Exploring HK's street names: Threads of history & cultural significance
Recently, there has been a new style of photo-taking in Hong Kong. That is - at MTR stations, taking photos with the station name and making the colorful nine photos!
There are nearly 60 streets in Hong Kong with names of mainland provinces and cities.
Most of the streets named after mainland cities in the early days of Hong Kong were related to trading activities, and after the British invasion of Hong Kong in 1842, Dent & Co. built piers and warehouses along the waterfront, which were called Burn's Pier and Shantou pier respectively. After extensive reclamation, the original piers became inland and the two nearby streets were named Amoy Street and Swatow Street respectively.
Tai Yuen Street in Wan Chai is also known as "toy street" because it is full of toy stores.
One hundred years ago, many mainland merchant ships loaded their cargoes for re-export trade at Jervois Street in Sheung Wan because of its proximity to the sea, and many of them had silk fabrics from Suzhou and Hangzhou, so many merchants opened stores selling silks, laces, buttons, and so on.
In Aberdeen, it is easy to walk around six cities or provinces in just half an hour.
In Hong Kong, "street" and "road" have different meanings. "Street" refers to the road in front of a building in the urban area, 'Road' refers to the main road in the urban area or the New Territories, and 'Place' or 'Lane' refers to a circular road. Chengdu Road is the busiest street in the Aberdeen area and is the line of demarcation between the center of Aberdeen and the old district.
In the bustling Causeway Bay, there are four streets named after the four counties and cities in Guangdong.
The largest door number in Hong Kong is located on Canton Road - at 1239 Mongkok.
Tsim Sha Tsui has Peking Road, Hankow Road and Ichang Street.
In Yau Ma Tei, there are a whole bunch of streets named after mainland provinces and cities.
In Mongkok, there are Shantung Street, Cheung Sha Street, Shamchun Po Street and Nam Tau Street.
There are 14 streets named after mainland cities in Sham Shui Po: Kilung Street, Nan Cheong Street (the main island of Pingtan in Fujian Province), Kiu Kiang Street, Pei Ho Street (the Haihe River in Tianjin), Pratas Street, Tung Chau Street, Tung Chau West Street, Kweilin Street, Tonkin Street (formerly known as Gulf of Tonkin), Tonkin Street West, Yen Chow Street, Yen Chow Street West, and Yu Chau Street.
In Hung Hom, there are Taku Street (the old name of Tianjin) and Wuhu Street.
In To Kwa Wan, there are also Anhui Street, Kiang Hsi Street, Shansi Street, Kwei Chow Street, Chi Kiang Street and Sze Chuen Street.
These streets, named after mainland provinces and cities, present the development trajectory of Hong Kong's history and bear witness to the close ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
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