Wanchai

Wan Chai is literally "Cove District" and is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, located in the north of Hong Kong island. Wan Chai district is renowned for its small shops and markets, as well as fashionable restaurants and bars.

The impressive 78-storey Central Plaza stands here (Hong Kong’s tallest building) and visitors can view the city from the Sky Lobby on its 46th floor. After 1800 each day, neon lights upon the building’s rooftop change colour every hour to denote the time of evening.

OK, so its reputation precedes it, but Wan Chai is more than just a grille-bar zone. The district has historical neighborhoods, streets markets, hotels and government office complexes. Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kong's prime shopping districts, while Happy Valley is centred on its racecourse.

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

The district had a close association with the Royal Navy for many years: the open-air Tamar Site, now often used for concerts and fairs while stakeholders debate whether to build a new government headquarters there, was formerly the naval dockyard. Today, the nearby Fleet Arcade on Fenwick Pier welcomes sailors from visiting ships.

Wan Chai and Causeway Bay are dense residential districts 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.

Shopping

Furniture shops cluster along Queen's Road East and in Happy Valley. Wan Chai has a good line in computers and related equipment, and the open-air market which occupies Cross Streets and Tai Yuen Street is worth a wander.

Places of Interest

The Hung Shing temple on Queen's Road East is built around a boulder which stood on the original shoreline. Place names around here - Ship Street, Schooner Street - attest to the fact that the sea was once much nearer.

Further up the road, the Hopewell Centre was Hong Kong's tallest building when it was built; the external glass lift to the top-floor revolving restaurant still gives a thrill.

The tiny Environmental Resource Centre nearby, at the corner of Wan Chai Gap Road, is housed in the oldest surviving post office building in Hong Kong.

Wan Chai's bar district is centred at the intersection of Lockhart and Luard Roads. You're well advised to avoid any bar which employs girls to beckon you inside; these establishments make their money from fleecing sailors and other men too drunk to notice. Other bars and restaurants are run on normal basis, and there are some good choices here.

Among the commercial buildings of Wan Chai North you'll find Immigration Tower and Revenue Tower home both of government departments. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, a venue for plays and concerts, has its compound opposite the Arts Centre.

Elevated walkways snake across to the Convention & Exhibition Centre and to the Star Ferry pier, which has services to Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom. The vast Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was the historical location of the handover ceremony - the Golden Bauhinia monument outside the centre symbolises this momentous occasion.

Elevated walkways will pass throught the impressive 78-storey Central Plaza stands here. Climb up to see the city from the Sky Lobby on its 46th floor.

 

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