Hollywood Road (荷李活道) is a street spanning from Central to Sheung Wan in Central and Western District on Hong Kong Island, with a total length of about 1 km, starting from No. 80 Queen's Road West in Sheung Wan in the west, winding along the mountainside to the east, ending at Arbuthnot Road at the northeast corner of Old Central District Police Station Building Complex, Wyndham Street junction, an eastbound one-way road.
Hollywood Road was built in 1844 and was one of the first streets built after the opening of Hong Kong. The street is of great historical significance, both in terms of itself and the buildings on it, such as the Man Mo Temple, the old Central Police Station and the 30th House. Nowadays, Hollywood Road is also famous for its antique traders, with it being nicknamed "Antique Street".
History[]
Hollywood Road was built in 1844 by The Royal Engineers[1], being one of the newly built streets after the British began to rule Hong Kong.
Initially, Hollywood Road started from Wyndham Street and Arbuthnot Road in the east, extending to the west and connecting Fat Hing Street and Queen's Road[2]. The current section of Hollywood Road from Queen's Road West to Possession Street was originally called "Gap Street"[2][3]; What is now Possession Street was still part of Hollywood Road at that time[4]; Fat Hing Street, at that time, connected Queen's Road and Lower Lascar Row (now part of Lower Lascar Row and Lok Ku Road)[2]. On 3 September 1887, Possession Street (Formerly "波些臣街" in Chinese, later renamed "水坑口街" in Chinese[5]) was split from Hollywood Road. At the same time, Hoe Tuan Shan Street was merged into Hollywood Road, becoming the new starting section of Hollywood Road.[6]; Fat Hing Street was shortened due to the construction of Luen Fat Commercial Center in the 1980s.
There are different opinions on the origin of the name Hollywood Road. Some people believe that holly trees were planted along the road when the road was built. However, holly is not a native plant of the local area. The chance that there were holly trees in the local area when the port was opened is extremely slim. Today, most scholars believe that Hollywood Road is the second road of Hong Kong. Governor Sir John Francis Davis named it after Hollywood House, his mansion near Bristol, England. Some commentators further theorized that Sir John Francis Davis may have wanted to serve in the Israeli military. Political dignitaries named streets in Central District to please the people they were named, but they also secretly left names for themselves.[7]
Bus services[]
Currently, both Citybus Route 26 and Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus Route H1 pass through the entirety Hollywood Road, and the former uses Hollywood Road as its circular route return point. There are also several Mid-Levels bus routes serving the core area of Central. They do not take the Cotton Tree Drive up the mountain and travel through D'Aguilar Street, Wellington Street, Lyndhurst Terrace, Hollywood Road and Arbuthnot Road to Caine Road. These routes pass through a section of Hollywood Road starting from Bai Fa Street and turn onto Arbuthnot Road at the end. The entire section of Hollywood Road is one-way eastbound.
| List of Bus Stops on Hollywood Road (West to East) | |
|---|---|
| Eastbound Bus Stop Names | Location Introduction |
| Queen's Road West | |
| ←Po Yan Street | |
| Po Yan Street | Outside Hollywood Road Park |
| Possession Street→ | |
| ←Pound Lane | |
| Lok Ku Road | House No. 227 |
| ←Upper Station Street | |
| ←Sai Street/Lok Ku Road→ | |
| Tung Street | |
| ←Square Street | |
| Man Mo Temple | Opposite Man Mo Temple |
| Hollywood Terrace | Outside Hollywood Terrace |
| ←Shing Wong Street | |
| Aberdeen Street | |
| Peel Street | Opposite Elgin Street |
| Peel Street | |
| Graham Street, Lyndhurst Terrace | |
| ←Old Bailey Street (Central to Mid-Levels Escalator)→ | |
| Tai Kwun | Outside Sparkles Design Limited |
| ←Arbuthnot Road/Wyndham Street↓ | |
Gallery[]
Related articles[]
- Wyndham Street
- Arbuthnot Road
- Queen's Road Central
- Central
- Sheung Wan
Notes and References[]
- ↑ 荷李活〔香港文物系列 香港建造〕，香港歷史文物－保育．活化網頁。
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "List of Streets, Roads, etc, in Hongkong", The China Directory for 1874.
- ↑ "St. Stephen's Church (1st Generation), IL830 [1866-c.1888]", Gwulo: Old Hong Kong.
- ↑ "Hollywood Road and Possession Street", Gwulo: Old Hong Kong.
- ↑ Apple Daily,"【周末藝遊】Possession Street 記載佔領香港史"〔果籽〕, 26 July 2015.
- ↑ 〈Alterations in the Names of Streets and Numbers of Houses in Victoria and Kowloon", Government Notification - No. 356，the Hongkong Government Gazette, 3 September 1887.
- ↑ For example, Lin Zhunxiang, "從香港首批街道命名，到「赤柱」、「香港仔」如何變成Stanley和Aberdeen〉, January 27, 2017, published on the website of "Zhijian Famous Experts".
External links[]
- Hong Kong Historical Heritage - Conservation. Revitalisation Website, Hong Kong Heritage Series Hong Kong Construction: "Hollywood Road" (Traditional Chinese Only)