Praya
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Praya () was a term used in 19th-century
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
to refer to a
promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...
by the waterfront. The name comes from the Portuguese word ''praia'', which means "beach," but in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
it came to mean a stone-faced waterfront road. In
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, it was a broad road running parallel along the harbour in front of the city.The Praya, Hong Kong
Illustrations of China and Its People, John Thomson 1837-1921, (London,1873-1874)
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
and Dent & Co. were just some of the major companies based in the area.


History

British occupation of Hong Kong Island began on 26 January 1841, and the colonial government held its first land sale on 14 June of that year. Purchasers were mostly the British, Indian and Parsee traders such as Dent, Jardines and Lindsay. These traders were mainly import and export merchants and required land with frontage along Victoria Harbour."A Historical and Architectural Appraisal of Queen’s Pier, Central (Annexe B3)
Antiquities and Monuments Office The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) is a Hong Kong government organization established in 1976 under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance to protect and preserve historic monuments. Housed in the Former Kowloon British School, the AMO ...
, Government of Hong Kong SAR, accessdate=2007-12-15
Queen's Road, to the south, was the first road opened. The land lots acquired were subsequently much expanded and reclaimed from the sea without paying rent to the government. The first land reclamations after 1841 were private ones without any planning at all, making the shoreline very irregular. Lisa Lim of the ''
South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...
'' argued that the proximity of Macau meant that Hong Kongers kept using the word "praya" as opposed to the word "bund". A number of reclamation schemes took place around the time that
John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phrayā Siam Mānukūlakicca Siammitra Mahāyaśa (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was ...
served as the
Hong Kong governor The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...
. Hence many of the major Praya areas were named after him. The long names are usually "Bowring Praya East", "Bowring Praya Central" for example.


Major areas


Praya West

The
Praya Reclamation Scheme The Praya Reclamation Scheme () was a large scale land reclamation in Hong Kong, land reclamation project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in 19th Century Hong Kong under Catchick Paul Chater, Sir Catchick Paul Chater and Keswick family#Ja ...
began in 1868 in this area. It was completed in 1873, adding significant land to Praya West and Central.Bard, Solomon.
002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'' ...
(2002). Voices from the Past: Hong Kong 1842-1918. HK University press.
Praya west is now
Des Voeux Road West Des Voeux Road Central ( Chinese: 德輔道中) and Des Voeux Road West ( Chinese: 德輔道西) are two roads on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. They were named after the 10th Governor of Hong Kong, Sir William Des Vœux. Th ...
.


Praya Central

Praya central is now
Des Voeux Road Central Des Voeux Road Central (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 德輔道中) and Des Voeux Road West (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 德輔道西) are two roads on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. They were named af ...
.


Praya East

The Praya East area went through a series of
land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...
projects. The earliest series was known as Praya East Reclamation Scheme. The filled in area is known as today's
Johnston Road Johnston Road () is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. Location Johnston Road spans from the junction with Heard Street, Hennessy Road and Stewart Road on its east, towards another junction with Hennessy Road and ...
and
Hennessy Road Hennessy Road () is a thoroughfare on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It connects Yee Wo Street on the east in Causeway Bay, at the junction with East Point Road, Jardine's Bazaar and Great George Street, Hong Kong, Great George Street in East ...
in
Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
.Wordie, Jason.
002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'' ...
(2002) Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
The Hong Kong Tramways first opened its service in 1904 in Praya East.


Roads and areas

There are at least seven waterfront roads in Hong Kong that still retain the name praya: * Aberdeen Praya Road (香港仔海旁道) * Cheung Chau Praya Street (長洲海傍街) - roadway that lines the southwest part of the island; the street is lined with buildings for most of the route facing the island's inner harbour * Kennedy Town Praya (堅彌地城海旁) - a short roadway from about Collinson Street westwards to Sand Street in
Kennedy Town Kennedy Town is a town and neighbourhood at the western end of Sai Wan on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It was named after Arthur Kennedy (colonial administrator), Arthur Edward Kennedy, the 7th governor of Hong Kong from 1872 to 1877. Adminis ...
. The eastern end of the street becomes Des Voeux Road West, itself formerly called Praya West. Reclamation projects have made the roadway landlocked. * New Praya, Kennedy Town (堅彌地城新海旁) - located north of the Kennedy Town Praya and runs from Sands Street to west of Cadogan Street. Unlike Kennedy Town Praya, this praya is still a waterfront roadway * Ap Lei Chau Praya Road (鴨脷洲海旁道) * Lei Yue Mun Praya Road (鯉魚門海傍道) * Tin Wan Praya Road (田灣海旁道) - Tin Wan Praya Road is located in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. It starts from the roundabout at the junction of Tin Wan Hill Road and Fish Market Road in the east, and ends at the roundabout of Wah Kwai Village Bus Terminal in the west.


See also

*
Victoria, Hong Kong The City of Victoria, (, or ) often called Victoria City or simply Victoria (), was the ''de facto'' capital of Hong Kong during British Hong Kong, its time as a British dependent territory. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon know ...
*
Praia Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.The Bund The Bund is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East Zhongshan Road No.1) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the wester ...


References

{{reflist Places in Hong Kong