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Victoria Harbour

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Victoria Harbour
The night view of the Victoria Harbour with the skyscrapers in Central behind, viewed from Tsim Sha Tsui

Victoria Harbour (simplified Chinese: 维多利亚港; traditional Chinese: 維多利亞港; Cantonese Jyutping: wai4 do1 lei6 aa3 gong2; Mandarin Pinyin: Wéiduōlìyà Gǎng) is the harbour between the Kowloon Peninsula and the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. With an area of about 41.88 km² as at 2004, its natural depth and sheltered location enticed the British to occupy the Hong Kong Island during the First Opium War, and subsequently established the colony as a trade post.

The harbour is famous for its spectacular panoramic views, and is in itself a top tourism attraction. It is a natural focal point of the territory, and considered a crucial natural geographical element for city dwellers. This sense of geographical attachment is most notably demonstrated in recent years, when the Government's efforts to undertake reclamation projects in the harbour were met with widespread popular protests, despite reclamation work having taken place in the harbour for the past one and a half centuries.

Geography

Islands

Islands in the Harbour include:

Former islands (connected to adjacent lands or larger islands following land reclamation):

History

Recent developments

After completion of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Feasibility Study in 1989, the Land Development Policy Committee endorsed a concept for gradual implementation of the reclamation. The reclamation consists of three district development cells separated by parks, namely, Central, Tamar and Exhibition.

Part of the harbour being engulfed by reclamation off the shore of Central.

The latest proposed reclamation extends along the waterfront from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay faced public opposition, as the harbour has become a pivotal location to Hongkongers in general. Activists has denounced the government's actions as destructive not only to the natural environment, but also to what is widely considered as one of the most prized natural assets of the territory. NGOs, including the Society for Protection of the Harbour, were formed to resist further attempts to reduce the size of the waterbody, with its chairman, Christine Loh, quoted as saying that the harbour "...is a precious national asset and we must preserve it for future generations. I believe an insightful and visionary Chief Executive would support our stance and work with us to protect the harbour." [1]

Tourism

Panorama Night View of Victoria Harbour, as at early 2004, with A Symphony of Lights at night. Many buildings in this photo also have Chinese New Year related decorations on their outer walls.

The Victoria Harbour is famous around the world for its stunning panoramic night view and skyline, particularly in the direction towards Hong Kong Island where the skyline of skyscrapers is superimposed over the ridges behind. The best place to view the Harbour is at the Victoria Tower on the Victoria Peak, or from the piazza at the Culture Centre or the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side. Rides on the Star Ferry to view the harbour are also widely popular.

As the natural epicentre of the territory, the harbour has played host to many major public shows, including the annual fireworks displays on the 2nd night of the Lunar New Year. These shows are popular for tourists and locals alike, with the show usually telecast on local television. To add to the popularity of the harbour as a sightseeing location, the government introduced a show dubbed A Symphony of Lights, using use audio, lights and pyrotechnics to introduce the city to its viewers every evening.

Also recently opened, was the Avenue of Stars, built along the promenade outside the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. Modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it honours the most illustrious people the Hong Kong film industry has produced over the past decades.

By the end of November every year, the outer walls of buildings in the central business districts on both side of the harbours are dressed with Christmas-related decorations, and replaced with Lunar New Year-related ones by January.

Transport

Port facilities

Victoria Harbour is home to most of the port facilities of Hong Kong, making Hong Kong amongst the world's busiest. An average of 220,000 ships visit the harbour each year, including both ocean going vessels and river vessels, for both goods and passengers. The Kwai Chung Container Terminals in the western part of the harbour is the main container handling facility, operating round the clock and handling about 62 percent of the 21,930 TEUs handled by the territory in 2004. Some 400 container liners serve Hong Kong weekly, connecting to over 500 destinations around the world.

For many years until 2004, Hong Kong handled the most containers (measured by TEUs), but it faces competition from the ports in nearby Shenzhen in recent years, with the ports in Shenzhen combined handling more containers than the Kwai Chung terminals since August 2004 [2]. Overall, the Hong Kong port has also lost out to the Port of Singapore in containers handled, with the Singaporean port outpacing Hong Kong since the first quarter of 2005

Tunnels

Meridian Star (午星號) of Hong Kong Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbour

There is no bridge crossing the harbour, but three cross-harbour tunnels: Cross Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972), Eastern Harbour Crossing (1989), and Western Harbour Crossing (1997). They connect Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula across Victoria Harbour. The three tunnels act as important linkages between the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Three MTR routes also have tunnels under the Harbour. They are namely:

Ferries

The Star Ferry has been crossing the harbour since the late 1800s. The operated ferry routes today are: Central to Tsim Sha Tsui; Wanchai to Tsim Sha Tsui; Central to Hung Hom and Wan Chai to Hung Hom. Some other regular ferry services also operate in the harbour.

The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company used to operate numerous cross-harbour routes between various piers of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Many of the routes are now operated by First Ferry. Some of the piers no longer exist because of reclamation projects, or many of the routes became unprofitable. Currently, the company continues to operate vehicular ferry services for vehicles carrying dangerous goods that are prohibited within tunnel crossings.

For international passenger traffic and traffic to mainland China and Macau, there are two ferry terminals, namely Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal and Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal, and a terminal for cruises, the Ocean Terminal. Another cruise terminal has been proposed.

See also Victoria Harbour crossings

See also

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