Quarry Bay is a residential and business district in Hong Kong. One Island East, the seventh tallest building in Hong Kong, is located in Quarry Bay. Some government departments such as the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council have relocated their offices from Central and Wan Chai to Quarry Bay over the years, and some multinational companies have their offices located in the district, such as Ernst & Young, BNP Paribas, LVMH and Boston Consulting Group, etc. Cityplaza and Kornhill Plaza, being one of the largest shopping malls on Hong Kong Island is at Quarry Bay.
With dense population as well as developed economic and commercial activities in the district, Quarry Bay has a considerable traffic demand. It is one of the transportation hubs in Hong Kong. There are two MTR stations in the district, being Quarry Bay Station and Taikoo Station. Quarry Bay Station is the intersection of the Island line and Tseung Kwan O line. Other transportation means in the district include buses, minibuses, and trams.
The 1819 edition of the Gazetteer of Sun On County (嘉慶版新安縣志) did not mention today's Quarry Bay. Historians such as Anthony Kwok Kin Siu suggested Quarry Bay was a remote area before British colonial time.
This area was a bay where rock from the hillsides were quarried and transported by ship for building construction or road building. The Chinese name Tsak Yue Chung (鰂魚涌) reveals that it was a small stream where crucian carp (鰂魚) could be found in the 19th century. The English name was Arrow Fish Creek.[3] The original bay has disappeared since land reclamation has taken place, and was about 700 m (770 yd) from the current coastline.
Taikoo
The eastern part of Quarry Bay, namely Quarry Point [yue], was largely owned by Swire and therefore many places and facilities are named after the company's Chinese name, Taikoo. The river originally flowed into the bay, however it was shut off from the sea with the construction of the Tai Koo Reservoir [zh-tw] to supply fresh water to the Taikoo Dockyard, the Taikoo Sugar factory at Tong Chong Street (糖廠街), and later the Swire Coca-Cola factory at Greig Road (基利路) and Yau Man Street (佑民街). The upper course of the river was converted into a cement-paved catchwater, and the lower course is the present-day Quarry Bay Street (鰂魚涌街), with the original estuary near the Quarry Bay Street - King's Road junction.
In the mid-1980s, the hillside was converted into Kornhill apartment buildings, the reservoir into Mount Parker Lodge [zh-tw] (康景花園) apartment buildings, and the Dockyard into Taikoo Shing. The Coca-Cola factory is now apartment Kornville (康蕙花園), and Taikoo Sugar is now the Taikoo Place, a commercial hub.
Lai Chi
The western end of Quarry Bay was historically part of North Point; during the 1930s its beaches became one of the most popular places for holding swimming galas in Hong Kong. From this basis an upmarket entertainment complex, the Ritz Nightclub (麗池夜總會; lai6 chi4 ye6 jung2 wui2), was built in the area in 1947. The nightclub was demolished a few years later to make way for the construction of apartment buildings during the latter half of the 1950s. Nonetheless, for years afterwards, the western part of Quarry Bay continued to be known informally as Lai Chi (麗池), made more so by the name being homophone to Cantonese for "late as usual" (例遲) - a reference to King's Road, until 1984 the only thoroughfare in the area and thus infamous for traffic congestion.
To this day, some buildings in the western part of Quarry Bay are named as "North Point something building", although they are across the modern-day limit of North Point at Man Hong Street / Healthy Street West.
Location
Quarry Bay is considered as an area surrounded by Kornhill Road [yue] to the east, Hong Shing Street and Mount Parker Road [yue] to the south, junction of King's Road and Healthy Street West to the west, and Taikoo Wan Road to the north.[clarify]
The "Monster Building" consists of five connecting buildings of Fook Cheong Building, Montane Mansion, Oceanic Mansion, Yick Cheong Building and Yick Fat Building.The Yick Cheong Building
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Nan Fung Sun Chuen. (Discuss) (April 2022)
Nan Fung Sun Chuen, a private housing estate in Quarry Bay
Nan Fung Sun Chuen (南豐新邨), built in 1978, is a private apartment estate. Consisting of 12 buildings distributed along Greig Road and Greig Crescent with a car park at the centre of the development, it was developed by Nan Fung Development. Because of the relatively large size of the development, it serves as the benchmark for premises developed in the late 1970s in the property market. The tower blocks range in height from 28 to 33 floors. Blocks 1 to 5 are at 32 to 40 (even numbers) Greig Road while blocks 6 to 12 are at 27 to 15 Greig Crescent.
Taikoo Shing is a private residential development in Quarry Bay. Consisting of 61 mansions distributed along Taikoo Wan Road & Taikoo Shing Road, it was developed by Swire.
On 10 March 2006, the fireboat was successfully hoisted into its new permanent home in the Central Concourse of Quarry Bay Park, Hong Kong, where it has been converted into the Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery and was opened to the public as a museum in 2007. In addition to the fireboat itself, the Gallery houses a number of multimedia exhibits on the vessel's history and on firefighting in Hong Kong.
Woodside Biodiversity Education Centre [zh-tw] situated at Mount Parker Road, Quarry Bay. The centre comprises three themed exhibition galleries introducing Hong Kong's precious natural resources and biodiversity. The centre aims to foster public awareness, knowledge and understanding the inherent value of Hong Kong's biodiversity assets and to marshal public support and action for nature conservation.
Quarry Bay is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 14. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and North Point Government Primary School.[15]
Kindergartens & Nurseries
ABC Pathways International Kindergarten (Tai Koo Campus)
Quarry Bay is home to multiple hiking trails, including the Mount Parker Road Green Trail and the Hong Pak Country Trail, which connects further to nearby trails.
Facilities
The Woodside Biodiversity Education Center (also known as the Red House) is a biodiversity centre housing local animal species and displays of educational resources on Hong Kong wildlife. The centre is situated on Mount Parker Road, with benches available nearby for picnics.[16]
Wartime remains including the Wartime Stoves and Anti-Air-Raid Caves are preserved throughout Mount Parker Road Green Trail and the Hong Pak Country Trail.
Hikes throughout Quarry Bay are often packed with resting benches, washrooms, pavilions, mappings as well as trash bins.
Stanley can be reached from Tai Tam Reservoirs via Violet Hill and The Twins. Shek O Country Park is also reachable from Tai Tam Reservoirs, which offer more hiking options.
