Causeway Bay: Encyclopedia - Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay (Chinese: 銅鑼灣; Cantonese IPA: /tʰəʊŋ₁₁ lɔ₁₁ wɑn₅₅/; Jyutping: tung4 lo4 waan1; Mandarin Pinyin: tónglúowān; lit. "Copper Gong Bay") or East Point (東角; Cantonese IPA /təʊŋ₅₅ kɔk₃₃/; Jyutping dong1 gok3) is a heavily built-up area of Hong Kong, located on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, and covering parts of Wan Chai and Eastern districts. The Chinese name is also romanized as Tung Lo Wan as in Tung Lo Wan Road (銅鑼灣道).

Causeway Bay - Location

Part of Causeway Bay, including Tsing Fung Street, Causeway Bay market, the Victoria Park, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Jardine's noon cannon shot and the Police Officers Club is in the Eastern District. Queen's College and the Hong Kong Central Library are in Wan Chai District.

Causeway Bay - History

Before urban development and massive land reclamation, Causeway Bay was a heavily silted bay. Its former shape can be found on maps by tracing Tung Lo Wan Road, which goes along the former bay. In the early stage of development a causeway was built, which is the present-day Causeway Road. In the 1950s, the coastline was further pushed forward when the remains of the bay was reclaimed for the Victoria Park, when the statue of Queen Victoria was brought back from Japan. The statue had been taken away during the Second World War from Statue Square at Chater Road, Central.

The typhoon shelter of Causeway Bay and the Tin Hau Temple reveal that the area was a fishing village.

The names of Yee Wo Street, Jardine's Bazaar and Jardine's Crescent reveal that the land in this area was sold by the British colonial government to Jardines in the early 19th century. The area was therefore named East Point, after a pointed place on the coastline, east from the centre of Victoria City.

Causeway Bay - Features

The present-day Causeway Bay is usually confused with East Point, the former having assimilated the latter. The original Causeway Bay is near the present-day Tin Hau MTR station, whereas the Causeway Bay MTR station is at East Point. The present-day concept of the Causeway Bay area covers all the way until Canal Road (Canal Road East and Canal Road West), or the Canal Road district or in Chinese Ngo Keng Kiu (鵝頸橋), lit., the bridge of a goose's neck.

East Point is now regarded as part of Causeway Bay as result of assimilation of the geographical name. An East Point Road can still be found, which reveals the pointed coastline in the early days, prior to reclamation.

Causeway Bay or East Point is one of Hong Kong's major shopping district. It includes the 13-storey Japanese department store Sogo and Times Square, an indoor shopping complex. There are also smaller malls such as World Trade Centre, Windsor House, Hang Lung Centre, Fashion Island, Fashion Walk, Lee Gardens and Lee Gardens Two. Together with high street shops, Causeway Bay makes shopping interesting. Sogo Hong Kong was sold to Thomas Lau of Chinese Estates and Henry Cheng of Chow Tai Fook, two local businessmen when the Japanese Sogo went bankrupt. They took Sogo public by injecting this asset into Lifestyle International in 2004. Causeway Bay is one of the most crowded areas in Hong Kong since it contains many trendy shops carrying both locally made fashion and products from Japan. As such, it is a popular social spot for young people.

Many shops are open until well after midnight.

Prominent hotels in Causeway Bay include The Excelsior, Regal HongKong Hotel, Best Western Rosedale On The Park Hotel and Metropark Hotel. Modern service apartments such as Jia and Shamas have opened in the past few years.

Causeway Bay is named after a former causeway at the present-day Causeway Road. Kellett Island off the coast of Causeway Bay has disappeared and connected as a result of land reclamation. It is the home of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, a prestigious sports club for sailing and rowing, and one of the few local institutions which kept its "Royal" name after Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997.

For years, Jardine Matheson has fired a cannon shot at noon every day in Causeway Bay, by Victoria Harbour, slightly eastward of the former Kellett Island. The gunshots have served as time signals for many generations of old inhabitants of Hong Kong. This tradition still continues today. This is the "Noon-day Gun" mentioned in the Noel Coward song "Mad dogs and Englishmen".

Note that although the names of certain landmarks in the western part of Causeway Bay start with "Wanchai" (e.g. Wan Chai Fire Station), the landmarks are across the local customary limit of Wan Chai on Canal Road.

See also

• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong

Causeway Bay - Transportation

• MTR: Tin Hau and Causeway Bay stations of the Island Line
• Bus:
  • New World First Bus: 2, 8, 38, 42, 106, 112, 116, N122, N8
  • Citybus: 5, 8X, 10, 11, 72, 92, 103, 170, 619, 690, 962, N962
• Tram

Causeway Bay - External link

• Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

Main borders and locations

Categories: Bays of Hong Kong | Places in Hong Kong | Causeway Bay | Eastern District, Hong Kong | Wan Chai District

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Causeway Bay", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki