Admiralty, Hong Kong

Admiralty

Admiralty skyline in August 2013. The Central Government Complex is in the centre.
Traditional Chinese 金鐘
Literal meaning Golden Bell
Traffic of Queensway in Admiralty, looking west towards Central.
View of Pacific Place across Queensway.
From left to right: Admiralty Centre on top of Admiralty Station, Lippo Centre, Far East Financial Centre and Bank of America Tower, viewed across Harcourt Road.

Admiralty is the eastern extension of the central business district (adjacent to, but separate from, Central) on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It is located on the eastern end of the Central and Western District, bordered by Wan Chai to the east and Victoria Harbour to the north.

The name of Admiralty refers to the former Admiralty Dock in the area which housed a naval dockyard. The dock was later demolished when land was reclaimed and developed northward as the HMS Tamar naval base. The Chinese name, Kam Chung (金鐘), lit. "Golden Bell", refers to a gold-coloured bell that was used for timekeeping at Wellington Barracks.[1]

History

The area was developed as a military area by the British military in the 19th century. They built the Wellington Barracks, Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks and Admiralty Dock at the site. Following the urbanisation of the north shore of Hong Kong Island, the military area split the urban area. The Hong Kong Government tried many times to get the land from the British military to connect the two urban areas, but the military refused. It was not until the 1970s that the land was gradually returned to government and changed to commercial buildings and gardens.[2]

The Admiralty Station of the MTR was built on the former site of the Hong Kong dockyards which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s. After its completion, the area became increasingly known as Admiralty, rather than Central.

During the 2014 Hong Kong protests (aka "Umbrella Revolution"), substantial tracts of the area were occupied by suffragists, who dubbed it Umbrella Square.

Features

Buildings in Admiralty consist primarily of office buildings, government buildings, shopping malls and hotels. There are also several parks in the area: Hong Kong Park, Tamar Park and Harcourt Garden.

The main development of the area in recent years has been the development of the Tamar site into the Central Government Complex, which started operating in 2011. Facing Victoria Harbour, the complex houses the Office of the Chief Executive, the Legislative Council Complex and the Central Government Offices.

Other major buildings in the area include:

Transport

Queensway and Harcourt Road are the major roads in the area. Both roads run from west to east and connect Central to Wan Chai. Other streets include Rodney Street and Tim Mei Avenue. Trams are running across Admiralty along Queensway. Most of the buildings of the area are connected through the Central Elevated Walkway, an extensive footbridge network which extends to the western part of Central.

The area is served by the peaktram and Admiralty Station of the MTR. It is an interchange station between Island Line and Tsuen Wan Line and it is planned to be the terminus of the future Sha Tin to Central Link and South Island Line. The Admiralty (East) Public Transport Interchange, a major bus terminus, is located above the station.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
  2. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1999546/stories-behind-hong-kong-districts-admiralty-always-place
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