Chater Road is a three-lane road in Central,

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 Sir Paul Chater. It begins at its intersection with Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road Central in the west, and ends at Murray Road in the east. It divides

Statue Square Statue Square (; lit. "Empress' Statue Square") is a public pedestrian square in Central, Hong Kong. Built entirely on reclaimed land at the end of the 19th century, Statue Square consists of two parts separated by Chater Road into a n ...

into a southern and a northern sections.

History

Chater Road is named after Sir Paul Chater, a leading figure in early colonial Hong Kong, who was instrumental in the

Praya Reclamation Scheme The Praya Reclamation Scheme () was a large scale land reclamation project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in Colonial Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick. Early proposal The project was first proposed ...

, which created the reclaimed land on which the road is built. Chater House, owned by Hongkong Land, is located at the western end of the road, which abuts the similarly dedicated Chater Garden, a public square in the middle of the central business district.

Events

Since the growth in the number of

foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong () are domestic workers employed by Hongkongers, typically families. Comprising five percent of Hong Kong's population, about 98.5% of them are women. In 2019, there were 400,000 foreign domestic helpers in ...

, the road is now usually closed on Sundays and on

Hong Kong bank holidays Public holidays and statutory holidays in Hong Kong are holidays designated by the Government of Hong Kong. They allow workers rest from work, usually in conjunction with special occasions. List of holidays The 17 ''public holidays'' (), also ca ...

, when the road and surrounding areas are full of domestic helpers gathering and enjoy their day off work. Impromptu parties with music and dancing are frequent. Almost all of the people share picnics with their friends.

Sites along the road

Points of interest along the road include (from west to east): * Chater House * St George's Building * Alexandra House *

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited (MOHG) is a Hong Kong hotel investment and management group focusing on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, with a total of 33 properties worldwide, 20 of which are fully or partially ow ...

* Prince's Building *

* World War I cenotaph *

Court of Final Appeal Building The Court of Final Appeal Building, also known as the Old Supreme Court Building, is the home of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. It housed the former Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983 and the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2011. ...

* Hong Kong Club Building * AIA Central * Chater Garden, former cricket ground and common location for protests The former

Furama Kempinski Hotel The Furama Hotel () was a 33-storey hotel in Central, Hong Kong, located at 1 Connaught Road Central. The site is now occupied by the AIA Central office building. History The Furama Hotel was designed by Eric Cumine Associates and built for th ...

was located along the road as well. The hotel has been replaced by the AIG Tower, later renamed AIA Central.

Public transport

Part of the

MTR The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...

's Tsuen Wan line runs underneath the road, and the Tsuen Wan line station serving the area was originally called Chater in English. It was later renamed Central together with the Island line Pedder station nearby.

References

External links