Me, Jamie | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 48 years living in Hong Kong - I know the culture
… and yes, I am a proud Yorkshireman
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The City of Victoria, Hong Kong's forgotten past
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
The City of Victoria 1903 Boundary Stone at Hatton Road between the Peak and Kotewall Road
April 25th 2020 | The City of Victoria, Hong Kong's forgotten past
I am a very conflicted individual, I love old Hong Kong but there are simply not enough hours in the day to absorb all the information available online about Hong Kong in the 1840’s and leading up to the early 1900’s.
Unlike my friends Bill and Jason, I am a not specialist, specialist, I have a good general knowledge of old Hong Kong but I could not give a 2 hour lecture, I am not an academic in any shape or form and I do my best to keep it short and sweet so as not to bore people too much.
Anyway, I was trawling through my images of the Peak (or Victoria Peak as visitors like to call it) and I came across this picture I had taken a few years ago and remarkably it had a couple of thousand views on my FLICKR site which produced my normal reaction “eh?” and a scratch of my head.
So I went to the great GOOGLE in the sky and did a bit of history research, I knew about the boundary stones but nothing else.
© Acknowledgement to Bill for the image. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
The Proclamation that presumably marked the start and | or the origin of the City of Victoria, Hong Kong
In a nutshell, I am pretty sure that in the legal books here in some musty basement in a Government Office there is a reference to the City of Victoria or Victoria City which came into being presumably after late January 1841 when Hong Kong started to function as a British Colony, so think if it as the Capital of Hong Kong and yes, I am pretty sure it is still a legal definition in place.
Basically the City of Victoria covered a large swathe of land going east and west away from the Central Business District…. anyway to cut a very, very long story short 6 or 7 or possibly 8 concrete boundary stones were embedded into the ground in 1903 to define the city boundary and again, logically speaking, as they have not been removed it suggests that the boundary and therefore the term City of Victoria still exists.
I have taken pictures of 2 of the boundary stones without fully realising the very interesting history behind them so one of my new quests (queue number # 39,888) will be to take pictures of the ones I do not have because that is the sort of brain I have.
There is also a dark side to the boundary stone story, this was the Peak District Reservation Ordinance, which came into law in 1904 and ended in 1947, this effectively legalised the segregation of Chinese residents from Foreigners (White people) which had tacitly been in place since 1841, the Ordinance banned Chinese people from living at the Peak but actually they were banned from living above the boundary stones that had been put in place in 1903 for the City of Victoria.
As mentioned this had been the case since 1841 although it has been suggested that the Chinese population simply could not afford to purchase land leases at higher elevation, it should also be pointed out that Eurasian residents had to get permission from the Governor to live at Victoria Peak!
Please do read the article mentioned above, it is so interesting and mildly shocking at the same time.
…. and a quick thank you to Laura who jogged my memory about the segregation law.
Whenever I come across stuff like this I just wished I could time travel, I would love to see Hong Kong in 1903 and experienced all of this.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The biggest waste of land use in Hong Kong
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Chater Garden, Central, Hong Kong
April 25th 2020 | The folly of Chater Garden in Central
Given the chance I will always prattle on about Chater Garden in the business district and right next to the Supreme Court (or Court of Final Appeal) I walk through the “garden” frequently as it is a short cut to my favourite place to photograph cars.
My talks about Chater Garden generally revolve around it’s former use as a rather lovely CRICKET ground and home to the Hong Kong Cricket Club, I used to visit the ground a lot as a kid here, it wasn’t to last, in it’s infinite wisdom the Colonial Government asked the Cricket Club to move and in 1978 we woke up to this huge waste of space, that is called Chater Garden.
It’s only real uses are:-
a convenient short cut to commercial buildings in the area, there is a MTR (Subway) entrance at the main entrance to the Park.
absolutely brilliant for protesters to gather and protest…. right next to the Supreme Court
the odd Tai Chi (slow motion Kung Fu) class
There is very little in the way of anything even remotely interesting, you can stroll around the garden part of the garden in 5 minutes, there is seating if you want to sit and idle away a few hours on horrible concrete benches but basically as you can see from the image it is really just a massive expanse of concrete, there are far more people (myself included) who prefer Statue Square 2 minutes walk away and it is a tenth of the size of Chater Garden and is a lot more interesting.
Based on a recent property deal at a site next door to Chater Garden, the Government could easily sell off the land for redevelopment and pocket US$10 Billion, yes Billion and you know what, I doubt anyone would even notice if a giant shopping mall went up.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The Hong Kong Government chose Peugot
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
New Peugot vehicles for the Hong Kong Government
April 25th 2020 | Peugot vehicles for the Hong Kong Government…. gosh
I am not a car snob, I find all vehicles interesting but I had another eh! moment when I started to see recently a lot of Peugot vans with passenger options and a Government licence plate on the roads of Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Government which operates roughly 6,700 vehicles purchases vehicles through the Government Logistics Department by tender, one can only imagine the nightmare suppliers have to go through to even get the Government to purchase a vehicle, the Logistics Department buys for every Government Department, even the lovely BMW 750il, the official car of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive
As you can see from the images, all Hong Kong Government operated vehicles have a licence plate that starts AM and have a number sequence comprising 1 ti 4 numbers. A high end car generally denotes it is the chauffeur driven vehicle of a high ranking Hong Kong Government Minister and a few really Senior Ministers have cars with 2 letter number plates ( CS, FS, CJ and SJ) | Status is important even in the Government as is the use of lucky numbers (1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 0 etc) on licence plates.
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong has the Hong Kong Emblem ( large badge ) on the front and back of the vehicle but remarkably (for me anyway) the best Government licence plate is the number I on the official car of the Commissioner of Police, top that as they say!
There are 3 possible explanations on why AM was chosen as the 2 letter identifier
It was done based on the initials of Alastair Morrison a HK Government Civil Servant who came up with the idea of uniform plates for Government Vehicles, when the idea came up, AM was next in sequence ie after AL and before AN. It is totally random as they had to pick a 2 letter sequence and AM was as good as anything else!
So now you know.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The Iconic Peak Tram (Funicular Railway) Hong Kong
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
The Iconic Peak Tram (Funicular Railway) Hong Kong, Kennedy Road stop, Mid Levels
April 17th 2020 | The Iconic Peak Tram (Funicular Railway) Hong Kong, Kennedy Road stop, Mid Levels
This is NOT where people take a picture of the iconic Peak Tram! generally they take a picture at either of the two Tram Terminals, I thought this was an interesting location, it is the first stop from the Terminal going up to the Peak at Kennedy Road, as you can see the stop is pretty basic!
The building on the left is Zetland Hall, the main Masonic Lodge in Hong Kong (my father is a member).
The Peak Tram is undergoing a major upgrade and passenger numbers are way down because of the 2019 | 2020 protests and the Covid 19 emergency… it has been around since 1888 and will continue to prosper in the future.
Rather than give you a link to the Peak Tram website, I have given you the link to essentially the owner of the Peak Tram, in a nutshell, the Peninsula Hotel Group!
© Image acknowledged | All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Now imagine me in this Sedan Chair
In the old days (this image was taken in 1953 in Central, Hong Kong) Sedan Chairs were used to take people up to the Peak (Old Peak Road was a favourite route) and it wasn’t just sedan chairs but the more recognisable rickshaws.
I often imagine what these poor chaps would think if they saw me trundling along, they would probably turn and flee!
Visit Hong Kong | The Peak - Locally called The Peak, officially called Victoria Peak but administratively it is called Mount Austin, 552m or 1,811 ft in height, historically home to the very wealthy since the late 19th Century, US$100 Million + homes are very common, the most expensive house (The Pink House on Pollocks Path) sold for US$410 Million in 2017. (Now demolished)
Fabulous views of Victoria Harbour and the City are why The Peak should be your number 1 priority to visit and it is served by the iconic Peak Tram ( Funicular Railway ). The highest viewing point for the iconic city view is from the Peak Tower (428m or 1,400ft) and roughly the same for a point on Lugard Road which circles The Peak.
The most astonishing Hong Kong city view is from a very specific point on Lugard Road roughly a 20 minute walk from the Peak Tower (ish), closely followed by a specific point on Barker Road, spectacular views can still be had from the Peak Tower (requires payment) the Peak Galleria (free) and the Lion’s Pavilion (free) - there is NO city or harbour view from Victoria Peak Garden.
... and did I mention the night view of the City? On a clear night the view from any location mentioned above is quite staggering, it takes your breath away.
The best views occur in the Hong Kong summer from May to September with beautiful clear and sunny days particularly in July and August and naturally it is 32oC ish (90oF) with 90% humidity! Autumn and winter in Hong Kong can be grey, cool, cloudy and smoggy and spring can be humid and very foggy - bear in mind even on grey cloudy days it can still be very clear at The Peak.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
A “bloody typical” moment in my life
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Car Number Plate - No. 1688 Number Plate sold for US$130,770 in Hong Kong
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Car Number Plate - No. 1688 Number Plate sold for US$130,770 in Hong Kong
April 25th 2020 | Car Number Plate - No. 1688 Number Plate sold for US$130,770 in Hong Kong
I recently wrote about these vehicles above (the owner has finally upgraded his car) and now, see below
“The question is why would someone pay US$130,770 for the licence plate 1688 and then put it on a POS Nissan? (however I do think the horrible reddish wheels are a nice touch) strange eh!! 1688 is a very lucky number in China and roughly translated it means “certain smooth easy life with a lot of wealth forever” and who doesn’t want that?. My feeling is that the POS car is not their only car, I know a lot of Chinese people who are more than a tad superstitious and maybe the car has brought them luck and getting rid of it it will curse them for eternity!! or it could simply be dark Chinese humour and I appreciate that as well”
Amazing, one week after I wrote this article, the owner of the Nissan POS with plate no. 1688 has changed their car to a lovely Toyota Alphard…. typical.
Such is the life of blogging and another one of my “bloody typcical” moments.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The Cars of Hong Kong
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Aston Martin - CM 1288
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Rolls Royce - RR 886
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
BMW - FR 36
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Bentley - CK 6698
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Mercedes Benz - 100 CC
This is NOT how I do tours! There are NO flags, whistles, stickers or large groups!
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