For this walk, let’s go to Queen’s Road - a road with so much history.

 

Queen’s Road could be said to the first principle road in colonial Hong Kong and was officially named Main Street for a short while before being formally named after Queen Victoria. As the colony developed it was nicknamed ‘First Road’ while Kennedy Road was termed ‘Second Road’ and Bowen Road was termed ‘Third Road’ as these were the first three roads that ran along the length of Hong Kong Island. These are not to be confused with First, Second and Third Streets in Sai Ying Pun which came along later (along with High Street which was originally named Fourth Street before it was rapidly changed to avoid any bad luck.)

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In previous walks, we have learned how Hong Kong was originally laid out and Queen’s Road would have linked these important areas – the Cemetery and Horse Racing in Happy Valley, through to the main administration zone of ‘Queenstown’. The name Queenstown soon gave way to the new name of Victoria City but we all now know it as Central and the road continued beyond Queenstown to Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui and eventually to Kennedy Town. Queen’s Road was the focal point of the City and many of the early inhabitants built their houses along the road. Wealthy merchants would live in Victoria City while many workers (coolies) would also live in the less salubrious area of Wan Chai. Even the brothels were on this road - firstly in Sheung Wan and then in the early 1900s in Shek Tong Tsui. It's safe to say then that early colonial life revolved almost entirely around Queen’s Road – home, work and play, and the Hong Kong Club’s first premises was also on Queen’s Road – at the junction of D’Aguilar Street. Indeed, the following sketch from 1845 shows the various features of the early colony and although hard to make out, the furthest point to the left is Happy Valley and to the right is Possession Point with a rudimentary Queen's Road likely connecting the two.

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While Queen’s Road is now pretty much all land-locked, when we walk along we can get a good idea of Hong Kong’s original coast line. Any land to the harbour side of Queen’s Road was reclaimed in various projects from the late 1800s onwards. Indeed, aside from the road adjacent to Morrison Hill (which was originally an actual hill), Queen’s Road pretty much traces the original coast line. Development was fairly haphazard for the first thirty or so years of the colony, but that was soon to change after the Great Fire of Hong Kong in 1878. This wiped out over 400 houses and with this area cleared and the debris used for reclamation, land prices then grew tremendously.

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While the majority of Queen’s Road has been developed since those early days, there are still some historical sights to look out for and we have referenced many in previous walks. While not a building as such, the oldest reference point in colonial Hong Kong is at Hollywood Road Park at the junction of Possession Street - this is thought to be the location of ‘Possession Point’ – the exact spot where the British claimed Hong Kong in early 1841. One of Hong Kong’s most majestic buildings also looks over Queensway and as you walk past you can imagine how the French Mission Building would have dominated the area around it and commanded views over the harbour.

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A walk along Queen's Road gives you a wonderful insight into what makes Hong Kong tick. We get to see many different sides - from the frantic buzz around Happy Valley on a Wednesday race-night to the serious money being made in the buildings of Central next to the old buildings which remind us of what the city once was. Then we see the relative calm of Queen's Road West where a myriad of small businesses hustle to make a living. While not an obvious choice for a pleasant walk, I would urge any true Hong Konger to tick this one off the list.