 石塘嘴 Belcher Point | |
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 Shek Tong Tsui near Pacific Plaza | |
 Interactive map of Shek Tong Tsui | |
| Coordinates:22°17′14″N114°08′09″E / 22.2871°N 114.1357°E /22.2871; 114.1357 | |
| Country |  People's Republic of China |
| SAR |  Hong Kong |
| District | Central and Western |
| First settled | 1880 |
| Population (2011[needs update]) | |
• Total | 17,170 |
| Shek Tong Tsui | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 石塘咀 石塘嘴 | ||||||||||||||
| CantoneseYale | Shehk tòhng tséui | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Stone Pond Mouth" | ||||||||||||||
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Shek Tong Tsui (Chinese:石塘咀 or石塘嘴) orBelcher Point is an area inSai Wan onHong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it belongs to theCentral and Western District.
This area is bounded to the east by Ka On Street,[1] north by theVictoria Harbour, south byPok Fu Lam Road andThird Street, and west by the intersection ofQueen's Road West andBelcher's Street.[2][dubious –discuss] To the east liesSai Ying Pun and to the west isKennedy Town. To the south are the slopes ofVictoria Peak,Lung Fu Shan andHigh West. While the boundaries are not de jure drawn, they are nevertheless de facto defined by Collinson Street to the west andWhitty Street to the east.[citation needed]
In the early Qing Dynasty, the area around Shek Tong Tsui was just a barren hillside. It is for this reason that the "San On County Gazetteer" published in the 24th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1819 AD) did not contain any records of this area. As Shek Tong Tsui is rich in high-quality granite (granite) that can be used as building materials, it attracted a group of Huizhou Hakkas who made a living by cutting stones to come and mine.[3]
In the census of 1841, the year Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain after the Convention of Chuenpi was signed, Shek Tong Tsui appeared as a settlement for stonecutters; the population at that time was 25.[4] By 1880, Shek Tong Tsui had become a granite quarry. After the mining was completed, a large sunken rock pond (石塘, or "Shek Tong" inCantonese) remained, and the section facing the sea was sharper and narrower, shaped like a bird's beak, hence the name "Shek Tong Tsui" (lit. Rock Pond Beak).[3] It was located around modern-day Hill Road andThe Belcher's, and was used by theHakka people since the 17th century. The area was first settled in 1880 by granite miners. In the early 1900s,Hong Kong Island's brothels were moved fromPossession Point inSheung Wan to this area under orders from theHong Kong GovernorMatthew Nathan. The place thus flourished as ared light district and came to its golden period. During this period, affluent Chinese in Hong Kong came to Shek Tong Tsui for entertainment, and numerousCantonese opera theatres andCantonese restaurants were founded in the area. It was known locally in the Cantonese phrase "tong sai fung yuet" (塘西風月), which literally means "good times west of the pond". Brothels in this area inspired numerous novels andHong Kong films, most notablyRouge(1987), starringAnita Mui andLeslie Cheung.
This golden period lasted until the banning of prostitution by theHong Kong Government in 1935. However, during theJapanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese military government relocated all Chinese brothels to the area, which they renamed Kuramae (蔵前). Again the area boomed, with about 500 brothels, which served only Japanese.
After the Japanese defeat, the area reverted to its Chinese name, like the rest of Hong Kong. The prostitution ban returned, and Shek Tong Tsui began urbanisation for decades.
A constituency in the Central and Western District is calledShek Tong Tsui, extending as far asWater Street and into Sai Ying Pun. With a population of 17,170 (2011), the constituency returns one representative to the district council.Chan Choi-hi was elected in 1999, and 2003. The major housing developments in the ward are: Chong Yip Centre, Dragonfair Garden, Elegant Garden, Kong Chian Tower, Kwan Yick Building Phase I, and Wah Ming Centre.
TheBelcher constituency also covers part of Shek Tong Tsui, south of Queen's Road West. Yeung Sui Yin was elected in 2003. Wong Chit Man was elected in 1999. TheWater Street constituency also lies within Shek Tong Tsui.
The tram terminus nearWhitty Street is one of the termini ofHong Kong Tramways. Bus and minibus services are also available along the main streets.HKU station of theWest Island line, an extension of the existing MTRIsland line, serves this area.
The major roads in Shek Tong Tsui are the western ends ofDes Voeux Road West andQueen's Road West,Hill Road and part ofPok Fu Lam Road.Connaught Road West is the major access road. Hill Road is a "double decker" road taking traffic downhill from Pok Fu Lam Road to Connaught Road.
There are also a number of smaller terrace roads, including Yat Fu Lane, Woo Hop Street, Clarence Terrace, Po Tuck Street and South Lane.
Shek Tong Tsui is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 11. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and the following government schools:Bonham Road Government Primary School andLi Sing Primary School [zh] (李陞小學).[5]
Hong Kong Public Libraries operates Shek Tong Tsui Library in the Shek Tong Tsui Municipal Services Building.[6]
Urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories | |||||||||||
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| MHong Kong1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |  | ||||||||||
| MOld KowloonKL,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MNew KowloonNKL,2,3,4,5,6,7,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| New Territories |
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Official place names are summarized from "Geoinfo Map" of Government ofHong Kong Special Administrative Region, "Hong Kong Guide" ofLands Department, "Hong Kong Guide Book" of Universal Publications Ltd. and "Areas and Districts" ofRating and Valuation Department. M：Narrow meaning of urban areas KL:Kowloon Peninsula at the south ofBoundary Street NKL: Former New Territories area at the north of Boundary Street and at the south ofLion Rock 1: Common definition (1) 2: Common definition (2) 3: Common definition (3) 4: Areas not adopting small house concessionary right ofindigenous inhabitants 5: Jurisdiction area of formerUrban Council 6: Definition of "Metropolitan Area" ofPlanning Department 7: Jurisdiction area ofUrban Renewal Authority 8: Unique operating area ofurban taxis 9: "Urban" (9a) and "Extended Urban" (9b) areas defined byHong Kong Housing Authority 10: Definition of Urbanrates 11: Hospital cluster belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 12: Police region belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 13: Regions having 999-year land lease 14:Geographical Constituency inHong Kong Legislative Council belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 15:Regional Education Office belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 16:Primary One Admission School Net belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon | |||||||||||
