Queen Victoria Street () is a
one-way street in
Central,
Hong Kong Island,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. Named after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
, the street stretches from
Connaught Road Central
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delb ...
to
Queen's Road Central
Queen's Road is a collection of roads along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, within the limit of Victoria City. It was the first road in Hong Kong, constructed by the British between 1841 and 1843, spanning across Victoria ...
. The street is noted for the many landmarks that it runs past, namely
Central Market Central Market may refer to:
*Central Market, a 2009 album by Tyondai Braxton
Fresh food markets
* Adelaide Central Market, Australia
* Cardiff Central Market, Wales
*Central Market, Hong Kong
* Central Market, Casablanca, Morocco
* Riga Central ...
and the headquarters of the
Hang Seng Bank
Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Group, ...
.
History
During the
First Opium War, the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and one year later, the territory was ceded to them in the
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties.
In the ...
. The street is named after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
, who was the reigning
British monarch at the time Hong Kong was
colonised
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
.
Although its Chinese name is a mistranslation of "Queen", meaning
queen consort instead of
queen regnant
A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...
, it has never been changed to reflect its proper dedication.
At the time of
the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, it was believed that Queen Victoria Street would be renamed along with other streets and places to erase memories of the colonial past.
This was in spite of a statement by the
Urban Council
The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Servic ...
declaring it generally had not intention of modifying the names of streets that bore colonial references. However, the renaming did not come to fruition at the handover
and the street still retains its royal name to the present day.
[
]
Description and features
From its northern end, Queen Victoria Street begins at Connaught Road Central
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delb ...
, travelling down one-way past the headquarters of the Hang Seng Bank
Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Group, ...
, located to the west of the street. It then reaches the intersection with Des Voeux Road Central
Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include:
People
* Des Buckingham, English football manager
* Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician
* Des Dillon (disambiguation), severa ...
; the next segment of the street ascends up a slope southwards. Here, it passes Central Market Central Market may refer to:
*Central Market, a 2009 album by Tyondai Braxton
Fresh food markets
* Adelaide Central Market, Australia
* Cardiff Central Market, Wales
*Central Market, Hong Kong
* Central Market, Casablanca, Morocco
* Riga Central ...
—also located on its west side—before ending on Queen's Road Central
Queen's Road is a collection of roads along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, within the limit of Victoria City. It was the first road in Hong Kong, constructed by the British between 1841 and 1843, spanning across Victoria ...
. The street is parallel to the adjacent Jubilee Street,[ which runs west of Queen Victoria Street and follows the same route, albeit with the landmarks to its east.
]
Intersections
See also
* List of places named after Queen Victoria
Many places which were once in the former British Empire were named after the British monarch who reigned over it for the greater part of its most dominant period, Queen Victoria. As such, Victoria is one of the most commemorated individuals in ...
* List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
References
External links
Google Maps of Queen Victoria Street
{{Portal bar, Hong Kong, British Empire, Roads
Central, Hong Kong
Roads on Hong Kong Island