Kai Yuen Street
22°17′25″N 114°12′12″E / 22.290187°N 114.203286°E
Kai Yuen Street (Chinese: 繼園街) is a street in North Point, Hong Kong, that goes up Kai Yuen Hill. It is a historically rich street, once serving as the main access road to Kai Yuen Mansion, the influential Chan Wai Chow (陳維周) family's residence.[1] Kai Yuen mansion was demolished in the late 1970s.[2]
Currently it is mainly a residential area with high rise apartments such as Bedford Gardens on the west side, and 5-7 storey Mid-Century apartments on the east side.
History
[edit]
The surrounding area was named after Kai Yuen Mansion, a Chinese Renaissance style mansion constructed in 1938 and one of the largest of it's kind in Hong Kong. It was once the residence of the Chan Wai Chow (陳維周) family, who was a family of warlords originating from Guangdong, his brother was the famous general and governor of Guangdong, Chan Kai Tong.[3]
After settling in Kai Yuen Mansion, Chan Wai Chow started to establish businesses such as hotels and cinemas in Hong Kong.[3] some of Chan Wai Chow's soldiers also settled in the area, and established a variety of small shops and businesses.[4]
After the end of the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong in World War II, North Point saw a boom in immigrants from Shanghai, Fujian, and the Philippines, causing a large demand for new buildings to be built. The period of the 1950s to the 1970s saw a variety of new developments in the Kai Yuen area, such as the construction of Chun Chu Temple, a Buddhist and Taoist temple founded in 1955 by a community of Hakka and Hainan people in North Point.[5] As well as a batch of tenement buildings for residential and commercial purposes designed by Yum Koon Seng (Chinese: 任冠生), a prominent architect most known for designing luxury apartments at the time.[2]
Features
[edit]- No. 1: Fleur Pavilia (Chinese: 柏蔚山), a private housing estate containing three 35 storey high rise apartment blocks, opened in 2018.[6] It stands on the site of former upper and lower Kai Yuen lane, demolished in 2011.[7]
- No. 1B: Chun Chu Temple, a Buddhist and Taoist temple founded in 1955 by a community of Hakka and Hainan people in North Point.[5] It is thought to be affiliated with Kai Yuen Mansion and the Chan Wai Chow (陳維周) family.[8]
- No. 12-14, 24-26: two 6 storey tenement buildings built in 1958, featuring auspicious 9 squared grid windows at the stairwell.[9][10]
- No. 60-74: One batch of tenement buildings designed by Yum Koon Seng built during the 1960s. It features a unique curved perimeter and is also nicknamed as a 'fortress'.[2] It was demolished in 2021 for redevelopment.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ 黄, 棣才 (2015). 圖說香港歷史建築, 1920-1945 [Illustrating Hong Kong historical buildings] (in Chinese). 香港中華書局有限公司. p. 224.
- ^ a b c Zhang, Yan Crystal. "Background of Kai Yuen Street between 1945 to 1970". A Lost Paradise:The Disappearing Urban Heritage of Kai Yuen Street, Hong Kong (Thesis). Hong Kong University. pp. 18–20.
- ^ a b Zhang, Yan Crystal. "Background of Kai Yuen Street before 1950". A Lost Paradise:The Disappearing Urban Heritage of Kai Yuen Street, Hong Kong (Thesis). Hong Kong University. pp. 14–18.
- ^ "【爐峰漫話】遊北角繼園街 探尋文學足跡" (PDF). Wen Wei Po 文匯報 (in Chinese). 2 February 2024.
- ^ a b "崇珠閣". 福山堂. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024.
- ^ "Fleur Pavilia". Centaline Property.
- ^ "消失中的繼園街". Stand News 立場新聞. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021.
- ^ Fan, Chi Wai. "淺述北角崇珠閣的壇務發展". In 蕭, 國健 (ed.). 鑪峰古今: 香港歷史文化論集2020 (in Chinese). p. 131.
- ^ 邵, 超 (22 April 2013). "北角繼園街 - 與張愛玲看風景". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013.
- ^ Zhang, Yan Crystal. A Lost Paradise:The Disappearing Urban Heritage of Kai Yuen Street, Hong Kong (Thesis). Hong Kong University. pp. 42–44.
- ^ Broad Development Parameters of the Applied Use/Development in respect of Application No. A/H8/435 - Land falling within "Comprehensive Development Area (2)" zone and an area shown as 'Road' at Kai Yuen Street, North Point. https://www.tpb.gov.hk/tc/plan_application/Attachment/20220726/s16_A_H8_435_0_gist.pdf
Further Reading
[edit]- Zhang, Yan Crystal. "Background of Kai Yuen Street between 1945 to 1970". A Lost Paradise:The Disappearing Urban Heritage of Kai Yuen Street, Hong Kong (Thesis). Hong Kong University.
External Links
[edit]- Segment of the 1963 movie "Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong", featuring footage of Kai Yuen Mansion, and Kai Yuen Street. Uploaded by 歷史時空 on Facebook.