Victoria City 393353 225681407 2008-07-14T21:42:42Z 206.47.220.198 /* Districts */ {{Otheruses|Victoria City (disambiguation)}} {{Chinese|t=維多利亞城|s=维多利亚城|j=wai4 do1 lei6 aa3 sing4|y=wàih dō leih a sìhng|p=Wéiduōlìyà Chéng| pic=Victoria City and Kowloon 1915.jpg|piccap=A 1915 map showing the<br>City of Victoria at the bottom}} '''Victoria City''', or the '''City of Victoria''', was one of the first urban settlements in [[Hong Kong]] after it became a [[British Empire|British]] [[colony]] in 1842. It was initially named '''Queenstown''' but was soon known as Victoria. The name "Victoria" is rarely used today except to refer to the [[Victoria Park, Hong Kong|Victoria Park]], [[Victoria Peak|The Peak]], [[Victoria Harbour|the harbour]] and a number of roads and streets. It was often said to be the "[[capital]]" of Hong Kong during its time as a colony of the [[United Kingdom]], as almost all government departments have their head offices located there. ==Location== It was located in present-day [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]] area, and was named after [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]], the then [[British monarchy|Queen]] of the [[United Kingdom]] in 1843. The City originally covered the present-day [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]], [[Admiralty, Hong Kong|Admirality]] and part of [[Sheung Wan]] on [[Hong Kong Island]]. ==History== [[Image:Praya.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Praya|Praya Central]], 1870s]] In 1857, the British government expanded the scope of Victoria City and divided it into four "''wan''s" (環, [[jyutping]]: ''waan4'', [[pinyin]]: ''huàn'', literally ''rings''). The four ''wans'' are ''Sai Wan'' ("West Ring" in Chinese, present-day [[Sai Wan]], including [[Kennedy Town]], [[Shek Tong Tsui]], and [[Sai Ying Pun]]), ''Sheung Wan'' ("Upper Ring" in Chinese, present-day [[Sheung Wan]]), ''Choong Wan'' or ''Chung Wan'' ("Central Ring" in Chinese, present-day [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]]) and ''Ha Wan'' ("Lower Ring" in Chinese, present-day [[Wan Chai]]). Except "Ha Wan"; "Sai Wan", "Sheung Wan" and "Choong Wan" retain the same name in Chinese today. The four ''wans'' are further divided into nine "''yeuk''s" (約, [[jyutping]]: ''joek3'', [[pinyin]]: ''yuē'', similar to "district" or "neighbourhood"). The coverage also included parts of [[East Point, Hong Kong|East Point]] and [[Happy Valley, Hong Kong|Happy Valley]] (West of Wong Nai Chung Road on the east side of the Racecourse). In 1903, boundary stones were established to mark the City's boundary and six of them are still preserved today. The stones spread from Causeway Bay to Kennedy Town<ref>Wordie, Jason. [2002] (2002) Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-2095631</ref>. In the 1890s the city was a capital extending 4 miles long from west to east in a linear manner. Buildings were made of granite and bricks. [[Bus]]es and the newly arriving [[Hong Kong Tramways|tramways]] would become the main form of transportation in the area<ref>Sanderson, Edgar. [1897] (1897) The British Empire in the Ninteenth Century: Its Progress and Expansion at Home and Abroad. Blackie publishing. No ISBN digitalized doc from Stanford university</ref>. ==Districts== Also called ''yeuks''. *[[Shek Tong Tsui|Shektongtsui]] *[[Sai Ying Poon]] *Taipingshan - [[Victoria Peak]] or The Peak or Mount Austin *[[Sheung Wan]] *Choong Wan (today's [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]]) *Ha Wan (today's [[Admiralty, Hong Kong|Admiralty]]) *[[Wan Chai]] *Bowrington (between today's [[Wan Chai]] and [[Causeway Bay]]) *[[So Kon Po|Soo Kun Po]] ==See also== * [[Praya]] * [[History of Hong Kong]] * [[List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong]] * [[List of places named for Queen Victoria]], for a list of places named after Queen Victoria ==External links== * [http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/E1BF50C09A33D3DC482564840019D2F4/B433C7F894FA9F9E48256648002F6F13?OpenDocument Boundary of the City of Victoria as defined in Hong Kong Laws], Cap 1 SCHED 1 of Hong Kong Law *[http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kZhFEpYoYxIJ:cd.ed.gov.hk/pshe/tc/chihistory/downloads/CH_S1-3_Pkg5_07.doc+%22victoria+city%22++hong+kong+1857&hl=en Article on history of Hong Kong] (in Chinese) *[http://www.hk-place.com/db.php?post=d007004 Photos of the 1903 boundary stones] *[http://www.cwfestival.org/images/pdf/history/032.pdf A article on the "four wans and nine yeuks" in Chinese] ([[Adobe]] [[PDF]] format) *[http://szlib.szptt.net.cn/hk97/j2a.htm Another article on "four wans and nine yeuks"] (in Simplified Chinese) ==References== {{reflist}} {{coor title dms|22|16|42|N|114|10|28|E|region:CN-91_type:city(1063646)_source:dewiki}} [[Category:Hong Kong Island]] [[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Hong Kong]] [[Category:Coastal cities]] [[de:Victoria City]] [[io:Victoria (Hong Kong)]] [[lt:Siangangdao]] [[ja:ヴィクトリア市]] [[pl:Victoria (Hongkong)]] [[pt:Cidade de Victoria]] [[zh-yue:維多利亞城]] [[zh:維多利亞城]]