Admiralty, Hong Kong
| Admiralty | |||||||||||||||
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 Admiralty skyline in August 2013. The Central Government Complex is in the centre. | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 金鐘 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 金钟 | ||||||||||||||
| Cantonese Yale | Gāmjūng | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Golden Bell | ||||||||||||||
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Admiralty (金鐘; Gāmjūng) 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 naval base HMS Tamar. The Cantonese 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 site by the British garrison in Hong Kong in the 19th century. Under their direction, the Wellington Barracks, Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks and Admiralty Dock were built at the site. Following the urbanisation of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island during the 20th century, the urban area there was split in two by the military site. The colonial government of Hong Kong made repeated attempts to acquire the military site to connect the two urban areas, but were rebuffed. However, from the 1970s onwards the military site was gradually returned to the colonial government, and several commercial buildings and gardens were built on the site.[2]
The Admiralty station of the MTR was built on the former site of a dockyard 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, substantial tracts of the area were occupied by protestors, who dubbed it Umbrella Square. Admiralty was also a focal point for protestors during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.
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.
As one of the main financial areas in Hong Kong, there are plenty of Grade-A commercial buildings in Admiralty[3] including:
- Admiralty Centre
- Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, housed in the former Former Explosive Magazine of the Victoria Barracks
- Bank of America Tower
- Bank of China Tower
- British Consulate General Hong Kong
- Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building
- CITIC Tower
- Cheung Kong Centre
- Far East Finance Centre
- High Court Building
- Lippo Centre, which houses the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
- Pacific Place, a complex featuring a shopping mall, several hotels and office towers, that opened in Admiralty in phases between 1988 and 1991. The complex is connected to the MTR Admiralty station via an underground walkway. A later phase, Three Pacific Place, is located in Wan Chai
- Queensway Government Offices
- Queensway Plaza, a shopping centre located above Admiralty station
- United Centre
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, Tsuen Wan line, South Island line and East Rail line. The Admiralty (East) Public Transport Interchange, a major bus terminus, is located above the station.
Economy
Corporations headquartered in Admiralty include:
- Everbright International, in the Far East Finance Centre[4]
- Lippo Ltd, in the Lippo Centre
- CITIC Pacific Ltd, in the CITIC Tower
- Culturecom (formerly Jademan), in the Far East Finance Centre[5]
See also
- List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
- Central and Wan Chai Reclamation
References
- ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9789622099449.
- ^ "Stories behind Hong Kong districts: Admiralty, always a place apart". South China Morning Post. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Admiralty. Treasure Land. Retrieved on 3 Oct 2018
- ^ "Contact Us". Everbright International. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
Hong Kong Head Office Address: Rm. 2703, 27/F., Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong
- Traditional Chinese address: "香港夏愨道16號遠東金融中心27樓2703室" - Simplified Chinese address: "香港夏悫道16号远东金融中心27楼2703室" - ^ "ABOUT CULTURECOM". Culturecom. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
Add：Room 1502, 15/F, Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong
- Chinese address: "地址：香港金鐘夏愨道16號遠東金融中心15樓1502室"
22°16′47″N 114°09′56″E / 22.279636°N 114.165487°E
Urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories | |||||||||||
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| MHong Kong1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MOld KowloonKL,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MNew KowloonNKL,2,3,4,5,6,7,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| New Territories |
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Official place names are summarized from "Geoinfo Map" of Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, "Hong Kong Guide" of Lands Department, "Hong Kong Guide Book" of Universal Publications Ltd. and "Areas and Districts" of Rating and Valuation Department. M：Narrow meaning of urban areas KL: Kowloon Peninsula at the south of Boundary Street NKL: Former New Territories area at the north of Boundary Street and at the south of Lion Rock 1: Common definition (1) 2: Common definition (2) 3: Common definition (3) 4: Areas not adopting small house concessionary right of indigenous inhabitants 5: Jurisdiction area of former Urban Council 6: Definition of "Metropolitan Area" of Planning Department 7: Jurisdiction area of Urban Renewal Authority 8: Unique operating area of urban taxis 9: "Urban" (9a) and "Extended Urban" (9b) areas defined by Hong Kong Housing Authority 10: Definition of Urban rates 11: Hospital cluster belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 12: Police region belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 13: Regions having 999-year land lease 14: Geographical Constituency in Hong Kong Legislative Council belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 15: Regional Education Office belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 16: Primary One Admission School Net belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon | |||||||||||