The Avenue of Stars (), modelled on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

, is an avenue located along the

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 ...

waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. It honours celebrities of the

Hong Kong film industry The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former Crown colony, British Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a g ...

History

Establishment

In 1982, the New World Group built a promenade along the waterfront around the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon. In 2004, the Group announced it would spend HK$40 million to build the Avenue of Stars, a project supported by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Tourism Commission, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of 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 ...

and the Hong Kong Film Awards Association. The avenue was opened to the general public on 28 April 2004 with an opening ceremony held the previous day, 27 April 2004. The opening ceremony was presided over by a number of government and industry figures, including

Henry Tang Henry Tang Ying-yen (; born 6 September 1952) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, he lost the Hong Kong Chief ...

(''Financial Secretary''),

Stephen Ip Stephen Ip Shue-kwan, GBS, JP (born 1951) is a former politician in Hong Kong, he was Secretary for Economic Development and Labour for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 2002 to 2007. The post of Secretary for Economic Develo ...

(''Secretary for Economic Development and Labour''), Patrick Ho (''Secretary of Home Affairs''), Selina Chow (''Chair of Hong Kong Tourism Board''), Manfred Wong (Director/Actor), and Cheng Yu-tung (Chair of New World Group); in which the privately funded avenue was handed over to the Hong Kong SAR government as public property. At opening, the avenue honoured an initial 73 inductees elected by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association and the readers of ''City Entertainment''.

Redevelopment controversy

After having managed the avenue for 11 years, its contract is due to expire. It was announced in August 2015 that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong government would redevelop and expand the avenue jointly with the company. The Hong Kong government declared that the enhancement project would contain limited commercial appeal, and no luxury shops or high-end restaurants would be added. The walkway, very popular with tourists, is to be closed off and relocated to the Tsim Sha Tsui East Waterfront Podium Garden temporarily for three years while the expansion is undertaken. The decision to award the contract for the redevelopment to the company without putting it out to tender, on the justification that the project was non-profit, sparked controversy locally. Residents' groups and other development companies owning properties adjacent to the walk expressed discontent, whilst the LCSD claimed that consultations with the local district council had been favourable. In an apparent attempt to de-fuse the public furore at the apparent collusion between government and big business, the government promised a public consultation.

Renovation

On 31 January 2019, the Avenue was reopened to the public after three years of renovation, redesigned by New York

High Line The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Op ...

architect James Corner Field Operations (JCFO) together with other international and local designers.

Description

The Avenue of Stars is the eastern node of several tourist attractions along the

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui ( zh, c=尖沙咀), often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed ...

waterfront. In addition to the promenade and New World Centre, a number of attractions exist including the Museum of Art, Space Museum,

Cultural Centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

and the

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

. Entering from Salisbury Garden, a 4.5-metre-tall replica of the statuette given to winners at the

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual List of film awards, film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Cent ...

s greets visitors. Along the 440-metre promenade, the story of Hong Kong's one hundred years of cinematic history is told through inscriptions printed on nine red pillars. Set into the promenade are plaques honouring the celebrities. Some plaques contain hand prints and autographs of the stars set in cement, but most of the plaques only contain celebrities' names as they are now deceased. A 2.5-metre bronze statue of Bruce Lee was erected along the Avenue of Stars in 2005. In 2014, a bronze statue of Anita Mui was erected along the Avenue of Stars. The promenade commands a panoramic view across

. At night, it is a popular viewing place for the Symphony of Lights display. A large replica of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch will be on permanent display here.

List of stars

The following people have received plaques on the avenue of stars.
Note: People in the list who were born before 1949 in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

are not from modern day

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, but from

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, which the Republic of China encompassed until the end of the last civil war.

References

External links

*
Photos of The Avenue of Stars
{{Authority control 1982 establishments in Hong Kong Culture of Hong Kong Entertainment halls of fame Landmarks in Hong Kong Tourist attractions in Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong, Avenue of Stars