| Victoria Harbour | |||||||||||||||
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 Daytime view of Victoria Harbour fromSky100International Commerce Centre | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 維多利亞港 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 维多利亚港 | ||||||||||||||
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Victoria Harbour is a natural landformharbour inHong Kong separatingHong Kong Island in the south from theKowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in the middle of the territory's dense urban region, the harbour is also the site of annual fireworks displays and promenades which are used as gathering attractions for local residents and tourists.
The harbour has historically been defined by its deep, sheltered waters and strategic location onSouth China Sea. These factors were also instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as aBritish colony in 1841 and its subsequent development as a trading hub.
Additionally, throughout its history, the harbour has seen numerousreclamation projects undertaken on both shores, many of which have caused controversy in recent years. Environmental concerns have been expressed about the effects of these expansions, in terms of water quality and loss of natural habitat. It has also been proposed that benefits of land reclamation may be less than the effects of decreased harbour width, affecting the number of vessels passing through the harbour. Nonetheless Victoria Harbour still retains its founding role as a port for thousands of international vessels each year.
The first reference to what is now called Victoria Harbour is found inZheng He's sailing maps of the China coast, dated c.1425, which appear in theWubei Zhi (A Treatise on Armament Technology), a comprehensive 17th-century military book. While the harbour was charted in later maps, the first map depicting it in detail is an 1810 marine chart[1] prepared for theEast India Company byDaniel Ross and Philip Maughan, lieutenants of theBombay Marine.[2]
Some of the first recreational activities to take place in the harbour were water competitions such as swimming andwater polo in the 1850s, undertaken by members of Hong Kong's first sports club, the Victoria Recreation Club.[3]
During theTaiping Rebellion, armed rebels paraded the streets of Hong Kong. On 21 December 1854, the Hong Kong police arrested several armed rebels who were about to attackKowloon City. On 23 January 1855, a fleet of Taipingwar boats was on the verge of a naval battle against Chinese imperial war boats defending the harbour. The Chinese defenders were ordered away by the British colonial authorities. These incidents caused rising tension that would eventually lead to theArrow War.[4] The harbour was originally called "Hong Kong Harbour", but was later renamed to "Victoria Harbour", to assure shelter for the British fleet underQueen Victoria.[5]
The subject of pollution came to the fore in the 1970s with the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector. The water club races were stopped in 1973 due to pollution in the harbour,[3] a year after the formerRMSQueen Elizabeth burned and sank at theTsing Yi island anchorage.[6][7][8] Studies also showed excessivenitrogen input from discharges of thePearl River Delta into the harbour for decades.[9]
After completion of theCentral and Wan Chai Reclamation Feasibility Study in 1989, the Land Development Policy Committee endorsed a concept for gradual implementation of this additional reclamation. It consists of three district development cells separated by parks, namely,Central,Tamar andExhibition.
The latest proposed reclamation, extending along the waterfront fromSheung Wan toCauseway Bay, faced public opposition, as the harbour has become a pivotal location to Hongkongers in general. Activists have denounced the government's actions as destructive not only to the natural environment, but also to what is widely considered one of the most prized natural assets of the territory. NGOs, including theSociety for Protection of the Harbour, were formed to resist further attempts to reduce the size of the waterbody, with its chairman,Christine Loh, quoted as saying that the harbour "...is a precious national asset and we must preserve it for future generations. I believe an insightful and visionary chief executive would support our stance and work with us to protect the harbour".[10] Reclamation work also led to the demolition ofQueen's Pier andEdinburgh Place Ferry Pier, structures of historic significance, to massive public opposition.
Victoria Harbour covered an area of about 41.88 km2 (16.17 sq mi) in 2004. The eastern boundary is generally considered to be the line formed between the westernmost extremity ofSiu Chau Wan (小酒灣) andA Kung Ngam. The western boundary is generally considered to consist of a line drawn from the westernmost point ofHong Kong Island to the westernmost point ofGreen Island, thence a straight line drawn from the westernmost point of Green Island to the southeasternmost point ofTsing Yi, thence along the eastern and northern coastal lines of Tsing Yi to its westernmost extremity, and thence a straight line drawn true north towards the mainland.[11]
There are several islands within the harbour:
Due to land reclamation, the following are former islands that are now connected to adjacent lands or larger islands:
The geology around of the harbour is made of agraniticcopula which in parts is intensellyweathered.[12]
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Victoria Harbour is known for itspanoramicnight view and skyline, particularly in the direction towards Hong Kong Island where the skyline of skyscrapers is superimposed over the ridges behind. Among the best places to view the harbour are thePeak Tower atopVictoria Peak, or from the piazza at theCultural Centre or the promenade ofTsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side. Rides on theStar Ferry, including the route betweenCentral andTsim Sha Tsui, are another way to view the harbour and cityscape.
As the natural centre of the territory, the harbour has played host to many major public shows, including the annual fireworks displays on the second night of theLunar New Year. These shows are popular with tourists and locals alike, and the display is usually telecast on local television. To enhance the popularity of the harbour as a sightseeing location, the government introduced a show dubbedA Symphony of Lights.
Also recently opened was theAvenue of Stars, built along thepromenade outside theNew World Centre inTsim Sha Tsui. Modeled on theHollywood Walk of Fame, it honours the most illustrious people theHong Kong film industry has produced over the past decades.
By the end of November every year, the outer walls of buildings in the central business districts on both sides of the harbours are dressed with Christmas-related decorations, and replaced withLunar New Year-related ones by January.
Victoria Harbour is home to most of theport facilities of Hong Kong, making Hong Kong amongst theworld's busiest. An average of 220,000 ships visit the harbour each year, including both oceangoing vessels and river vessels, for both goods and passengers. TheKwai Tsing Container Terminals in the western part of the harbour is the main container handling facility, operating round the clock. Some 19.8 million containers (measured inTEUs) were handled by the region in 2016.[13] Some 400 container ships serve Hong Kong weekly, connecting to over 500 destinations around the world.
For many years until 2004, Hong Kong handled the most containers TEUs but slipped to sixth place on declining volumes by 2016.[13]
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There is no bridge crossing the harbour, but there are three cross-harbour road tunnels:Cross-Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972),Eastern Harbour Crossing (1989), andWestern Harbour Crossing (1997). The three tunnels act as important linkages between the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
FourMass Transit Railway routes also run under the harbour. From west to east, they are:
TheStar Ferry has been crossing the harbour since the late 19th century. The operated ferry routes today are:Central toTsim Sha Tsui andWan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui, the Wan Chai/Central to Hung Hom services closing in 2011 for lack of patronage. Other regular ferry services also operate in the harbour.
TheHongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company used to operate numerous cross-harbour routes between various piers of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Many of the routes are now operated byFirst Ferry. Some of the piers no longer exist because of reclamation projects, or many of the routes became unprofitable. Currently, the company continues to operate vehicular ferry services for vehicles carryingdangerous goods that are prohibited within tunnel crossings.
For international passenger traffic and traffic tomainland China andMacau, there are two ferry terminals, namelyHong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal andHong Kong China Ferry Terminal, and a terminal for cruises, theOcean Terminal. Another cruise terminal (Kai Tak Cruise Terminal) has recently been opened.
22°17′24″N114°10′12″E / 22.29000°N 114.17000°E /22.29000; 114.17000
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