Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island

Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kong's prime shopping districts, while Happy Valley is centred on its racecourse. Causeway Bay is the main embarkation point for the cross-harbour tunnel. Attractions in the area include the Happy Valley Racetrack, many local teahouses, department stores and the Noon Day Gun, that has fired at midday since the 1840s.

Causeway Bay's geography was radically different when the British arrived. Happy Valley was a malarial swamp until it was drained in the mid-1800s. The area's are built almost entirely on reclaimed land - the tram line traces the original shoreline to some extent.

Shopping in Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay has the big Japanese department stores, Sogo and Mitsukoshi, as well as the towering Times Square. Causeway Bay is a main shopping district and boasts upmarket clothing boutiques and department stores.

The area 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. Standard opening hours are daily 0930-1900 and later in many cases. Many shops are open until well after midnight.

Places of Interest in Causeway Bay

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
Moving along the coast to Causeway Bay, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club has its clubhouse on Kellett Island - once an offshore isle but now firmly joined to the city by reclamation. Its marina borders the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter which is full of boats.

Noonday Gun
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". Due to the twelve-lane highway on the harbourfront, you need to reach it by taking an underground tunnel from beside the Excelsior Hotel.

Victoria Park
Victoria Park is a huge and popular 19-acre park located on Causeway and Gloucester roads in Causeway Bay. Victoria Park has tennis and squash courts, a 50m (164-ft.) swimming pool, soccer fields, basketball courts, playgrounds, a skating rink, and a jogging track. Its popular in early morning for those practicing tai chi (shadow boxing).

It gets filled with humanity during demontrations and festivals like the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as a flower market a few days before Chinese New Year.

Central Library,
Hong Kong's largest, overlooks Victoria Park from the south. Inland from there, in an older district known as Tai Hang, the Lin Fa Kung temple sits in a small garden. It was built in 1864 in an unusual style.

Fire Dragon Festival / Mid-Autumn Festival
The streets nearby are the location of the annual Fire Dragon Festival, a celebration which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Colonial Catholic Cemeteries
On the west side of Happy Valley, opposite the entrance to the racecourse, colonial cemeteries represent most denominations of Hong Kong's early settlers.

Bowen Road
The pedestrian-only Bowen Road run along the hillside above Wan Chai and Happy Valley, and is a regular route for joggers.

Lover's Rock
Halfway along, a path leads up to Lover's Rock, a phallic monolith visited by women in search of husbands.

Po Leung Kuk Museum
(Leighton Road, Causeway Bay)

Causeway Bay Entertainment

Harbor Night Cruise

This romantic night-time cruise begins once you step into a Chinese-style tour boat. The boat leads you to fabulous views of Hong Kong while cruising around Victoria Harbor. The tour takes you around the Western District, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, and Causeway Bay typhoon shelter Complementary drinks are available during the tour.

Causeway Bay Hong Kong Night Life
Lan Kwai Fong, SoHo and Wan Chai are preferred watering holes for the expat crowd; locals go for karaoke in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay. Happy hours run round the clock and there are no restrictions on closing times, so you can happily party until the sun rises.

Movies and Cinemas
Causeway Bay have several cinemas to choose from. Most shows are either in English or Cantonese. English language films are usually subtitled in Chinese and some are dubbed into Cantonese, or infrequently, into Mandarin.

A good deal is possible in the Palace in Windsor House, Causeway Bay. You can get seats for two/couples, complimentary food and soft drinks, even a bar, and of course a state of the art screen and sound system.

Causeway Bay restaurants offers everything from the ubiquitous Cantonese food to Sichuan, Shanghainese, Hunanese, Beijing, Chiu Chow, and Pekingese dishes. Feast on spring rolls, steamed dumplings, and other goodies served in bamboo steamers. The district have their share of fine dining or casual family-style meals in some of Hong Kong's Eastern and Western restaurants. Chinese food may be sampled on a small sampan in Causeway Bay, in one of the street markets or at a deluxe hotel.

History

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.

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 HK.

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.

Accommodation

Hotels
Prominent hotels in Causeway Bay include The Excelsior, Regal Hongkong, Best Western Rosedale and the modern Metropark Hotel. City Garden Hotel

Residential -
Causeway Bay is a highly built district with older high-rise buildings. Noise and air quality are a problem. Happy Valley is quieter and more upmarket, and has its own self-contained 'village' feel.

Getting There

Take the MTR and go down either in Tin Hau or Causeway Bay stations of the Island Line

Several Public Buses pass by Causeway Bay:
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

Hong Kong Tram The cheapest and scenic way to get

 

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