
Admiralty () is the eastern extension of the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
(adjacent to, but separate from,
Central) on the
Hong Kong Island of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. It is located on the eastern end of the
Central and Western District, bordered by
Wan Chai
Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
to the east and
Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...
to the north.
The name of ''Admiralty'' refers to the former
Admiralty Dock in the area which housed a
naval dockyard. The dock was later demolished when
land was reclaimed and developed northward as the naval base . The Cantonese name, ''Kam Chung'' (), "Golden Bell", refers to a gold-coloured
bell
A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...
that was used for timekeeping at
Wellington Barracks.
History
The area was developed as a military area by the
British military in the 19th century. They built the Wellington Barracks,
Murray Barracks,
Victoria Barracks and
Admiralty Dock at the site. Following the urbanisation of the north shore of Hong Kong Island, the military area split the urban area. The
Hong Kong Government
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
tried many times to get the land from the British military to connect the two urban areas, but the military refused. It was not until the 1970s that the land was gradually returned to government and changed to commercial buildings and gardens.
The
Admiralty station of the
MTR was built on the former site of the Hong Kong
dockyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...
s which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s. After its completion, the area became increasingly known as Admiralty, rather than Central.
During the
2014 Hong Kong protests (aka "Umbrella Revolution"), substantial tracts of the area were occupied by suffragists, who dubbed it
Umbrella Square.
Admiralty was also a focal point in the
2019 Hong Kong extradition law protests.
Features
Buildings in Admiralty consist primarily of office buildings, government buildings, shopping malls and hotels. There are also several parks in the area:
Hong Kong Park,
Tamar Park and
Harcourt Garden.
The main development of the area in recent years has been the development of the
Tamar site into the
Central Government Complex
The Central Government Complex has been the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong since 2011. Located at the Tamar, Hong Kong, Tamar site, the complex comprises the Central Government Offices, the Legislative Council Complex and the ...
, which started operating in 2011. Facing
Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...
, the complex houses the
Office of the Chief Executive, the
Legislative Council Complex and the Central Government Offices.
As one of the main financial areas in Hong Kong, there are plenty of Grade-A commercial buildings in Admiralty including:
*
Admiralty Centre
*
Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, housed in the former Former Explosive Magazine of the
Victoria Barracks
*
Bank of America Tower
* Bank of China Tower
*
British Consulate General Hong Kong
*
Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building
*
CITIC Tower
* Cheung Kong Centre
*
*
High Court Building
*
Lippo Centre, which houses the
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
*
Pacific Place, a complex featuring a shopping mall, several hotels and office towers, that opened in Admiralty in phases between 1988 and 1991. The complex is connected to the MTR Admiralty station via an underground walkway. A later phase, Three Pacific Place, is located in Wan Chai
*
Queensway Government Offices
*
Queensway Plaza, a shopping centre located above Admiralty station
*
United Centre
Transport
Queensway and
Harcourt Road are the major roads in the area. Both roads run from west to east and connect
Central to
Wan Chai
Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
. Other streets include
Rodney Street and
Tim Mei Avenue.
Trams are running across Admiralty along Queensway. Most of the buildings of the area are connected through the
Central Elevated Walkway, an extensive
footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
network which extends to the western part of Central.
The area is served by the peaktram and
Admiralty station of the
MTR. It is an interchange station between
Island line,
Tsuen Wan line,
South Island line and
East Rail line. The
Admiralty (East) Public Transport Interchange, a major
bus terminus, is located above the station.
Economy
Corporations headquartered in Admiralty include:
*
Everbright International, in the
*
Lippo Ltd, in the
Lippo Centre
*
CITIC Pacific Ltd, in the
CITIC Tower
*
Culturecom (formerly Jademan), in the Far East Finance Centre
[ ]
Chinese address
"地址:香港金鐘夏愨道16號遠東金融中心15樓1502室"
See also
*
List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
The following is a list of areashttp://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/MusicOffice/download/imts18.pdf of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Island
* Central and Western District
** Central District
*** Admiralty
** Mid-Levels
*** Soho
** Sai Wan
*** ...
*
Central and Wan Chai Reclamation
References
{{Hong Kong Urban Areas
Restricted areas of Hong Kong red public minibus