| Wan Chai | |||||||||||||||
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 Wan Chai as seen fromVictoria Harbour | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 灣仔 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 湾仔 | ||||||||||||||
| CantoneseYale | Wāan dzái | ||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Waan1 zai2 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "small bay" or "cove" | ||||||||||||||
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Wan Chai (Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part ofWan Chai District on the northern shore ofHong Kong Island,Hong Kong. It is bounded byCanal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west, andBowen Road to the south. The area north ofGloucester Road is often calledWan Chai North.
Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with offices of many small and medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. Wan Chai is also well known for its famous night life which has evolved over decades. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated but facingurban decay. The government has undertaken severalurban renewal projects in recent years. There are various landmarks andskyscrapers within the area, most notably theHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC),Central Plaza andHopewell Centre.
Wan Chai originally began asHa Wan (下環), literally meaning "a bottom ring" or "lower circuit".[1] As one of the earliest developed areas in Hong Kong along theVictoria Harbour,Central ("centre ring" in Chinese),Sheung Wan ("upper ring"),Sai Wan ("western ring") and Wan Chai are collectively known as thefour rings (四環) by the locals. Wan Chai literally means "a cove" inCantonese, from the shape of its coastal line; however, owing to drastic city development and continualland reclamation, the area is no longer a cove.
Wan Chai was the first home to many Chinese villagers living along the undisturbed coastlines in proximity toHung Shing Temple. Most of them were fishermen, who worked around the area near Hung Shing Temple overlooking the entire harbour.Hung Shing Ye, the God of the Sea, was one of the deities worshipped by the locals.[2]
With the growth of theBritishHong Kong administration, centred in oldVictoria (modern Central), Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as "coolie" workers, who came to live onQueen's Road East. A focal point of development at that time wasSpring Gardens, ared-light zone.[3]
By the 1850s, the area was already becoming a Chinese residential area.[1] There were dockyards onShip Street andMcGregor Street for building and repairing ships. The edge ofSun Street,Moon Street andStar Street was the original site of the first power station in Hong Kong, operated by theHongkong Electric Company, which began supplying power in 1890.[4]
One of the first waterfront hospitals was theSeaman's Hospital, built in 1843, which was funded by the British merchant group Jardine's. It was then sold to theBritish Royal Navy in 1873 and subsequently redeveloped into theRoyal Naval Hospital. After theSecond World War, the hospital was revitalised as theRuttonjee Hospital and became one of the main public hospitals in Hong Kong.[5]
The district was home to several well-known schools. One of these schools was established by the famous traditional teacher,Mo Dunmei (莫敦梅). Started as ashushu (書塾) in 1919, the school was renamedDunmei School (敦梅學校) in 1934 after him.[6][7] It taughtclassical Chinese writings andConfucian ethics.
In 1936, the Chinese Methodist Church (香港基督教循道衛理教會) moved its building fromCaine Road,Mid-levels Central, toHennessy Road (軒尼詩道), Wanchai, a thoroughfare of the district running from west to east.[8] This church building became the landmark of the district. In 1998, this building was demolished and replaced by a 23-storey building.
During theJapanese occupation in the early 1940s, many bombardments took place in Wan Chai. There were abundant incidents ofcannibalism,starvation,torture and abuses of the local population by the Japanese soldiers, including the illegal use of child labour. Senior residents could recall vividly how they survived the hardships: this oral history became an important, first-hand source of the harsh living conditions in Hong Kong under the Japanese period.[7] The Dunmei school was closed during the Japanese occupation period. After the war, the school continued to provide Chinese education for children from families of higher income.[6]
During the1950s, thepro-Communist underground cell network Hailiushe (海流社) established their headquarters at the rooftop of a multi-story house onSpring Garden Lane. This group was successfully raided by theHong Kong Police.[9]
Prostitution had been one of the oldest occupations in Wan Chai. There are numerous historical accounts of women trading sexual services for western merchandise, especially with sailors from trading ships visiting this area.[citation needed] In the1960s, Wan Chai became legendary for its exoticnight life, especially for theUS servicemen resting there during theWar in Vietnam.[1] Despite rapid changes of Wan Chai's demography due to reclamation and redevelopment, the presence of sex workers operating among ordinary residential areas has continued to be a distinctive feature. Some of the lifestyle was illustrated in past movies such asThe World of Suzie Wong.[10]
Wan Chai'sHKCEC has been home to major political and economic events. It was the site of theHong Kong handover ceremony in 1997, in which the last governor of Hong Kong,Chris Patten, formally concluded the British chapter and transferred Hong Kong toChina. TheWTO Ministerial Conference in 2005 was also one of the largest international events hosted in Hong Kong, with delegates from 148 countries participating.
In May 2009, 300 guests and staff members at the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai were quarantined, suspected of being infected or in contact with theH1N1 virus during theglobal outbreak of swine flu. A 25-year-old Mexican man who had stayed at the hotel was later found to have caught the viral infection. He had traveled to Hong Kong from Mexico via Shanghai.[11][12]
Wan Chai's coastline has been extended outwards after a series ofland reclamation schemes. Early in 1841, the coastline was located at Queen's Road East (the area of Spring Gardens and Ship Street). The first reclamation took place and new land was sold toMinister of Foreign Affairs of the British Colony.[who?] The project was privately funded and the government did not take part. Soon after, in 1858, the Minister and his salesmen sold the land back tothe Chinese[who?] after Sir Robert Brown Blackwas namedPresident of theLegislative Council of Hong Kong.[clarify][13]
The next reclamation project in Wan Chai was thePraya East Reclamation Scheme. The coastline was extended to today's Gloucester Road. The reclamation afterWorld War II from 1965 to 1972 pushed the coastline further out to the areas aroundConvention Avenue andtheWan Chai Pier.[which?] The 1990sWan Chai Development project added additional land, on which the currentHKCEC stands today.
Wan Chai is a major hub of foreign and Chinese cultural institutions in Hong Kong. It is home to the FrenchAlliance Francaise, GermanGoethe-Institut and theBritish Council (until 2001). Near the waterfront, there are theHong Kong Academy for Performing Arts andHong Kong Arts Centre, two of the most popular venues for theatrical and cultural performances in Hong Kong. The Academy for Performing Arts is a higher education institution that trains musicians, performers, actors and dancers, as well as a public venue for drama, concerts, dance, andmusicals productions. Every year the academy produces a number ofBroadway musicals, includingSingin' in the Rain,Saturday Night Fever, andAnnie. The Arts Centre, just opposite to the academy, houses a studio theatre, art galleries, rehearsal rooms, theGoethe-Institut and a restaurant overlooking theVictoria Harbour.
TheHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), a HK$4.8 billion convention centre with an extension completed in 1997, covers over 16 acres (65,000 m2) of newly reclaimed land that added an extra 38,000 m2 of functional space to the existing convention centre.[14][15] It remains a venue for international trade fairs, some of which are among the biggest in the world: the annualHong Kong Book Fair in July, food fair and festival, technology exhibitions, anime conventions andcosplay competitions.
The area towards the western end ofLockhart Road, including a small part of the parallelJaffe Road, is one of Hong Kong island's two main bar districts (the other being the more upmarketLan Kwai Fong in Central). Once considered primarily as ared light district, this area is now more diverse with bars, pubs, restaurants anddiscos. A number of the raunchier bars still remain; however, their doorways festooned with women fromThailand and thePhilippines. The famous novel and filmThe World of Suzie Wong sets many scenes in this area. The bar district has been popular with visiting sailors and navies, when Fenwick Pier, west of theHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, was in use as a military pier.[17]
Southorn Playground on Johnston Road (the tram line) is a meeting place for the locals in Wan Chai, particularly the senior residents. During the prime years of the British colonial administration,coolie workers would convene at the playground in the morning to await employment opportunities. In the evening, the playground became an open-air pitch where people sold food, performedmagic andkung fu.
Some of those trademark activities still exist through today: senior citizens socialise and playChinese chess, young people at school playfootball andbasketball, ad-hoc street basketball games that attract flocks of spectators and players. Occasionally, the entire playground is used for carnival fairs, three-player drill basketball contests andhip hop dance competitions.
Wan Chai's places of worship representBuddhism,Taoism,Catholicism,Protestantism, Christianity,Mormonism,Sikhism, andIslam. Despite the wide variety, many religious structures are located in close proximity to each other.Hung Shing Temple, for example, is a typicallyTaoist temple. Inside, there areBuddhistKwun Yum chapels next to the main altar. People coming to worshipHung Shing Ye could also burnjoss sticks to Kwun Yum as well.Villain hitting is another blended ceremony, combining in different proportionsConfucianism,Taoism, andfolk religion. Some old female "psychics" perform this ancient ceremony under theCanal Road Flyover in particular days of a lunar month. The Wan ChaiKhalsa Diwan Sikh Temple is the biggestSikh temple in Hong Kong.[18] The AsiaArea Office ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with chapels where multiple congregations meet throughout the week, is onGloucester Road.
Wan Chai offers historical conservation sites includingOld Wan Chai Post Office,Hung Shing Temple andPak Tai Temple. Many of the medium-sized shopping centres are named in numerals, such as Oriental 188, 328, and 298 Computer Centre. These numbers might have come from the earlier days when all prostitution houses were numbered, as they were referred to as "big numbers" (大冧巴,dai lum bah).[1]
There are many commercial complexes and office skyscrapers in Wan Chai. TheHK$4.4 billion 78-storey skyscraperCentral Plaza currently stands as the third tallest building in Hong Kong.[19] Small but free art exhibitions used to be held on the second floor all year round, whereas the first floor connects Wan Chai's footbridge network: the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre at the network's extreme north,Wan Chai Pier, China Building, Harbour Centre, Central Plaza, Immigration Department Tower, Wan Chai Court,Wan Chai MTR station and Johnston Road (the tram line) at the network's extreme south.
More recent tourist attractions include theGolden Bauhinia Square, the site of a daily flag-rising ceremony. This ceremony is enhanced on 1 July (Handover of Hong Kong) and 1 October (National Day of China).
A 3-storeypergola exhibition is built opposite toLi Chit Garden.Tai Fat Hau footbridge also holds an art display of the fingerprints of 30,000 citizens slated for theGuinness Book of World Records.[citation needed] The sticker pictures on 50 poles of the bridge have been colloquially called the"50 landscapes of Wan Chai" (灣仔五十景).
Lovers' Rock reclines on the hillside ofBowen Road near Shiu Fai Terrace, mid-levels Wan Chai. The rock received its name since it resembles a small, thin column sticking out of the rock base. This special-looking rock is said to have granted happy marriages to its devoted worshippers.[20] Many people are attracted by its reputation.
Throughout Wan Chai's history, construction styles have changed according to the architectural movement at the time.
| Era | Style | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Qing Dynasty | Chinese-style | Hung Shing Temple |
| 1910s–1920s | Neoclassical architecture | Old Wan Chai Post Office Blue House |
| 1930s | Streamline Moderne architecture | Wan Chai Market |
| Post-WWII | Bauhaus-style | Shop houses (tong-lau) onLee Tung Street,Tai Yuen Street Caltex House |
In the1950s and1960s, an increasing number ofgirlie bars andnightclubs were opened in thered-light district byJaffe andLockhart Road. The establishments entertained visiting sailors landing atFenwick Pier. Beyond Gloucester Road is the commercial area developed in the late 1970s and 1980s, a time at which Hong Kong underwent economic development at full speed. At the same time, buildings like theHong Kong Academy for Performing Arts,HKCEC, andCentral Plaza were constructed on the newly reclaimed land.
Skyscrapers in Wan Chai include:
Many of Wan Chai's older buildings now face a serious problem ofurban decay. To tackle the problem, the government has launched a series ofurban renewal projects to bring new life into the area. Many local residents have relocation worries such as whether theUrban Renewal Authority can compensate enough to put them in a new space of equal size. Other concerns involve the loss of building character that make up part of thatHong Kong cultural identity.
After the completion of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Feasibility Study in 1989, the Land Development Policy Committee endorsed the idea of an ongoing series of reclamation.[21] The reclamation comprises three discrete development areas to be aligned by public parks, namely, Central, Tamar and Exhibition. The urban development of each cell would be further divided into five subsequent phases. As of 2014, reclamation for the Central area has been completed: the area is largely taken by the new government offices and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (its old building in the heart of Central has been reverted to its original use as the Supreme Court).
The Hong KongImmigration Department has its headquarters at theImmigration Tower in Wan Chai.[22] TheHong Kong Police Force operates from the Wan Chai District; their headquarters is located at the Wan Chai Police District Headquarters, 1 Arsenal Street.[23] within theHong Kong Police Headquarters Compound. Maggie Farley of theLos Angeles Times said in 1996, referring to the thenWan Chai Police Station, that the police headquarters was "a stolid, whitewashed building with square pillars and breezy verandas".[24]
Esquel Group has its head office inHarbour Centre [zh] (海港中心), Wan Chai.[25]
Jademan (nowCulturecom) was formerly headquartered in Harbour Centre.[26]
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Geographically, Wan Chai is the crossing point between the Central and Western District (West Point/Central), and the Eastern (Causeway Bay/North Point) district. Its thoroughfares connect the main developed areas along the northern coast ofHong Kong Island. Thetransport infrastructure is efficient, convenient and highly accessible.
TheStar Ferry atWan Chai Pier is the sole ferry operator in the area. Frequent services cross theVictoria Harbour fromHKCEC, Wan Chai to theCultural Centre inTsim Sha Tsui. In light of more convenient and competitive cross-harbour public transportation, the Star Ferry continues to provide an inexpensive option to local commuters. Numerous shipping companies, such as theAnglo-Eastern Group, also have their headquarters in Wan Chai.
Wan Chai'sGloucester Road, an east–west trunk route along the northern coast, is connected toCross-Harbour Tunnel, the first undersea tunnel in Hong Kong. This tunnel is connected to the south by a direct viaduct from its landing point on Hong Kong Island to theAberdeen Tunnel towards the southern coast.[27] ConnectingHong Kong Island atKellett Island (the site of the Royal Navy Club) to a reclaimed site atHung Hom Bay inKowloon, this tunnel provides a direct link by road. Prior to the tunnel's opening in 1972, local drivers and pedestrians depended solely upon the Star Ferry services to cross theVictoria Harbour.[28] Linking the main financial districts on both sides of Victoria Harbour, the tunnel carries 123,000 vehicles daily.[29] On the other hand, the thoroughfareQueen's Road East, an extension from Queen's Road West at Kennedy Town, through Queen's Road Central at Central, Queensway at Admiralty, takes a southerly route to provide an alternative east–west road link. Due to Wan Chai's early involvement in the British colonial administration, road names were often taken from previousGovernors, such asHennessy Road, and notable people (Gloucester Road, Jaffe Road, Lockhart Road, Johnston Road, Fleming Road, Luard Road, O'Brien Road, Marsh Road, Stewart Road, McGregor Street, etc.).
Thoroughfares, Roads and Streets:
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TheMTRIsland line runs beneathHennessy Road, a thoroughfare, in the locality. Due to the large size of Wan Chai, more than 50 entry/exit gates and 8 entrances/exits are set up. An extension project was carried out in the early 2000s; it created two additional entrances/exits, one of which connects to the footbridge network from the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre to the station. Then this footbridge is also interconnected with covered corridor of buildings along the Victoria Harbour, and ends up at Wan Chai Pier.
TheEast Rail line was extended fromHung Hom toAdmiralty in 2022 as part of theShatin to Central Link project, with a newly built station near the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre. Its exits connect to the footbridge network in Wan Chai North which also leads back to Wan Chai station.
Tram services run betweenShau Kei Wan on the northeastern part of the island andKennedy Town on the west, with a circular branch servingHappy Valley and the Happy Valley Racecourse. The tram route runs acrossJohnston Road andHennessy Road.
Most buses travel in Wan Chai fromAdmiralty toCauseway Bay viaHennessy Road or, in the opposite direction,Johnston Road and Gloucester Road.
Red taxi (urban) services are available to hire in Wan Chai. These can be pre-booked by telephone; however, hailing on the street is a more common way of getting a taxicab. Vehicles that carry a green plate at the front of their cars are able to carry passengers across theVictoria Harbour to Kowloon. There are, however, areas with restrictedkerbs and designated pick-up and drop-off points in the area.
There are two types ofminibuses in Wan Chai, the green minibus and the red minibus. In general, green minibuses operate on scheduled service with fixed routes and published fares. Red minibuses run with government licence but on non-scheduled services, casually connecting regular travellers and commuters to specific urban areas acrossHong Kong Island. Drivers of red minibuses will display fares in the front of their minibus windshields.
Wan Chai is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 12. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and the following government schools: Hennessy Road Government Primary School (Chinese:軒尼詩道官立小學) and Sir Ellis Kadoorie (Sookunpo) Primary School (Chinese:官立嘉道理爵士小學).[30]
Hong Kong Public Libraries operates the Lockhart Road Public Library in the Lockhart Road Municipal Services Building in Wan Chai.[31]
ESQUEL ENTERPRISES LTD. [...] 13/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong-Traditional Chinese address: "溢達企業有限公司 [...] 香港灣仔港灣道25號 海港中心13樓",Simplified Chinese address: "溢达企业有限公司 [...] 香港湾仔港湾道25号 海港中心13楼"
JADEMAN (HOLDINGS) LIMITED, 28/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Hong Kong.
Places adjacent to Wan Chai | |
|---|---|
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 | |||||||||||
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
22°16′47″N114°10′18″E / 22.27972°N 114.17167°E /22.27972; 114.17167
