The story behind Hong Kong’s famous Queen’s Road: named after Queen Victoria, the city’s oldest street became a shopping hub after a 17-hour fire destroyed the area on Christmas Day
- First Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Henry Pottinger, had a house built where his successor John Francis Davis lived too – it was also the Court of Final Appeal
- Queen’s Theatre opened at the popular shopping and entertainment street, followed by King’s Theatre, the first cinema in Hong Kong with air conditioning
At 178 years old, Queen’s Road is Hong Kong’s oldest street, built by the British Royal Engineers from 1841 to 1843, soon after the territory first came under British control.
Originally 6.4km long, it stretched from Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai, an area then known as Victoria City. In places it tracked the original shore line, as it was before extensive reclamation began.
What’s in a name?
Its original name was Main Street – a bit boring, but thankfully it was changed to Queen’s Road after Queen Victoria. Unfortunately the Chinese translation came out as “queen consort” – ouch!
How it all started
In the 1840s, Queen’s Road was lined with squatter huts, military camps, taverns and the first Christian churches.
On Christmas Day in 1878, a fire broke out and raged for 17 hours destroying the squatter huts and other buildings along Queen’s Road and the surrounding area, leaving 400 people homeless. The rebuild paved the way for the Central we know today, with more expensive homes and commercial buildings being erected.
Back then, Queen’s Road was Hong Kong’s first shopping hub, and was also the city’s main trading and services centre.