Victoria, Hong Kong

"City of Victoria" had appeared on the statute books early in the 1845,^[16] although names such as "Town of Victoria" can be found as well.^[17] Letters patent that formally confers the city status and creates the City of Victoria was made on 11 May 1849.^[1]

In 1857, the British government expanded the scope of Victoria City and divided it into four wans (Chinese: 環; Jyutping: waan4; pinyin: huán; lit. 'rings'). The four wans are Sai Wan ("West Ring" in Chinese, present-day Sai Wan, including Kennedy Town, Shek Tong Tsui, and Sai Ying Pun), Sheung Wan ("Upper Ring" in Chinese, present-day Sheung Wan), Choong Wan or Chung Wan ("Central Ring" in Chinese, present-day Central) and Ha Wan ("Lower Ring" in Chinese, present-day Wan Chai). "Sai Wan", "Sheung Wan" and "Choong Wan" retain the same name in Chinese today.

The four wans are further divided into nine yeuks (Chinese: 約; Jyutping: joek3; pinyin: yuē, similar to "district" or "neighbourhood"). The coverage also included parts of East Point and Happy Valley (West of Wong Nai Chung Road on the east side of the racecourse). In 1903, boundary stones were established to mark the city's boundary and six of them are still preserved today. The stones spread from Causeway Bay to Kennedy Town.^[18]

In the 1890s, Victoria extended four miles west to east along the coastal strip. Buildings were made of granite and brick. Buses and the new tramway would become the main form of transportation in the area.^[19]

The city is centred in present-day Central, and named after Queen Victoria in 1843. It occupies the areas known in modern times as Central, Admiralty, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai, East Point, Shek Tong Tsui, the Mid-levels, the Peak, Happy Valley, Tin Hau, and Kennedy Town, on Hong Kong Island.

Map of Victoria published in 1908

The city boundaries are defined in the laws of Hong Kong as follows:^[2]

• On the north – The Harbour;
• On the west – A line running due north and south drawn through the north-west angle of Inland Lot No. 1299 and extending southwards a distance of 850 feet from the aforesaid angle;
• On the south – A line running due east from the southern extremity of the western boundary until it meets a contour in the vicinity of the Hill above Belchers 700 feet above principal datum, that is to say, a level 17.833 feet below the bench-mark known as "Rifleman's Bolt", the highest point of a copper bolt set horizontally in the east wall of the Royal Navy Office and Mess Block Naval Dockyard, and thence following the said contour until it meets the eastern boundary;
• On the east – A line following the west side of the Government Pier, Bay View and thence along the west side of Hing Fat Street [zh-tw], then along the north side of Causeway Road to Moreton Terrace [zh-tw]. Thence along the west side of Moreton Terrace to the south-east corner of Inland Lot No. 1580 and produced in a straight line for 80 feet, and thence along the north side of Cotton Path and produced until it meets the west side of Wong Nei Chong Road on the east side of Wong Nei Chong Valley and thence to the south-east angle of Inland Lot No. 1364, produced until it meets the southern boundary.

In 1903, the Hong Kong Government erected several boundary stones to mark the limits of Victoria, measuring 98 cm in height, tapered at the top and with the inscription "City Boundary 1903". As the city’s boundaries were clearly defined by ordinance, these stones were more just physical markers.^[20]

Three additional boundary stones were found in 2021,^[21] adding the total of discovered stones to 10, including the one disappeared in June 2007.^[22]

Boundary stones of Victoria from west to east

No.		Location	Region	Notes
1		Sai Ning Street	Kennedy Town	Re-erected into Kennedy Town Temporary Playground a few metres away from original location in 1970s[23]
2		Slope of Mount Davis, south of Victoria Road	Mount Davis	Discovered on 12 December 2021[21]
3		Pokfulam Road, near Smithfield	Sandy Bay Gap
4		Slope of Lung Fu Shan, near Hatton Road	Lung Fu Shan	Discovered on 5 December 2021[24]
5		Hatton Road, near Kotewall Road
6		Old Peak Road, near Tregunter Path	Mid-Levels
7		Magazine Gap Road		Removed in June 2007, whereabouts unknown[25][22]
8		Bowen Road, near Stubbs Road
9		Slope near Rosaryhill School, Stubbs Road		Discovered on 12 December 2021[21]
10		Wong Nai Chung Road	Happy Valley

In 1866 the nine districts, also called yeuks, are:^[26]

• Shek Tong Tsui
• Sai Ying Pun
• Taipingshan, a neighborhood near Sheung Wan that shared its name with Victoria Peak
• Sheong Wan
• Choong Wan North and South, known in modern times as Central in English
• Ha Wan, today's Admiralty and Wan Chai
• Wan Chai
• Bowrington, between today's Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, known also as Ngo Keng
• So Kun Poo.

Other places that might be considered as yeuks include:

• Kennedy Town
• Happy Valley
• Causeway Bay

• History of Hong Kong
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
• List of places named for Queen Victoria § Hong Kong, for a list of places named after Queen Victoria
• Praya

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria City.

Look up Victoria in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Boundary of the City of Victoria as defined in Hong Kong Laws, Cap 1 SCHED 1 of Hong Kong Law
• Article on history of Hong Kong (in Chinese)
• Photos of the 1903 boundary stones
• A article on the "four wans and nine yeuks" in Chinese (Adobe PDF format)
• Another article on "four wans and nine yeuks" (in Chinese)
• A photographic panorama of the water-front and city of Victoria, taken sometime after 1906, in Cambridge Digital Library

22°16′42″N 114°10′28″E / 22.27833°N 114.17444°E / 22.27833; 114.17444