Queen's Road East

Queen's Road East is a street in Wan Chai, in the north of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, connecting Admiralty in the west to Happy Valley in the east. Queen's Road East is one of the four sections of Queen's Road, and historically included Queensway.

For the 1991 song by Lo Ta-yu, see Queen's Road East (song).
Western end of Queen's Road East on a rainy day, viewed from the overpass. Three Pacific Place is on the right. Hopewell Centre is visible in the distance.
Western end of Queen's Road East, viewed from the overpass. Three Pacific Place is on the right. Hopewell Centre is visible in the distance.
Queen's Road East
Traditional Chinese皇后大道東
Simplified Chinese皇后大道东
Queen's Road East entrance of Three Pacific Place.
Hung Shing Temple. Nos. 129–131.
Looking west, next to the entrance of Hopewell Centre (left). No. 183.
Nos. 186–190 Queen's Road East.
Old Wan Chai Post Office. No. 221.
Old Wan Chai Market. No. 264.
Entrance of Ruttonjee Hospital, viewed from Queen's Road East.
View of Wan Chai Park and Wah Yan College, separated by Queen's Road East.
Portal No. 81 of the former ARP tunnels built under Mount Parish.
Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple in 2007. No. 371.
Cosmopolitan Hotel. Nos. 387–397.

Location

Queen's 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.[1] It ends in the east at Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley.[2]

History

The settlement of Wan Chai began in pre-British times as a small Chinese community around the present Hung Shing Temple on Queen's Road East.[3] The temple was probably built in 1847 and may have existed previously as a shrine.[4] Originally built next to the shoreline, facing the sea,[4] it is now surrounded by clusters of residential and commercial buildings, as the consequence of successive land reclamation.[5]

Queen's Road East was first developed into a European commercial and residential centre after the arrival of the British in 1841. It had become a mainly Chinese residential, labouring and shop-keeping community by the 1860s.[1]

The eastern part of the road was cut through Morrison Hill, which formerly separated Wanchai from Happy Valley. This section was known as 'Gap Road'. That name was still in use around 1930, even though the high land to the north of the 'gap' was levelled in the 1920s and the materials used to reclaim land from the harbour, under the Praya East Reclamation Scheme.[6]

Although associated with Queen's Road Central and Queen's Road West, the name 'Queen's Road East' has been in use since at least the 1870s.[7]

Features

The following list follows a west-east order. (N) indicates the northern side of the street, while (S) indicates the southern side.

Intersecting streets and lanes

North side

Most streets and lanes having a northern junction with Queen's Road East connect with Johnston Road, located northward. The exceptions are Anton Street, McGregor Street and Wood Road. Since Queen's Road East runs mostly along the original shoreline of Hong Kong Island, these streets have been built on early land reclamation. The streets and lanes connecting with the north side of Queen's Road East are from west to east:

  • Anton Street (晏頓街). Named after Charles Edward Anton. A short street connecting Queen's Road East to Queensway.
  • Landale Street (蘭杜街)
  • Li Chit Street (李節街). Part of the street was removed to give way to the Li Chit Garden apartment tower.
  • Gresson Street. The Open Market in Gresson Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail.[11]
  • Lun Fat Street (聯發街)
  • Ship Street (also south side)
  • Tai Wong Street West (大王西街). Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple.[12] It derives its name from the temple, as "Tai Wong" is an alternate name for Hung Shing.[13]
  • Tai Wong Street East (大王東街). Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple.[12]
  • Swatow Street. Named after Shantou.
  • Amoy Street. Named after Xiamen.
  • Lee Tung Street aka. Wedding Card Street
  • Spring Garden Lane
  • McGregor Street (麥加力歌街). Connects Queen's Road East with Cross Street.
  • Tai Yuen Street (太原街) aka. "Toy Street", after the toy shops of the street. The Open Market in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail.[11]
  • Wan Chai Road
  • Wood Road is located further east, past Wan Chai Park, and connects Queen's Road East to Wan Chai Road

South side

The only street crossing with Queen's Road East, i.e. having both north and south junctions with the Road, is Ship Street. The streets and lanes connecting with the south side of Queen's Road East are from west to east:

The 1991 song, also titled "Queen's Road East" (皇后大道東), by Taiwanese singer Lo Ta-yu and Hong Kong singer-composer Ram Chiang makes references to the handover of Hong Kong to China.

References
  1. Antiquities and Monuments Office: Brief Information on Proposed Grade 3 Items. Item #826 Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
  3. Wordie, Jason (2002). Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 102. ISBN 962-209-563-1.
  4. Brief Information on Proposed Grade I Items, pp.207–208 Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Welcome to 18 districts – Wan Chai District
  6. Gwulo – c.1930 Funeral procession along Gap Road
  7. Letter from J. Gardiner Austin, Colonial Secretary, Hongkong Government Gazette, 10 January 1874
  8. Antiquities and Monuments Office: List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine (as of 23 November 2011)
  9. Urban Renewal Authority: 186–190 Queen's Road East
  10. GARDENEast: About Us
  11. Wan Chai Heritage Trail flyer. Archived 15 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Chinese Temples Committee website Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Introduction to 1444 Historic Buildings. Item #111 Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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