Johnston Road () is a major road in

Wan Chai Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area n ...

on the Hong Kong Island of

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 ...

Location

Johnston Road spans from the junction with Heard Street,

Hennessy Road Hennessy Road () is a thoroughfare on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It connects Yee Wo Street on the east in Causeway Bay, at the junction with East Point Road, Jardine's Bazaar and Great George Street in East Point, through Bowrington, to ...

and Stewart Road on its east, towards another junction with Hennessy Road and Queensway on its west near , in where it is known locally as . It is shaped like a bow with the string being Hennessy Road and the Caltex petrol station, where the Wallace Harper & Co Ltd was located, the

Southorn Playground Southorn Playground is a sports and recreational ground in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. It comprises a football pitch, four basketball courts, and a children's playground. Southorn Playground is bounded by Hennessy Road to the north, Luard Road to ...

and the in between.

History

The road was named after

Alexander Robert Johnston Alexander Robert Johnston, FRS (formerly Campbell-Johnston, 14 June 1812 – 21 January 1888) was a British colonial official who served twice as Acting Administrator of Hong Kong from 1841 to 1842. He also served in the Executive and Legislati ...

, the British Deputy Superintendent of Trade during the First Opium War. He was the government administrator even before Sir Henry Pottinger was appointed the first

Hong Kong governor The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

in 1842. The story that the street was named after Sir Reginald Johnston was actually a myth. The road is built on the margin of the oldest building cluster in Wan Chai. Many Hong Kong residents are trying to preserve the old buildings and trees from redevelopment. The century-old transport

Hong Kong Tramways Hong Kong Tramways (HKT) is a narrow-gauge tram system in Hong Kong. Owned and operated by RATP Dev Transdev Asia, the tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, with a branch circulating through Happy Valley. ...

goes through the road with its first service opening in 1904. Although the road was named in 1920s, part of the road can be traced back to 1851 or earlier when the area was known as Praya East. The section from

Spring Garden Lane Spring Garden Lane is a street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, connecting Queen's Road East to its south, and Johnston Road to the north. It was one of the first focal areas developed by the British in Hong Kong during the 1840s. History During the ea ...

to Wan Chai Road was known as Strand Road, for its proximity to the waterfront.

Intersections

In popular culture

This road and its junction with Wan Chai Road was a Pit Stop in the eleventh leg of the reality TV show ''

The Amazing Race 30 ''The Amazing Race 30'' is the thirtieth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on January 3, 2018, and the two-hour ...

''.

Transport

The faster transport MTR is located near the road with some exits of

Wan Chai station Wan Chai () is a station on the of the Hong Kong MTR. The livery colour is lime green. It serves the Wan Chai locality within the district of the same name. The station platforms are located underneath Hennessy Road, a major trunk road conne ...

nearby.

References

External links

Google Maps of Johnston Road
{{Coord, 22.27656, 114.17099, display=title Wan Chai Roads on Hong Kong Island