The Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building is a 113-metre (371 ft) tall, 28-floor building located within the former

HMS Tamar Six ships and a naval station of the Royal Navy have been called HMS ''Tamar'', after the River Tamar in South West England: * was a 16-gun sloop launched at Saltash in 1758 and stationed in Newfoundland from 1763. She was renamed HMS ''Plut ...

naval base on Lung Wui Road,

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It serves as the headquarters of the

People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison The People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), responsible for defence duties in the Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the sove ...

. The building is still popularly known by its old name as the Prince of Wales Building () and is located adjacent to Tamar.

History

Constructed in 1979, the building was named the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

Building. It housed the head office of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

stationed in Hong Kong until the territory's handover to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997 when it was made the head office of the PLA Hong Kong Garrison. In May 2000, the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Ko ...

passed the Military Installations Closed Areas (Amendment) Order 2000, which renamed the former ''Prince of Wales Barracks'' to ''Central Barracks'', and the Prince of Wales Building to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building. After the base became the Central Barracks, the old name of the building remained visible in large raised letters along the bottom of the tower for several years. The building underwent a 20-month full renovation, completed in 2014, during which most of the troops were transferred to the

Stonecutters Island Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Following land reclamation, it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula. Fauna The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested co ...

base. Due to its distinctive shape, likened to a wineglass, the building stands out from the rest of the Admiralty waterfront buildings. Architects attribute the shape of the building to passive protection, its narrow stem with the protruding upper storeys, supposedly makes it difficult to climb or attack. It is also informally known as 'the upside-down Gin bottle' due to its shape resembling a bottle of

Gordon's Gin Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. It is owned by the British spirits company Diageo. It is the world's best-selling London dry gin. G ...

. The corner of the building at the podium level which faces east (towards Admiralty MTR station) used to be a chapel under British use of the barracks. There used to be a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

visible on the exterior—however, during external refurbishment (including replacing the 'Prince of Wales Building' inscription in English with its current name in Chinese), the

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

was removed.

People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong

The PLA maintains a number of garrisons in the

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In addition to the PLA Forces Hong Kong Building, there are notable garrisons at the

, and at

Stanley Fort Stanley Fort is a military installation on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Built originally to serve the British Armed Forces, it now houses the Hong Kong garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It has also been use ...

. Soldiers located at these three garrisons are considered to be the élite of the PLA. The soldiers are not permitted to leave their compounds, even during off-duty times to mingle with the local populace. As a restricted area, the PLA Forces Hong Kong Building is heavily guarded by soldiers with automatic rifles.

Gallery

Image:HK Central IFC Tim Mei Avenue.jpg,

Tim Mei Avenue Tim Mei Avenue () is a street in Admiralty, Hong Kong. The street is built on land reclaimed as part of the Central Reclamation Phase II, which was completed in 1997 and reclaimed 5.3 hectares of land at the former Tamar naval base. The area wa ...

, facing west. Buildings from left to right: Bank of America Tower, Hutchison Whampoa Building,

AIG Tower The AIA Central (), formerly called AIG Tower (), in Hong Kong is a 185-metre (607 ft.), 37-storey skyscraper that was completed in 2005 and serves as the headquarters of AIA Group. It is located in Central, not far from the landmark Bank ...

, PLA Forces Hong Kong Building,

Jardine House Jardine House (), formerly known as Connaught Centre (), is an office tower in Hong Kong. The building is located at 1 Connaught Place, Central on Hong Kong Island. It is owned by Hongkong Land Limited, a subsidiary of Jardines. At the time ...

, Exchange Square Towers 1 & 2,

The Center The Center () is the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre (88 storeys), Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of , it comprises 73 storeys. The center is ...

(The antenna at the very background), Exchange Square Tower 3, 1 IFC, ---, 2 IFC, 26 December 2007 Image:HK QWB Timar CottonTreeDrv.jpg,

Cotton Tree Drive Cotton Tree Drive () is a road running from Central to Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The road is famous for the Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry, a hotspot for marriage registration inside Hong Kong Park. It used to be known as Ka ...

, facing north east. Buildings from left to right: Bank of America Tower, PLA Forces Hong Kong Building, Lippo Centre Tower 1 (right most) and Far East Finance Center (behind Lippo Centre), 7 May 2006

References

External links

Pongü's Travel guide
article on Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building {{Hong Kong Skyscrapers Skyscraper office buildings in Hong Kong Central, Hong Kong Military of Hong Kong Buildings and structures completed in 1979

History

People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong

Gallery

See also

References

External links