Shanghai Street
Encyclopedia
Shanghai Street is a 2.3 km long street in the Jordan
, Yau Ma Tei
and Mong Kok
areas of Kowloon
, Hong Kong
. Completed in 1887 under the name of Station Street (差館街), it was once the most prosperous street in Kowloon. It originates from the south at Austin Road
, and terminates in the north at Lai Chi Kok Road
. Parallel to Shanghai Street are Nathan Road, Temple Street
, Portland Street
, Reclamation Street
and Canton Road
. Though parallel, Shanghai Street was marked by 2- to 3-floor Chinese-style buildings while Nathan Road was marked by Western-style buildings.
.
The street is not named because there are lots of Shanghai people
there. In fact, Shanghai Street has long been an ordinary Cantonese district without many Shanghai people. So what makes Shanghai Street called Shanghai
? Actually, Shanghai Street was having a name of Station Street (差館街) before being given the name of Shanghai Street. The reason was that there was the Yau Ma Tei Police Station
, a police station located at the junction of Public Square Street
and Shanghai Street until its relocation at No. 627 Canton Road
in 1922. Since the police station was the great symbol of the area there, the street was originally called Station Street. It was divided into two sections, Station Street South and Station Street North, on 12 November 1898.
There are two reasons that the street changed name. First, in 1909, the Government started to name streets in Kowloon after major Chinese provinces that traded with Hong Kong to recognize Hong Kong as a commercial port. The British colonial government in Hong Kong found the area of Station Street was as prosperous as Shanghai in China
at that time while Hong Kong was having trade relation with Shanghai. Therefore, they changed the Station street into Shanghai Street on 19 March 1909. The second reason is that there was a street called Upper Station Street (差館上街) in Sheung Wan
, a place in Hong Kong Island
and it caused confusion with the one in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok.
One of the then two Magistrate's Courts
of Kowloon was located in Shanghai Street between Public Square Street
and Market Street, until it was demolished in 1957. The other one was the Kowloon Magistracy in Gascoigne Road
, built in 1936 and renamed the South Kowloon District Court
in 1957. The North Kowloon Magistracy
, built in 1960 in Shek Kip Mei
, later shared the workload.
Before the 1970s when Nathan Road became prosperous, Shanghai Street was the leading business corridor in Hong Kong. Indeed in mid 19th century Station Street (the previous name of Shanghai Street) has started to prosper. In the tax record book of 1880, there were 150 taxed units, including a brothel, the most number of units at that time, under the title Station Street. There were about 9,000 people living in Yau Ma Tei at that time. The district was already the most populated district. Adding with over a hundred shops, the district became the most prosperous area from late 19th century to mid 20th century. The shops there were related to traditional Chinese trades and livelihood, including shops selling traditional wedding dresses, fung shui tools, pawnshops and books. In between 1970s to 1990s, the Mong Kok area of Shanghai Street was symbolized by a wide variety of night clubs and sexual agencies. All these are mixed together with the shops and residential areas there. Indeed, all these business are still in activation nowadays without fading away by time.
The following list follows a south-north order. (W) indicates the western side of the road, while (E) indicates the eastern side.
The Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station
, Water Supplies Department (前水務署抽水站工程師辦公室), sometimes called "The Red Brick House" (紅磚屋), is a Grade I historical building located at No. 344 Shanghai Street.
It is the only remaining building of a former pumping station
, which was built in 1895 and ceased operation in 1911. Its three buildings underwent different adaptive reuse
: one of them, now demolished, was converted into a post office in the 1910s-1920s. Another one became a hazardous goods store. The remaining building became a hawkers
control office. In the pre-war and early post-war days Yunnan Lane, which was located by the side of the post office, became a place where professional letter writers set up their stalls. The post office ceased operation in 1967 with the opening of the nearby Kowloon Central Post Office
. The vacated post office was then used as a "Street Sleepers' Shelter" operated by the Salvation Army
, until the end of the 1990s, when the shelter for the homeless moved across the street to the building on 345A Shanghai Street, where it is still located.
The building is now vacant awaiting a suitable adaptive re-use. It is proposed that the Red Brick Building will revitalize in conjunction with the Yau Ma Tei Theatre as a Xiqu
(戲曲) Activity Centre, providing a performing and practicing venue for small-scale Cantonese Opera performance. It would also serve as training venue for budding artists. This revitalization project was endorsed by the Public Works Subcommittee of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council
at its meeting on January 21, 2009.
Nos. 600-626 Shanghai Street
, or more specifically Nos. 600, 602, 604, 606, 612, 614, 620, 622, 624 and 626, is a group of ten pre-war shophouse
s (tong-lau
) in the Mong Kok section of Shanghai Street, that have been listed as Grade I historical buildings for their historical value. It is believed that Nos. 620 – 626 are the oldest buildings among them.
No. 330 Shanghai Street, a post-war tong lau adjacent to the Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, houses the Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum.
and also the influx of Chinese migrants to Hong Kong.
These 10 typical shophouses are believed to have been built in the 1920s and 1930s, which are typical of an old commercial street. They are composed of shops on the ground floor that open up to a public arcade or "five-foot way", and low-rented residential accommodations upstairs. Shops like selling furnishings, building construction materials (such as window frames, curtains, paint and hardware), traditional Chinese utensils, ceremonial items, traditional Chinese wedding gowns, grocery, snake soup as well as traditional Nepalese snacks can be found in Shanghai Street. There are lines of stores filled with Chinese and Western household kitchen tools as well as products that can kit out even an entire restaurant. These kitchen products, which include mixers, grinders, gas rings, cleavers, various chopping boards, racks, steamer trays what not, are usually sold by specialist merchants. Although a majority of products on sale at many shops along Shanghai Street display price tags, they are not fix-rated, giving the consumers the opportunity to use their bargaining skills.
As part of Hong Kong's living heritage, those shop houses are still functional in their communities and play important roles in the lives of local people. In recent years, residents and individuals have refurbished some shophouses and converted them into restaurants, shops or artists' interaction center like Shanghai Street Artspace project managed by the Department of Creative Arts of the Hong Kong Institute of Education
(HKIEd) aiming to explore, develop and learn from the artistic culture of Yau Ma Tei.
(URA) announced two heritage conservation plans, which proposed to preserve the ten blocks of pre-war shophouses on Shanghai Street in Mong Kok and ten other blocks on Prince Edward Road East
. Four 1960s buildings that dissect the shophouse cluster in Shanghai Street are also included in the project. The Shanghai Street project covers
an area of about 1,128m2. The project aims to preserve and revitalise these shophouse clusters for commercial uses.
The projects, which costs HK$1.33 billion, is the largest single conservation initiative ever undertaken in Hong Kong. This conservation plan is the initiative of the expanded conservation strategy for 48 pre-war shophouses across Hong Kong. The URA has two alternatives: to buy property rights of the shop houses and redevelop them into commercial or other uses; to re-zone them so as to limit the use of those shop houses for preservation purposes. Most of the cost, about $1.23 billion, would be spent on property acquisition and tenants' rehousing of the 73 households with 220 residents in the two sites' 24 buildings. The remaining one-tenth of the sum is used for renovation.
For shophouses in Shanghai Street, necessary building services such as lifts, fire escapes and disabled access for the shophouses would be built in the 1960s buildings. The exact usage of the revamped shophouses is not been determined and is open to any options. One of the tentative suggestions is to house low-priced restaurant so that the public will have opportunities to use the verandas. The proposed aim is transforming Shanghai Street into a popular food street, or directly translated from the Chinese as "Food Paradise".
In addition, the authority plans to reserve the shops upstairs for the arts community, such as bookstores and dance studios. The cluster of shophouses on Prince Edward Road East would be remained as a part of the flower market so that the thriving flower trade would not be disrupted.
The Prince Edward Road East project and the Shanghai Street project are expected to be completed by 2014 and 2015 respectively. But some people see problems with the URA’s plans: not so much capital a conservation strategy as an acquisition or buy-out of properties; elimination of Shanghai Street true character by removing the stores and residents.
has cooperated with different real estate developers to rehabilitate Shanghai Street. Here is the summary and the photos after rehabilitation.
The first rehabilitation project was Joye Fook Mansion, which is located on 466, 466A & 468 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei. Joye Fook Mansion has been occupied since 1966 and its building age is 43. The rehabilitation works completed on February 2005. The next rehabilitation project was Mei Koon Mansion located on 698-710 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok. Mei Koon Mansion has been occupied since 1966. The rehabilitation works completed on March 2005.
On June 2005 the final rehabilitation project on 316-318 Shanghai Street had completed.
, Land Development Corporation had proposed the Langham Place project, in which, 11,976 square metres area was involved across Argyle Street
, Portland Street
, Shantung Street
and Reclamation Street
. The main goal is to urbanize the disusing area there. The existing gross floor area (GFA) in this project was 40,810 square metres. Besides, 58 buildings and 2,603 residents had been affected. The construction was completed in July 2004. The total GFA is now 167,419 square metres and the commercial space is 160,870 square metres. Langham Place is a Grade A 59-storey office tower. Its height is 255.1 m. It houses the 665-room Langham Place Hotel
and a 15-storey mall. Langham Place comprises office tower, hotel, and shopping mall.
Jordan, Hong Kong
Jordan is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District of Hong Kong. The unofficial area is named after a road of the same name.-Geography:Jordan is located in the central part of the Yau Tsim Mong District, as suggested by the name of some bus stops nearby...
, Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
and Mong Kok
Mong Kok
Mong Kok , less often known as Argyle , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District on Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong...
areas of Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Completed in 1887 under the name of Station Street (差館街), it was once the most prosperous street in Kowloon. It originates from the south at Austin Road
Austin Road
Austin Road is a road in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was named after John Gardiner Austin, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1868 to 1879.-Location:...
, and terminates in the north at Lai Chi Kok Road
Lai Chi Kok Road
Lai Chi Kok Road is a road in the western part of New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It links Lai Chi Kok to Mong Kok, via Tai Kok Tsui, Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan. It starts from the junction with Nathan Road near Pioneer Centre in the south and ends near Mei Foo Sun Chuen...
. Parallel to Shanghai Street are Nathan Road, Temple Street
Temple Street, Hong Kong
Temple Street is a street located in the areas of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is known for its night market and one of the busiest flea markets at night in the territory. The night market is in the Yau Ma Tei, Jordan part of the street and not the Mong Kok part of the street...
, Portland Street
Portland Street
Portland Street is a popular street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street is known for its business and retailing skyscraper complex Langham Place, numerous restaurants and its famous red-light district.-Geography:...
, Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street is a street stretching from Jordan to Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. As its name suggests, it was built on the reclaimed western shore of the Kowloon Peninsula.-Location:Reclamation Street runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road...
and Canton Road
Canton Road
Canton Road is a road in Hong Kong, linking the former west reclamation shore in Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok on the Kowloon Peninsula. The road runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road. It starts from the junction with Salisbury Road in the south and ends in the north at the...
. Though parallel, Shanghai Street was marked by 2- to 3-floor Chinese-style buildings while Nathan Road was marked by Western-style buildings.
History
Before 1874, the location in Shanghai Street was actually a sea with ships parked there every day. Therefore, the ground of Shanghai Street that people have been stepping on for more than a century and 2 decades is an early-reclaimed land in Hong KongLand reclamation in Hong Kong
Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...
.
The street is not named because there are lots of Shanghai people
Shanghainese people
The Shanghainese people also commonly referred to as Shanghaiers refers to the people whose families are from Shanghai, China, who can speak the Shanghainese dialect of the Wu language. With the prosperity of Shanghai, more and more migrants have been moving to Shanghai for school and work which...
there. In fact, Shanghai Street has long been an ordinary Cantonese district without many Shanghai people. So what makes Shanghai Street called Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
? Actually, Shanghai Street was having a name of Station Street (差館街) before being given the name of Shanghai Street. The reason was that there was the Yau Ma Tei Police Station
Yau Ma Tei Police Station
Yau Ma Tei Police Station is a police station in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Its buildings at No. 627 Canton Road, at the junction of Public Square Street, were erected in 1922 after relocation from the junction of Public Square Street and Shanghai Street.-History:Yau Ma Tei Police Station...
, a police station located at the junction of Public Square Street
Public Square Street
Public Square Street is a street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street runs in an east-west alignment from Cliff Road to Ching Ping Street, meeting Nathan Road, Temple Street, Shanghai Street, Reclamation Street and Canton Road in its course....
and Shanghai Street until its relocation at No. 627 Canton Road
Canton Road
Canton Road is a road in Hong Kong, linking the former west reclamation shore in Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok on the Kowloon Peninsula. The road runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road. It starts from the junction with Salisbury Road in the south and ends in the north at the...
in 1922. Since the police station was the great symbol of the area there, the street was originally called Station Street. It was divided into two sections, Station Street South and Station Street North, on 12 November 1898.
There are two reasons that the street changed name. First, in 1909, the Government started to name streets in Kowloon after major Chinese provinces that traded with Hong Kong to recognize Hong Kong as a commercial port. The British colonial government in Hong Kong found the area of Station Street was as prosperous as Shanghai in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
at that time while Hong Kong was having trade relation with Shanghai. Therefore, they changed the Station street into Shanghai Street on 19 March 1909. The second reason is that there was a street called Upper Station Street (差館上街) in Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District...
, a place in Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...
and it caused confusion with the one in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok.
One of the then two Magistrate's Courts
Magistrates' Court (Hong Kong)
Magistrates' courts in Hong Kong are presided over by 'Permanent' and 'Special' Magistrates. Permanent Magistrates are professionally qualified. They come from barristers or solicitors...
of Kowloon was located in Shanghai Street between Public Square Street
Public Square Street
Public Square Street is a street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street runs in an east-west alignment from Cliff Road to Ching Ping Street, meeting Nathan Road, Temple Street, Shanghai Street, Reclamation Street and Canton Road in its course....
and Market Street, until it was demolished in 1957. The other one was the Kowloon Magistracy in Gascoigne Road
Gascoigne Road
Gascoigne Road is a main road in Kowloon, Hong Kong, going through the head of King's Park and leading vehicles from West Kowloon to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, name after William Julius Gascoigne....
, built in 1936 and renamed the South Kowloon District Court
Old South Kowloon District Court
The Old South Kowloon District Court is a historic building and former Magistrate's Court in Hong Kong, located at No. 38 Gascoigne Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.-History:...
in 1957. The North Kowloon Magistracy
North Kowloon Magistracy
The North Kowloon Magistracy is a historic building and former Magistrate's Court located at No. 292, Tai Po Road, Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon, Hong Kong....
, built in 1960 in Shek Kip Mei
Shek Kip Mei
Shek Kip Mei, originally known as Kap Shek Mi, is an area in New Kowloon, the North Eastern Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Kong.-History:A major fire on 25 December 1953, destroyed the Shek Kip Mei shantytown of immigrants from Mainland China that had fled to Hong Kong, leaving 53,000 people...
, later shared the workload.
Before the 1970s when Nathan Road became prosperous, Shanghai Street was the leading business corridor in Hong Kong. Indeed in mid 19th century Station Street (the previous name of Shanghai Street) has started to prosper. In the tax record book of 1880, there were 150 taxed units, including a brothel, the most number of units at that time, under the title Station Street. There were about 9,000 people living in Yau Ma Tei at that time. The district was already the most populated district. Adding with over a hundred shops, the district became the most prosperous area from late 19th century to mid 20th century. The shops there were related to traditional Chinese trades and livelihood, including shops selling traditional wedding dresses, fung shui tools, pawnshops and books. In between 1970s to 1990s, the Mong Kok area of Shanghai Street was symbolized by a wide variety of night clubs and sexual agencies. All these are mixed together with the shops and residential areas there. Indeed, all these business are still in activation nowadays without fading away by time.
Features
- > intersection with Austin RoadAustin RoadAustin Road is a road in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was named after John Gardiner Austin, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1868 to 1879.-Location:...
- > intersection with Bowring Street
- (W) > junction with Min Street
- (W) A small portion of King George V Memorial Park, KowloonKing George V Memorial Park, KowloonKing George V Memorial Park, Kowloon is a park in Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, located beside Canton Road.The park was built in 1940. Administrator Norman Lockhart Smith hosted the ceremony for this park. It had a statue of King George V in the center of the park. During the Japanese occupation,...
- > intersection with Jordan Road
- > intersection with Nanking Street
- > intersection with Ning Po Street
- > intersection with Saigon Street
- > intersection with Pak Hoi Street
- > intersection with Kansu Street
- (E) > junction with Market Street
- (E) Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden (Yung Shue TauYung Shue TauYung Shue Tau is the public square before Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei of Kowloon in Hong Kong. The name in Cantonese means the head of banyan indicating banyan-covered square. Yung Shue Tau is known natively but seldom written on the maps. The square is bounded by Shanghai Street, Public...
) - > intersection with Public Square StreetPublic Square StreetPublic Square Street is a street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street runs in an east-west alignment from Cliff Road to Ching Ping Street, meeting Nathan Road, Temple Street, Shanghai Street, Reclamation Street and Canton Road in its course....
- > intersection with Wing Sing Lane
- (E) > junction with Hi Lung Lane
- (E) Nos. 316-318 Shanghai Street
- > intersection with Man Ming Lane
- (E) Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum (No. 330)
- (E) Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping StationEngineer's Office of the Former Pumping StationThe Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, Water Supplies Department , sometimes called "The Red Brick House" , is located at No. 344 Shanghai Street, in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. It has been classified as a Grade I historical building since 2000 by the Antiquities Advisory Board in view of...
(No. 344) - (W) Street Sleepers' Shelter (No. 345A)
- > intersection with Shek Lung Street
- > intersection with Waterloo Road
- > intersection with Pitt Street
- > intersection with Hamilton Street
- > intersection with Dundas Street
- (E) > junction with Changsha Street
- (E) Joye Fook Mansion (Nos. 466, 466A & 468)
- > intersection with Soy StreetSoy StreetSoy Street is a street in Mong Kok of Kowloon, Hong Kong. It starts from Tak Cheong Street in the west crossing several major streets including Nathan Road, and ends in Waterloo Road. The section between Nathan Road and Sai Yeung Choi Street South is for pedestrians only...
- > intersection with Shantung StreetShantung StreetShantung Street is a street in Mong Kok of Kowloon in Hong Kong. It spans from Ferry Street in the west to Yim Po Fong Street east.-Features:...
- (E) Langham Place (shopping mall and office tower)
- (W) Langham Place HotelLangham Place HotelLangham Place Hotel, located at 555, Shanghai Street is the only five-star hotel located in the Mong Kok, Hong Kong.The opening of the hotel, adjoining to the Langham Place mall and commercial complex, has brought a new look and experience to Mongkok....
(No. 555) - > intersection with Argyle StreetArgyle Street, Hong KongArgyle Street is a four-lane dual-way thoroughfare in Hong Kong, connecting Mong Kok, Ma Tau Wai and Kowloon City. It runs on an east-west alignment starting at its intersection with Cherry Street, Ferry Street and Tong Mi Road in the west, and ending near the former Kai Tak Airport in the east.The...
- (E) Nos. 600-626 Shanghai StreetNos. 600-626 Shanghai StreetNos. 600-626 Shanghai Street, or more specifically Nos. 600, 602, 604, 606, 612, 614, 620, 622, 624 and 626, is a group of ten pre-war shophouses in the Mong Kok section of Shanghai Street, in Hong Kong, that have been listed as Grade I historical buildings for their historical...
- > intersection with Fife Street
- > intersection with Mong Kok Road
- > intersection with Bute Street
- (E) Mei Koon Mansion (Nos. 698-710)
- > intersection with Arran Street
- > intersection with Lai Chi Kok RoadLai Chi Kok RoadLai Chi Kok Road is a road in the western part of New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It links Lai Chi Kok to Mong Kok, via Tai Kok Tsui, Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan. It starts from the junction with Nathan Road near Pioneer Centre in the south and ends near Mei Foo Sun Chuen...
Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station
Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station
The Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, Water Supplies Department , sometimes called "The Red Brick House" , is located at No. 344 Shanghai Street, in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. It has been classified as a Grade I historical building since 2000 by the Antiquities Advisory Board in view of...
, Water Supplies Department (前水務署抽水站工程師辦公室), sometimes called "The Red Brick House" (紅磚屋), is a Grade I historical building located at No. 344 Shanghai Street.
It is the only remaining building of a former pumping station
Pumping station
Pumping stations are facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.A pumping station...
, which was built in 1895 and ceased operation in 1911. Its three buildings underwent different adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
: one of them, now demolished, was converted into a post office in the 1910s-1920s. Another one became a hazardous goods store. The remaining building became a hawkers
Hawker (trade)
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...
control office. In the pre-war and early post-war days Yunnan Lane, which was located by the side of the post office, became a place where professional letter writers set up their stalls. The post office ceased operation in 1967 with the opening of the nearby Kowloon Central Post Office
Kowloon Central Post Office
Kowloon Central Post Office is the main post office in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is located at 405 Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei, just beneath the Kowloon Government Offices.-References:...
. The vacated post office was then used as a "Street Sleepers' Shelter" operated by the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, until the end of the 1990s, when the shelter for the homeless moved across the street to the building on 345A Shanghai Street, where it is still located.
The building is now vacant awaiting a suitable adaptive re-use. It is proposed that the Red Brick Building will revitalize in conjunction with the Yau Ma Tei Theatre as a Xiqu
Chinese opera
Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...
(戲曲) Activity Centre, providing a performing and practicing venue for small-scale Cantonese Opera performance. It would also serve as training venue for budding artists. This revitalization project was endorsed by the Public Works Subcommittee of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
at its meeting on January 21, 2009.
Shophouses (Tong Lau)
Nos. 600-626 Shanghai Street
Nos. 600-626 Shanghai Street, or more specifically Nos. 600, 602, 604, 606, 612, 614, 620, 622, 624 and 626, is a group of ten pre-war shophouses in the Mong Kok section of Shanghai Street, in Hong Kong, that have been listed as Grade I historical buildings for their historical...
, or more specifically Nos. 600, 602, 604, 606, 612, 614, 620, 622, 624 and 626, is a group of ten pre-war shophouse
Shophouse
A shophouse is a vernacular architectural building type that is commonly seen in areas such as urban Southeast Asia. This hybrid building form characterises the historical centres of most towns and cities in the region.- Design and features :...
s (tong-lau
Tong Lau
Tong Lau or Kee-lau are tenement buildings built in late 19th century to the 1960s in Hong Kong, Macau, southern China and Taiwan...
) in the Mong Kok section of Shanghai Street, that have been listed as Grade I historical buildings for their historical value. It is believed that Nos. 620 – 626 are the oldest buildings among them.
No. 330 Shanghai Street, a post-war tong lau adjacent to the Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, houses the Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum.
History of shophouses
Shophouses were mainly occupied by Chinese and predominantly seen all over southern Chinese cities and town in the 19th century. There were various reasons for the existence of tong lau in Hong Kong, which including economic development of Hong Kong, Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and also the influx of Chinese migrants to Hong Kong.
These 10 typical shophouses are believed to have been built in the 1920s and 1930s, which are typical of an old commercial street. They are composed of shops on the ground floor that open up to a public arcade or "five-foot way", and low-rented residential accommodations upstairs. Shops like selling furnishings, building construction materials (such as window frames, curtains, paint and hardware), traditional Chinese utensils, ceremonial items, traditional Chinese wedding gowns, grocery, snake soup as well as traditional Nepalese snacks can be found in Shanghai Street. There are lines of stores filled with Chinese and Western household kitchen tools as well as products that can kit out even an entire restaurant. These kitchen products, which include mixers, grinders, gas rings, cleavers, various chopping boards, racks, steamer trays what not, are usually sold by specialist merchants. Although a majority of products on sale at many shops along Shanghai Street display price tags, they are not fix-rated, giving the consumers the opportunity to use their bargaining skills.
As part of Hong Kong's living heritage, those shop houses are still functional in their communities and play important roles in the lives of local people. In recent years, residents and individuals have refurbished some shophouses and converted them into restaurants, shops or artists' interaction center like Shanghai Street Artspace project managed by the Department of Creative Arts of the Hong Kong Institute of Education
Hong Kong Institute of Education
The Hong Kong Institute of Education is one of eight subsidised tertiary institutes under the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. It is the only one dedicated to teacher education....
(HKIEd) aiming to explore, develop and learn from the artistic culture of Yau Ma Tei.
Preservation
In September, 2008, the Urban Renewal AuthorityUrban Renewal Authority
The Urban Renewal Authority is a statutory body in Hong Kong responsible for accelerating redevelopment to provide a better living environment and neighbourhood.-History:...
(URA) announced two heritage conservation plans, which proposed to preserve the ten blocks of pre-war shophouses on Shanghai Street in Mong Kok and ten other blocks on Prince Edward Road East
Prince Edward Road
Prince Edward Road East and Prince Edward Road West are roads in Kowloon, Hong Kong, going in an east-west direction and linking Tai Kok Tsui, Mong Kok, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon City and San Po Kong ....
. Four 1960s buildings that dissect the shophouse cluster in Shanghai Street are also included in the project. The Shanghai Street project covers
an area of about 1,128m2. The project aims to preserve and revitalise these shophouse clusters for commercial uses.
The projects, which costs HK$1.33 billion, is the largest single conservation initiative ever undertaken in Hong Kong. This conservation plan is the initiative of the expanded conservation strategy for 48 pre-war shophouses across Hong Kong. The URA has two alternatives: to buy property rights of the shop houses and redevelop them into commercial or other uses; to re-zone them so as to limit the use of those shop houses for preservation purposes. Most of the cost, about $1.23 billion, would be spent on property acquisition and tenants' rehousing of the 73 households with 220 residents in the two sites' 24 buildings. The remaining one-tenth of the sum is used for renovation.
For shophouses in Shanghai Street, necessary building services such as lifts, fire escapes and disabled access for the shophouses would be built in the 1960s buildings. The exact usage of the revamped shophouses is not been determined and is open to any options. One of the tentative suggestions is to house low-priced restaurant so that the public will have opportunities to use the verandas. The proposed aim is transforming Shanghai Street into a popular food street, or directly translated from the Chinese as "Food Paradise".
In addition, the authority plans to reserve the shops upstairs for the arts community, such as bookstores and dance studios. The cluster of shophouses on Prince Edward Road East would be remained as a part of the flower market so that the thriving flower trade would not be disrupted.
The Prince Edward Road East project and the Shanghai Street project are expected to be completed by 2014 and 2015 respectively. But some people see problems with the URA’s plans: not so much capital a conservation strategy as an acquisition or buy-out of properties; elimination of Shanghai Street true character by removing the stores and residents.
Building and street Rehabilitation
Since 2005, the Urban Renewal AuthorityUrban Renewal Authority
The Urban Renewal Authority is a statutory body in Hong Kong responsible for accelerating redevelopment to provide a better living environment and neighbourhood.-History:...
has cooperated with different real estate developers to rehabilitate Shanghai Street. Here is the summary and the photos after rehabilitation.
| Building/ Street name | Address | OP date | Latest comprehensive rehabilitation works completed | Pictures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joye Fook Mansion (載福樓) | 466, 466A & 468 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei | 1966 | Feb 2005 | |
| Mei Koon Mansion (美觀大廈) | 698-710 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok | 1966 | Mar 2005 | |
| 316-318 Shanghai Street | 316-318 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei | 1957 | Jun 2005 |
The first rehabilitation project was Joye Fook Mansion, which is located on 466, 466A & 468 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei. Joye Fook Mansion has been occupied since 1966 and its building age is 43. The rehabilitation works completed on February 2005. The next rehabilitation project was Mei Koon Mansion located on 698-710 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok. Mei Koon Mansion has been occupied since 1966. The rehabilitation works completed on March 2005.
On June 2005 the final rehabilitation project on 316-318 Shanghai Street had completed.
Langham Place project
In order to redevelop the area between Mongkok and Yau Ma TeiYau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
, Land Development Corporation had proposed the Langham Place project, in which, 11,976 square metres area was involved across Argyle Street
Argyle Street, Hong Kong
Argyle Street is a four-lane dual-way thoroughfare in Hong Kong, connecting Mong Kok, Ma Tau Wai and Kowloon City. It runs on an east-west alignment starting at its intersection with Cherry Street, Ferry Street and Tong Mi Road in the west, and ending near the former Kai Tak Airport in the east.The...
, Portland Street
Portland Street
Portland Street is a popular street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street is known for its business and retailing skyscraper complex Langham Place, numerous restaurants and its famous red-light district.-Geography:...
, Shantung Street
Shantung Street
Shantung Street is a street in Mong Kok of Kowloon in Hong Kong. It spans from Ferry Street in the west to Yim Po Fong Street east.-Features:...
and Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street is a street stretching from Jordan to Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. As its name suggests, it was built on the reclaimed western shore of the Kowloon Peninsula.-Location:Reclamation Street runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road...
. The main goal is to urbanize the disusing area there. The existing gross floor area (GFA) in this project was 40,810 square metres. Besides, 58 buildings and 2,603 residents had been affected. The construction was completed in July 2004. The total GFA is now 167,419 square metres and the commercial space is 160,870 square metres. Langham Place is a Grade A 59-storey office tower. Its height is 255.1 m. It houses the 665-room Langham Place Hotel
Langham Place Hotel
Langham Place Hotel, located at 555, Shanghai Street is the only five-star hotel located in the Mong Kok, Hong Kong.The opening of the hotel, adjoining to the Langham Place mall and commercial complex, has brought a new look and experience to Mongkok....
and a 15-storey mall. Langham Place comprises office tower, hotel, and shopping mall.
See also
- List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
- Yau Tsim Mong DistrictYau Tsim Mong DistrictYau Tsim Mong District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong, located on western Kowloon peninsula. It is the core urban area of Kowloon. The district has the third highest population density of all districts...
- Declared monuments of Hong KongDeclared monuments of Hong KongDeclared monuments of Hong Kong are places, structures or buildings legally declared to be "protected". In Hong Kong, declaring a monument requires consulting the Antiquities Advisory Board, the approval of the Chief Executive as well as the publication of the notice in government gazette.As of 12...
- Heritage conservation in Hong KongHeritage conservation in Hong KongThis article details the history and status of Heritage conservation in Hong Kong, as well as the role of various stakeholders.An indication of the size of the built heritage in Hong Kong is given by a territory-wide survey conducted by the Antiquities and Monuments Office between 1996 and 2000,...
- History of Hong KongHistory of Hong KongHong Kong began as a coastal island geographically located off the southern coast of China. While pockets of settlements had taken place in the region with archaeological findings dating back thousands of years, regular written records were not made...