Lyndhurst Terrace
Lyndhurst Terrace, looking toward Wellington Street from the Central-Mid-Levels escalators
Native name擺花街 (Chinese)
NamesakeJohn Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst
Length188 m (617 ft)[1]
LocationCentral, Hong Kong
East endWellington Street / Pottinger Street
West endHollywood Road / Graham Street

Lyndhurst Terrace (Chinese: 擺花街) is a street in the Central area of Hong Kong. Built on a slope in southern Central district, the terrace links Hollywood Road and Wellington Street, at its intersection with Pottinger Street. In the middle it meets Gage Street, Cochrane Street and the Central–Mid-Levels escalators.

Name

The terrace was named after John Singleton Copley Lyndhurst, an Assistant Magistrate.[2] The Cantonese name 擺花 (baai2 faa1) literally means "flower arrangement", possibly because of presence of numerous stalls in the area in the mid-19th century, selling flowers[3] to the customers of the nearby brothels.[4]

History

Tai Cheong Bakery, Lyndhurst Terrace branch in 2007.

Lyndhurst Terrace and the surrounding area were the location of some of the earliest brothels established in Hong Kong,[5][6][7][8] in the mid-19th century. Western prostitutes concentrated there, while Chinese brothels were located in the Tai Ping Shan area near Po Hing Fong. They gradually moved to Possession Street and relocated to Shek Tong Tsui in 1903.[9] The name of the street appears in this context in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, published in 1939.[10][11]

The original Site of Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant (杏讌樓西菜館) was located at 2 Lyndhurst Terrace. The restaurant was a historical meeting place for Dr Sun Yat-sen when he was studying at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese,[12] from where he graduated in 1892, and a refuge for revolutionaries outside Hong Kong, who took part in the failed "1895 Guangzhou uprising" (廣州起義) against the Qing dynasty in Guangzhou.[13][14] The site, located at the intersection with Pottinger Street, is part of the Central and Western Heritage Trail and the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail. It is now occupied by a commercial building (8 Lyndhurst Terrace).[12]

The Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家) first opened at Lyndhurst Terrace in 1954.[15] Their egg tarts gained fame when Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, called them "the best Egg Tarts in the world".[16] It later received intense media attention[17] when it closed in May 2005, citing increasing rent,[18][19] reaching HK$80,000 per month.[20] It reopened at another location in the street in September 2005 and went on to open several new outlets across Hong Kong.[15]

Intersections

Lyndhurst Terrace, looking toward Hollywood Road from the Central–Mid-Levels escalators.

The entire route is in Central, Central and Western District.

km[1]miDestinationsNotes
0.0000.000Wellington StreetEastern terminus
Pottinger StreetPathway
0.1050.065Gage Street
Cochrane StreetPathway; Access to Central–Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system
0.1550.096Gutzlaff StreetPathway
0.1880.117Hollywood RoadWestern terminus
Graham StreetEastbound closed to traffic
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Closed/former

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lyndhurst Terrace.
  1. ^ a b OpenStreetMap contributors. Lyndhurst Terrace (Map). OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 17 June 2017. ((cite map)): |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ Roads named after British Official Archived 24 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
  3. ^ Film Service Office. Location Library: Lyndhurst Terrace Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Andrew Yanne, Gillis Heller (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-962-209-944-9.
  5. ^ Lim, Patricia (2011). Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery. Hong Kong University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-962-209-990-6.
  6. ^ Hong Kong Government Gazette 16 Feb 1884
  7. ^ Hong Kong Government Gazette 22 March 1884
  8. ^ Hong Kong Government Gazette 15 March 1884
  9. ^ "Early Hong Kong Brothels", Exhibition at the University Museum and Art Gallery, 26 November 2003 to 29 February 2004
  10. ^ Finnegans Wake, Etext, p. 351 Archived 13 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ McHugh, Roland (2005). Annotations to Finnegans Wake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-8018-8381-1.
  12. ^ a b Home Affairs Department, "Research on the culture and history of HK for the design of tourism routes" Archived 6 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Centre for Culture and Development, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 14 January 2011
  13. ^ Antiquities and Monuments Office: Original Site of Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant
  14. ^ Brochure of the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail, "The Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant – 2 Lyndhurst Terrace" Archived 6 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, p. 32, Central & Western District Council, 2007
  15. ^ a b MS, "Tourists fall for distinctly Hong Kong flavours", The Independent, 24 February 2010
  16. ^ Hong Kong Tourism Board : Tai Cheong Bakery Archived 4 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Angie Wong, "Chinese Cake-away" Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, HK Magazine, 16 November 2006
  18. ^ Hiufu Wong, "Behind the scenes of Hong Kong's most loved egg tart bakery" Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 2 August 2010
  19. ^ Frederik Balfour, Bruce Einhorn, Simon Cartledge, "Hong Kong: It's Back!", Bloomberg Businessweek, 30 May 2005
  20. ^ Richard Spencer, "Rent rise means the end of Fat Pang's tarts shop", The Daily Telegraph, 12 May 2005

22°16′57″N 114°09′15″E / 22.28248°N 114.15421°E / 22.28248; 114.15421

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