weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

TSIM SHA TSUI, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon. Tsim Sha Tsui EAST is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui.

GEOGRAPHY - TST is a cape on the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula pointing towards Victoria Harbour, opposite Central. Several villages had been established in this location before Kowloon was ceded to the British Empire in 1860. The name Tsim Sha Tsui in Cantonese means sharp sandspit. It was also known as Heung Po Tau, i.e. a port for exporting incense tree. Before any land reclamation, TST consisted of two parallel capes with a bay in between in the south. The west cape, Kowloon Point, the proper Tsim Sha Tsui, coincided with the small hill where the former Marine Police Headquarters was sited, while the east cape was the hill that is today known as Blackhead Point. The bay between the capes extended as far north as the present-day Mody Road. The area is hilly, although many hills were leveled for reclamation. Today, TST is a major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many high-end shops, bars, pubs and restaurants that cater to tourists. Many of Hong Kong's museums are located in the area.

HISTORY - Before Kowloon was ceded to Britain in 1860, many villages were present in the area. Incense trees (Aquilaria sinensis) from New Territories were gathered at some quays in TST and transferred to Shek Pai Wan in southern Hong Kong Island to be exported to rest of the world. It was thus known as Heung Po Tau, the fragrant quay. Shortly after the land was ceded to Britain, construction began on the first section of TST's major thoroughfare, Nathan Road.

In 1888, the Star Ferry started to offer regular transport between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, and the area has flourished ever since. Until the 20th century, TST was a leafy suburb dominated by the people and facilities of the British military. Whitfield Barracks, converted into Kowloon Park in 1970, ran to the west of Nathan Road, and Kowloon Naval Yard occupied the waterfront to the west of the army encampment. In the early 20th century, Chinese people were allowed to live in the area to attract more people to trade in the colony. Garden houses were replaced with crowded residential blocks. Wharves and godowns were built along the west shore.

The Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) commenced service on 1 October 1910. The "Kowloon Station" in TST was approved to be constructed on reclaimed land in 1912. It was built on the new southern reclamation from 1913 to 1915. The rails extended along the western reclamation parallel to Chatham Road. Another major road, Salisbury Road, was completed in approximately the same period. The landmark Peninsula Hotel was built on the reclamation in 1928, opposite to the station.

TOURISM - Tourist hospitality is a major industry in TST. The area has the highest concentration of hotels in Hong Kong, including the iconic luxury hotel "The Peninsula" which opened in 1928. Other hotels in virtually every price range and level of luxury can be found throughout the area; Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road at the other end of the luxury scale is known for providing cheap lodging for backpackers. Besides the hotels with their upscale, star-studded restaurants, TST is also one of many places to find exotic restaurants in Hong Kong: Hillwood Road at the north of Observatory Hill concentrates on restaurants of different national dishes; Knutsford Terrace on the other side of the hill is a terrace of pubs while Kimberley Street is famous for its Korean cuisine restaurants and grocery stores. TST is one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong, including high end stores and plenty of gigantic shopping malls, and it is still possible do do bargain shopping in the many small stores abundant in the area, particularly on the eastern side of Nathan Road. Finally, half of the major museums in Hong Kong are situated in TST, including the HK Space Museum, HK Museum of Art and the HK Cultural Centre which are all relatively recent structures located at the southern waterfront.

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With such an abundance of activities and destinations available in this exciting part of Hong Kong, I post today a potpourri mosaic of individual images portraying a sampling of these finds.


Notes
TRIP INFO: Set # 1 provides a brief introduction to THIS SERIES on SOUTH & EAST ASIA. See it at
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-724330-1.html

HONG KONG COUNTRY INFO in set # 196: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-762698-1.html

EARLIER POSTS of this series: Access my topic list at UHH, the new posts are listed in reverse chronological order:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-topic-list?usernum=45105

Thanks for visiting, for improved clarity please view the downloads. I look forward to your comments and questions.

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1 - Entrance from the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Station to the Ocean Terminal, now called Harbour City, in full Christmas Decor - already on November 3 !

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2 - Shopping street in Tsim Sha Tsui

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3 - Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East: Reflections reminiscent of Greek columns on a glass building facade

(Download)

4 - Lunch at Guangdong Seafood Restaurant under a giant poster commemorating the Hong Kong reunification with China in 1997

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5 - Lunch at Guangdong Seafood Restaurant: Barbecued pork

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6 - Well-rounded sign for a Chinese/Japanese hotpot restaurant in Yau Ma Tei, slightly north of TST

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7 - The German Bierfest is still in full swing in early November (Octoberfest got an extension ….)

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8 - Attractive glass ceiling decoration in a building

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9 - Typical old-style building on Nathan Road in Mong Kok, just north of TST

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10 - Slavic style Christmas decoration at the Langham building in Mong Kok

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weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

For your reference:

11 - Trip map of the Hong Kong segment of our tour, TST is just north of Hong Kong Island and Harbour in the southern part of Kowloon

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

Thanks for the history lesson and excellent photos, Joe. The glazed ribs have my mouth watering!

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Fantastic place to visit and shop I would guess. It is gorgeous. Thank you Joe.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

WOW!! a great gravature!!

roder10 Loc: Colorado Springs

Almost a sensory overload with all the colors. Love it and the reflection of the building is so interesting. What a set!!!!!

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Bill for the thumb!

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Elliott for your kind comment, glad to hear that you like the photos. That barbecue pork dish is one of my favorites, Susan prepares it often when doing a full multi-course Chinese meal, and it is always one of the highlights.

angler Loc: StHelens England

Excellent set Joe.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Blair, yes Hong Kong definitely is a fantastic place to visit, shopping can be very exciting and so is eating, but what I also like are the smaller, out of the way much less known places, which I will start presenting in about a week or so.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Dick, glad to hear that you enjoyed this potpourri set!

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Rowedean, yes, I packed a lot of diversity into this one post, this is sort of like being in Hong Kong, where your senses go into overdrive from all the visual and other impacts. Glad to hear that you liked this set.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you very much Jim, your erstwhile colony has plenty of interesting places and carries great stimulus!

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

What I liked about the whole Hong Kong experience was that you could go just about anywhere, within reason, and feel perfectly safe. All of my time wasn't spent on typical sailor letting off steam stuff after weeks or months at sea. I used to take a daypack and a compass and walk for miles through the city, alone, mostly in the back streets with no concerns. Did that in Tokyo and smaller cities in Japan too. Not in Manila! Can't say that about big cities in the U.S. then or now! I got a lot of surprised looks, but nothing aggressive or even un-friendly.