CHINA MAIL, PAGE 28
1841
HONG KONG CENTENARY-NUMBER
Modern Building Progress
(Continued from Page 26)
of East Asia building 15 in the skyscraper class.
AL the moment, the central district vari be said to con- sist of equal proportions of happily designed modern build- ings and those erected when the Praya reclamation. from Des Voeux Road to the water frunt was made available for build - ing purposes. In the course of the next few years, elder buildings such as the Priner's, Queen's, Al- exandra and one
two others
will disappear and the town will be made up entirely of up-to-date edifices.
among the
new
Outstanding types of buriding is, undoubtedly, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, which forms a fitting south end to Statue Square. To the west <if it is another fine building which houses the Gloucester Hotel.
The latest addition to the Co- lony's business premises is Wind- sor House, which in due course will be extended to include the St. Francis Hotel and 11, Queen's Road Central-probably among the oldest commercial premises
till standing.
Praya East
Hong Kong's ou standing example of modern architecture, the new headquer.ers of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.
the harbour-side of the chain of hills which form the Island of Hong Kong but has also stretch- ed to the south side as well, parti- cularly
Cameron in the Mount district,
Biggest of the latest develop- ments to be seen on the other side" is the Queen Mary Hospi- tal, which in itself shows a dis- tinct advance now
Colony's in the progress as compared with the extremely old-fashioned Government Civil Hospital pre- viously located below Caine Road. Repulse Bay, with its hotel, the "Lido."
Leaving the Central District, there has been recent great de- velopment to the east, made pos- sible by the Praya East Reclama- tion scheme which threw open a
very
large area of land bounded by Gloucester Road on the north and the road on which the tram-lines are still laid.
Practically the entire area of this Eastern District has been built upon and all the buildings have been constructed in ferro- concrete.
building
and "Euston," running along the western shore of the bay, is an example of develop- ment in another sphere, and is justly of Chinese
considered one of the beauty-spots of Hong Kong. Housing development,
Towards the south of the tram- lines, the popularity residences and shops of the less expensive type still exists, and Wanchai District-extending, as it does, from Arsenal Street in the West to Causeway Bay in the East --is a very important section of the Colony.
Further west and past the pow er station of the Hong Kong Elec- tric Company is to be found the latest development, especially on the north side of the fine main road laid down to the Taikoo area. The south side has been given over largely to factories.
One of the latest developments to the north, adjacent to Talkoo. is the "Ritz," which is becoming 1 popular as a rendezvous for those Chinese interested in swim- ming, dancing and roller-skating.
Little Change
Proceeding to the other end of the water-front, after passing a small area from the Post Office down to Wing Lok Street, which houses the big Chinese depart- ment stores, there has been little change within the last 40 years. In this area are still to be seen the water-front gudowns with their adjacent steamship wharves and the smaller type of Chinese storts and residences on the southera side of Des Voeux Road, West.
One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the develop- ment of hill-side residences, and any night photograph taken even 20 years ago and compared with a photograph taken to-day would indicate this by the present clus- ter of twinkling lights which, more than any words could ex- press. show how great this de- velopment has, in fact, been, The scintillating mass of lights, fes-. tooned with the rows of street lamps, has, indeed, became .one. of the minor "Wonders of the World"-or
so tourists always
say.
This development, however,"hua. not been confined exclusively to
more эт
less modern in nature, is proceed- ing along both sides of the road to the Bay.
Kowloon has The progress in been rather remarkable, and many people still resident in the Co- lony to-day will remember the time seemingly only a few years ago-when Austin Road was more or less the northern boundary of civilisation.
To-day, starting from Salisbury Road running parallel with the railway and dominated by the fine building of the Peninsula Hotel, the modern highway call- ed Nathan Road runs right to the Kowloon foothills.
Here it divides, the northern travelling out to the New Terri- tories via Shatin and Taipo, and the southern branch past popular bathing beaches to Castle Peak.
The Bank of East Aõla alad went skywards.
Other highways have been laid down in Kowloon, the most out- standing, perhaps, being Prince Edward Road, running east to west just to the north of the old Kowloon City. Both sides of this highway have been developed into attractive residential districts.
In this area lie the Government Kowloon Hospital and the new Central British School,
The cheaper type of residence is to be found in the Shamshuipo chstrict, which has been fully covered with ferro-concrete tene- ment houses. At the very end of this area are to be found the Shamshuipu barracks, which house one of the British regiments stationed in the Colony.
Road extensions in the Kowloon area have not yet Anished and the Government has many schemes in mind for opening up the more outlying districts. In the future, Kowloon may well assume double its present importance.
The latest industrial develop- ment is to be found in the most modern Power Station recently completely by the China Light
and Power, and which was open- ed last year with great ceremony, both official and unofficial,
Turning to the countryside pro- per or what is know as the New Territories there has been little development in Taipo in recent years and the number of houses has shown practically no increase.
Talpo Market is growing every year but there is little to be seen in the way of development unul the Fanling and Sheungshui dis- trict is reached. This district is becoming increasingly popular for both Chinese and foreign re- sidences, doubtless due to the pro- ximity of the neighbouring golf courses and the Kwanti Race Course.
Public Utilities
If one proceeds along the road to Castle Peak, one finds a growth similar to Taipo Market at Un Long, which is a 'bus terminus for routes running through by way of Castle Peak along the coast road back to Shamshuipo.
In the sphere of public utilities, the latest development is the big water conservation scheme at Shingmun, which, it is hoped, will save the Colony from any serious water shortage in the future. Even as this article is being writ- ten, however, hours of restriction during which the water is turn- ed off-are in force.
bo
In closing mention must made of the number of people who now cross daily, to and fro, from the Island to the Mainland and vice-versa, for this, too, rounds out the general picture of the development of Hong Kong.
The long established Star Ferry Company has scrapped its old fleet of smaller ferries (so well known perhaps up to about 20 years ago) and is now operating a service of. very much larger boats, which, in- cidentally, appear to be packed at all bours of the day.
Healthy Signs
put
The Government. Anolly through a vehicular ferry which runs from the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Connaught Road, on the island side, to Jor- dan Road, in the Yaumati dis- trict of Kowloon. This has sup- „plied a long felt need for better communication between the 18- land and the Mainland.
There are various schemes afoot to modernise the city of · Hong Kong, improve its amenities and take more advantage of its na- ¡tural beauties, but these, natur- ally, have had to be more or less filed away till the war is over. But they are, healthy signs, - and happy augurica for the days when peace réturns:
1941
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