Wan Chai - History

History

Wan Chai was first home to the many Chinese villagers living along the undisturbed coastlines in proximity to Hung Shing Temple. Most of them were fishermen, who worked around the area near Hung Shing Temple overlooking the entire harbour. Hung Shing Ye, the God of the Sea, was one of the deities worshiped by the locals.

With the growth of the British Hong Kong administration, centred in old Victoria, modern Central, Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as coolies, who came to live on Queen's Road East. A focal point of development was Spring Gardens, a red-light zone. By the 1850s the area was already becoming a Chinese residential area. There were dockyards in Ship Street and McGregor Street for building and repairing ships. The edge of Sun Street, Moon Street and Star Street is the original site of the first power station in Hong Kong, operated by the Hongkong Electric Company, which began supplying power in 1890. One of the first water-front hospitals was the Seaman's hospital built in 1843 funded by Jardine's. In was sold to the British Royal Navy in 1873 and redeveloped into the Royal Naval Hospital. After WWII, it was later revitalized as the Ruttonjee hospital.

The district was home to several well known schools. One of these was established by the famous traditional teacher, Mo Dunmei (莫敦梅). Started as a shushu (書塾) in 1919, the school was renamed Dunmei School (敦梅學校) in 1934. It taught classical Chinese writings and Confucian ethics.

In 1936, Chinese Methodist Church 香港基督教循道衛理教會 moved from its building on Caine Road, Mid-levels, to a new building on Hennessy Road 軒尼詩道, Wanchai. This church building became the landmark of the district.

During the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, many bombardments took place. Stories of cannibalism, starvation, torture and abuses by Japanese soldiers, and child labour were told. Senior residents recall vividly how they survived the hardships. The Dunmei school was closed during the Japanese occupation period. After the war, the school continued to provide Chinese education for children from families of higher income.

During the 1950s the pro-Communist underground cell network Hailiushe (海流社) was headquartered in the rooftop of a multi-story house on Spring Garden Lane. The group was successfully raided by the Hong Kong police.

Prostitution is one of the oldest occupations in Wan Chai. There are numerous historical western accounts of women trading sex for western merchandise as soon as sailors got off the trading ships. In the 1960s, Wan Chai became legendary for its exotic night life, especially for the US service men resting there during the Vietnam War. Despite rapid changes due to reclamation and redevelopment, the presence of sex workers operating among ordinary residents continues to be a distinct feature of the area. Some of the lifestyle has been illustrated in the past in movies such as The World of Suzie Wong.

Wan Chai's HKCEC was the site of the Hong Kong handover ceremony in 1997. The WTO Ministerial Conference in 2005 was also one of the largest international events ever hosted in Hong Kong, with 148 nations participating.

In May 2009, 300 guests and staff members at the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai were quarantined, suspected of being infected or in contact with the H1N1 virus during the 2009 swine flu outbreak. A 25 year old Mexican man who had stayed at the hotel was later found to have the viral infection. He had traveled to Hong Kong from Mexico via Shanghai.