Major and minor Government and local officials: It's not just governors that have streets named after them. In fact, many major and minor officials in Hong Kong and back in the UK received the honour. The more interesting or quirky ones include colonial secretaries (Caine Road, Austin Road); a Harbour Master (Pedder Street, Rumsey Street); a government auctioneer (Duddell Street); a major general (Cameron Road); surveyors (Cleverly Street, Aldrich Street); and a public works director (Chatham Road ), to name just a few.
Wan Chai and Causeway Bay: Wan Chai was a thriving local fishing village when the British arrived. Many of the street names reflect its root. Ship Street was the site of a dockyard. Many who settled in Wanchai in the early days were from northeast Guangdong and Fujian province, and the streets Amoy (Xiamen) and Swatow were named after cities in that area, with Westernised English names of that era.
In the 1800s, Jardine, Matheson and Company (Jardine's) took up much of present-day Causeway Bay (East Point back then) for its business activities that included godowns and trading. As such, several streets were named after the company and its principals . They include Yee Wo Street (Chinese names for Jardine's), Jardine's Bazaar. Jardine's Crescent, Percival Street (a tai-pan of Jardine's); and Keswick Street (tai-pan), among others.
Kowloon: Many of the streets in Kowloon were named after cities in China, and curiously, in Vietnam. Some were major Chinese cities (Shanghai Street, Peking Street, Nanking Street, Hankow Road (part of Wuhan today), and Canton Road, of course. However, the Chinese translation for Canton Road (Guangzhou) was mistakenly changed to Guangdong, the province. The mistake was allowed to stand. The names of these streets all followed Mandarin Wade Giles translation.
Other streets included Kweilin Street, (Gunagxi), Ki Lung Road (Taiwan), Ning Po (Zhejiang), Nam Cheong (Jiangxi). Several streets were named after cities in Vietnam – Haiphong Road, Hanoi Road, Saigon Street (Ho Chi Ming City) and Tonkin Street which in Chinese has the same spelling as Tokyo but referred to Tonkin as in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. Curiously, not that many streets were named after provinces; the ones in Kowloon were only Shantung Street and Gansu Street – go figure.
Mong Kok arguably has the richest brew of names of different sorts. Besides the aforementioned streets that were named after cities, many of which run through Mong Kok, there are also streets named after its business activities – Sai Yee Street (washing clothes), Yim Po Fong Street and Hak Po Street (Dying), Sai Yeung Choi Street, Tung Choi Street (vegetable growing; Chinese watercress and water spinach). The Battle of Waterloo is prominently featured in Mong Kok (Waterloo Road, a main road) and Nelson Street (Admiral Horatio Nelson, arguably Britain's greatest admiral in history). A merchant ship, the Argyle, became the name of one of Mong Kok's busiest streets, and of course, there is Boundary Street, which at one time served as a real boundary that demarcated the leased portion of Hong Kong from the rest.
Odds and Ends/Do you know?
Longest Road: At 50 kilometres, Castle Peak Road which extends from Sham Shui Po to Yuen Long by way of Tsuen Wan, Sham Tseng and Tuen Mun is the longest road in Hong Kong. The road neither starts nor ends in Castle Peak, a prominent mountain in northwest New Territories. A trip to the New Territories in the 1950s and 60s would be an all-day affair. Tai Po Road, at around 26 kilometres is the second longest and the only way to get to Shatin and beyond before the Lion Rock Tunnel was built.
Hiram's Highway: The main road from Clearwater Bay Road to Sai Kung is called Hiram's Highway (The Chinese translation simply means Sai Kung Highway). The road is named after Major John Wynne-Potts of the Royal Marines whose nickname was Hiram as he shared the same name as Hiram K. Potts, an American sausage – go figure.
Names that don't match their translation: There are many streets where the English and Chinese names bear no relationship to each other. They include Possession Street, which commemorates the spot in Sheung Wan when the British first set foot on Hong Kong Island. The Chinese translation means literally a gutter, or to be more kind, a small aqueduct. Lyndhurst Terrace, named after an Assistant Magistrate, is called “Flower Arrangement Street” in Chinese as the street was home to many flower stalls.
Street Name by Mistake: How about checking out Rednaxela Terrace, a side street above Sheung Wan? Rednaxela is, of course, Alexander written backwards. One interpretation had it that a Chinese clerk was writing down the name from right to left, as it is customary in Chinese writing. The mistake stood, perhaps out of amusement. The Chinese translation was transliteral, which is a mouthful in either language.
How many streets does the Tram travel on? There are 14 streets that the Hong Kong Tram traverses on its main track stretching from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan. They are Catchick Street, Kennedy Town Praya, Des Voeux Road West, Connaught Road West, Morrison Street, Des Voeux Road Central, Queensway, Johnston Road; Hennessy Road, Yee Wo Street; Causeway Road, King's Road, Kornhill Road; and Shaukeiwan Road. A tram ride from one end to the other is an excellent and relaxed way to enjoy the city.
Next time you see an interesting street name in Hong Kong, you can be sure it tells a tale from a long-ago era. Have fun street name hunting!