Saturday, October 4, 2008

Tsing Yi Promenade

Tsing Yi Promenade is a promenade along the eastern seafront of Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. It faces Rambler Channel, from Greenfield Garden, through Tsing Yi Pier and Maritime Square to Cheung Fat Estate. The promenade spans 1 800 metres and occupies 6.6 hectares along waterfront. Many people use this as a recreational area for jogging, exercising, or even practising . There is a marvellous sea view for people to enjoy at night. The Promenade also includes a stages commencing 2001 and completed in 2004.

Gallery

Tsing Yi Park

Tsing Yi Park is a public park on the Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong with Tsing Yi Estate, Tsing Yi Garden, Broadview Garden and St. Paul's Village in its proximity.

Tai Po Waterfront Park

Hong Kong's Tai Po Waterfront Park occupies an area of 22 hectares, and is the largest park managed by Leisure and Cultural Service Department

Every year, the Tai Po Dragon Boat Race is held in the seaside of the Park.

Facilities


The Park has a wide range of facilities for the public including rest gardens, sitting-out areas, an insect house, a 1.2 km promenade along the harbour front, a jogging trail with fitness stations and a 600-seat amphitheatre.

Lookout Tower




The Lookout Tower is 32.4 metres high; it gives visitors a panorama view over Tolo Harbour, the Tai Po Industrial Estate and the rugged countryside stretching back to the boundary with mainland China.

The plaques of the Lookout Tower depict the history of Tai Po, includes, the struggle with British army when they were entering the New Territories, the heroic resistance against Japanese army during the Occupation and the prosperity after the World War II.

Gallery

Statue Square

Statue Square is a public pedestrian square in , Hong Kong.

History


The square was built at the end of the 19th century. The idea of a square of statues dedicated to royalty was conceived by Sir Catchick Paul Chater.. It derives its name from the fact that it originally contained the statue of , as the square's name in Chinese testifies. The statue of Victoria was ordered to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the monarch in 1887, should never have been made in bronze, but in marble, an error that wasn't picked up until the bronze statue was almost completed. . A statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, the chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was unveiled on February 24, 1906. These statues , together with the two bronze lions in front of the HSBC building, were displaced to Japan to be melted by the occupying Japanese during World War II.

After the war the statues were brought back to Hong Kong. Sir Thomas Jackson's now stands roughly in the middle of the square, facing the Former Supreme Court Building. Queen Victoria's statue was placed in . The two lions are now again in front of the HSBC building. The bronze statue of George V, also removed by the Japanese, was lost and never replaced after the war.

Since the 1980s, there has been a tradition for thousands of Filipina to congregate in and around Statue Square every Sunday . A parallel tradition has since been developed in for domestic servants in Hong Kong.

Surrounding buildings


The HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building is located along its southern side. It stands at the location of the old . The Former Supreme Court Building, now housing the is located along the eastern side of the square. Prince's Building is located along the western side of the square.

The square was initially bordered by Victoria Harbour on its northern side, but following land reclamation, it is now separated from it by Edinburgh Place, which houses the Star Ferry pier, among others.

Gallery

Shek Kip Mei Park

Shek Kip Mei Park is an urban park located in Hong Kong and located near an area famed for temporary housing built on a hill side. It is one of the largest parks in Sham Shui Po.

Facilities


There is an Indoor Sports Centre with a Fitness Room, Activity Rooms, and a Children Playroom.

Amenities include an Outdoor Artificial Climbing Wall, Tennis Courts, Children's playground, Fountain, Artificial waterfall, Amphitheatre, Mini-soccer pitch with colour-coated hard surface, 2 colour-coated basketball courts, Jogging track with fitness stations and a Rest garden.

There is a natural grass rugby-cum-soccer pitch with a spectator stand for 1,446 viewers.

Sham Shui Po Park

Sham Shui Po Park is a park in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is located at Lai Chi Kok Road, adjacent to Sham Shui Po Park Swimming Pool and Ka Ling School of the Precious Blood. It is accessible from Lai Chi Kok Road and Yee Kuk Street.

Memorial


The park is close to the former Sham Shui Po Camp. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945, the camp was used for prisoners of war. Many of them died in the camp.

Inside the park, several trees were planted 26 August 1989 by Hong Kong Prisoners of War Association in memory of the soldiers who died during the Battle of Hong Kong and in the prison during that period.

Furthermore, two maple trees were planted by Hong Kong Veterans Association of Canada in 5 December 1991 in memory of Canadian soldiers who died in the detention camp.

Crows


In the early 2000s, the park and surrounding areas attracted many crows to resite to cause much nuisance to residences nearby. The first wave of bird flu outbreak of type H5N1 at the time aroused much concern to the community.

Sai Ying Pun Park

Sai Ying Pun Park is a small parkette in Hong Kong Island.

Penfold Park

Penfold Park is a famous public park managed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in , Hong Kong.

The park is located in the centre of the Sha Tin Racecourse with a gross area of over 20 acres. It features green areas, as well as pools used by various waterbirds. People around the area often go there to have a walk. There are many painted horse statues and artworks. It is closed during horse racing days and Mondays.

During the years after SARS, there have been a few slight bouts of bird flu, and the man-made lakes have been closed a few times to reduce the chance of visitors contracting the diseases. The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced that Penfold Park would be closed from the end of July 2007 to April 2008 for the construction of training facilities for the 2008 Olympic equestrian events.

North District Park

North District Park is a public park situated between Sheung Shui and Fanling in , Hong Kong. Sheung Shui Centre and Sheung Shui Town Centre are located near its northern side, and adjacent to its southeastern border is the village Fanling Ching Wai.

Nam Cheong Park

Nam Cheong Park is an urban park in Sham Shui Po area of Kowloon.

Morse Park

Morse Park , occupies 15.8 hectares , is an urban park located in Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon.
It was competed in 1967. The Park was named after Sir Arthur Morse , the head of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation during and after World War II.

History


The ''Hong Kong Golden Jubilee Jamborette'' , was held between 1961-12-27 and 1962-01-02, celebrating the Golden jubilee of Hong Kong Scouting with theme ''One World'' . At Kowloon Tsai, now named Morse Park, the Jamboree hosted 2732 Scouts in the challenging winter with heavy rain.

In 1996, the landscaping of the park was awarded the Award of Merit of the Green Project.

Blake Pier Pavilion


The pavilion of the was later transferred to the open-air oval theatre in Morse Park. In 2006, the pavilion was once again transferred to the new Stanley Pier next to Murray House.

Facilities


Tropical Palm Garden


More than 80 trees of 23 palm species are grown on the 2,000 square-metre lawn of the Park's tropical palm garden, the only one in the city.

Arboretum


More than 100 trees of 30 rare species are grown on a 2,700 square-metre lawn in the Arboretum of the Park.

List of urban public parks and gardens in Hong Kong

Most of the public parks and gardens are managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Urban public parks and gardens in Hong Kong include:



Hong Kong Island


* Aberdeen Promenade
*
* Chai Wan Park
* Chater Garden
* Cheung Kong Park
* Choi Sai Woo Park
*
*
* Hong Kong Park
* Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
* King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong
* Sai Ying Pun Park
* Statue Square
* Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, Sheung Wan
*
* Victoria Peak Garden

Kowloon and New Kowloon


* Fan Shui Park, Kowloon Tong
* Fa Hui Park

* Hoi Sham Park
* Hutchison Park, Hung Hom
* King George V Memorial Park, Kowloon
*
* Ko Shan Road Park, To Kwa Wan
* Kowloon Park
* Kowloon Tsai Park
* Kowloon Walled City Park
* Lai Chi Kok Park
* Morse Park
* Nam Cheong Park
* Sham Shui Po Park
* Shek Kip Mei Park
* Sung Wong Toi Park
* Tung Chau Street Park, Sham Shui Po
* Urban Council Centenary Garden

New Territories


* Penfold Park - in the middle of Shatin racecourse
* Sha Tin Park - in Sha Tin New Town
* Tsing Yi Park - on Tsing Yi Island
* Central Kwai Chung Park
* Ma On Shan Park
* North District Park
* Po Hong Park
* Po Tsui Park
* Shing Mun Valley Park
* Tai Po Waterfront Park
* Tin Shui Wai Park
* Tsing Yi Promenade
* Tsuen Wan Park
* Tsuen Wan Riviera Park
* Tuen Mun Park
* Yuen Chau Kok Park
* Yuen Long Park

Kowloon Tsai Park

Kowloon Tsai Park is one of two parks located in the Kowloon City area of Kowloon.

Kowloon Park

The Kowloon Park is a large public park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. The park is managed by Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

History


The park was formerly a site of Whitfield Camp barracks for British force with a battery on its west side.

In 1970, Urban Council redeveloped the site into the Kowloon Park.

Part of the site was occupied in the construction of the MTR from 1975 - 1978.

"Golden Mile" controversy


The Government was criticised when the approved plans in 1982 for a strip of retail premises fronting Nathan Road to be carved into the hill of Kowloon Park.

The move was first proposed when the Barracks were converted into public open space in 1970, and ignited some controversy. It was opposed by the Urban Council, as well as the moslem community, whose was close by.

The rights for the development of the 5,410 sq metre strip were sold in February 1983 to a subsidiary of New World Development for $218 million

Facilities


Tree walk


There is a tree walk located next to the Rose Garden.

Stone Wall Trees


There are some growing on the walls adjacent to aviary pond in Kowloon Park.

Museums


One preserved historic barrack, Block S58, is used as a godown of Hong Kong Museum of History. Three other of the former barracks are used as museums:

''Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre''



Blocks S61 and S62 of former Whitfield Camp are "Grade III historical buildings" which were constructed in circa 1910. They are a pair of identical two storied colonial military barrack blocks. The roofs are pitched with Chinese tiles with tar finish. They housed the former Hong Kong Museum of History from 1983 to 1998 before the completion of the present Hong Kong Museum of History at Chatham Road South. An extension block linking the two historical barracks was constructed in the 1980s to provide more space for the museum facilities. It now houses the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre..

''Health Education Exhibition and Resources Centre''



Block S4 of former Whitfield Camp is a two-storied colonial military barrack building which is identical to Blocks S61 and S62. It nows houses Health Education Exhibition and Resources Centre.

Sporting facilities


The park houses an indoor sport center and a 50 metre swimming pool which are often used for some international sport events.

Other facilities


The former Kowloon West Battery II, which was graded as , was converted into a children's adventure playground in Kowloon Park; it is still recognizable for what it was, however. The gun emplacements have been renovated. Naval guns have been mounted in each emplacement after they were discovered at a construction site at Chatham Road in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1980.

Gallery

Ko Shan Road Park

Ko Shan Road Park is a small park located in To Kwa Wan district of Kowloon. Perched on a hill, the park is home to the Ko Shan Theatre.

Ko Shan Theatre


The Ko Shan Theatre, first opened in 1983, was designed as a 3,000-seat semi-open air theatre.
It was suffered from inclement weather and noise problems because of its design. An improvement project of the Theatre was approved in 1994 and it was re-opened in October 1996 after being refurbished.

Facilities


It includes a threatre with 1,031 seats, a Committee Room and two Rehearsal Rooms.

Opening Hours


Venue opening hours: 9am - 11pm daily
Box office: 10am - 6:30pm
The box office operates up to 30 minutes after curtain up for the evenings with events.

King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong

King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong is an urban park in Sai Ying Pun and one of the few parks in Hong Kong bearing the former colonial links to the territory's past.

The park contains a basketball court, a hard surface football ground, sitting out areas, a public toilet, and a child care centre. Access is available from Eastern Street and Hospital Road.

Sai Ying Pun Community Complex is located near the park.

History


There are two King George V Memorial Parks in Hong Kong. One is on the Hong Kong Island while the other is located in .

In 1936, the one on Hong Kong Island was built. In the same year, King George V left the world and the Hong Kong government renamed the park King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong.

In 1940, the Memorial Park in Kowloon, King George V Memorial Park, Kowloon, was built; it is located beside Canton Road. Administrator Norman Lockhart Smith hosted the ceremony for this park. It had a statue of in the center of the park. During the Japanese occupation, facilities were destroyed. Three Chinese styled kiosks were built after WWII.

Proposed Development



In March 2004, the MTR changed the planned location of the Sai Ying Pun station back east but south of the initial alignment to under King George V Memorial Park. A source from MTR Corporation Limited revealed to the local newspaper Ming Pao that this location was chosen to avoid any nuisance during works under major roads. The location would also better suit the needs of Mid-Levels residents, the MTR said. Part of the Park will be closed temporarily to the public for the duration of the construction.

Gallery


The photos of the gallery was taken in the King George V Memorial Park ON Hong Hong Kong Island.

Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest zoological and centres in the world.

It is located at Mid-levels, on the northern slope of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong and has been opened to the public since 1871. It is a venerable park and was previously named ''Ping Tao Garden'' . Bing Tau literally means the head of the soldiers or the Commander-in-Chief. Some said it was named such way by the Chinese because it was once the private garden of the governor. Other said Bing Tau was just the phonetic transliteration of the first two syllables of the word ''botanical''. In the old days, many lovers liked to go there on a date.

A bronze statue of King George VI was erected in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of British colonial rule over Hong Kong .

Similar to Hong Kong Park, Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens provides a natural environment and atmosphere in Central District. It is bigger than Hong Kong Park and contains more plants, birds and facilities.

Plants



There are more than 1,000 species of plants in the gardens, mostly indigenous to tropical and sub-tropical regions. It includes some rare species like the Dawn Redwood and the local Ailanthus. Besides these, some species which can produce flowers throughout the year can also be found there, like the Hong Kong Orchid Tree.

Different Species are grown in the Thematic gardens in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.

Bamboo Garden


This garden grows about 20 species from 7 genera of Bamboo family.

Camellia Garden


More than 30 species are grown in this garden.
Crapnell's Camellia , Grantham's Camellia and Hong Kong Camellia are native to Hong Kong.

Some introduced rare species such as Yunnan Camellia and Golden Camellia can also be found in this garden.

Magnolia Garden


This garden grows 5 species of Magnolia:
* Chinese Magnolia
* Yulan
* Purple Magnolia
* Saucer Magnolia
* Southern Magnolia .

Palm Garden


This garden grows over 30 species under 22 genera of the .

Bauhinia Garden


This garden grows 8 species including Hong Kong Orchid Tree , Purple Camel's Foot and Camel's Foot Tree .

Azalea Garden


This garden grows over 10 Azalea species including Red Azalea , Lovely Azalea , Purple Azalea and White Azalea , those are native to Hong Kong. There are also rare species such as Yellow Azalea and Westland's Rhododendron .

Herb Garden


Various species of herb are grown in the garden.

Greenhouse


Various species of Orchids, Ferns, Bromeliads, Vines and Carnivorous Plants are grown in the Greenhouse.

Animals


Apart from the plants, there are over 600 birds, 70 mammals and 40 reptiles, including many different species.

Mammals & Reptiles


The size of the Garden precludes the keeping of very large Mammal species such as elephants or giraffes. Nevertheless the collection of primates is varied, including such diverse creatures as the Golden Lion Tamarin, orangutan and Ring-tailed Lemur. The reptiles are primarily snakes and turtles such as the Malaysian Giant Turtle, Chinese Alligator, and Burmese Python.

Birds


Birds include the Red-crowned Crane, Flamingo and Peacock Pheasant.The small brick buildings that house some of the smaller birds were once staff quarters for Chinese workers at the park. These were recently renovated, resulting in the destruction of a row of disused Victorian gas lamp posts, probably the last remaining such row in Hong Kong, and possibly in East Asia.

Transport


All parts of the Garden are free to the public. The main entrance is located at Upper Albert Road.

Hoi Sham Island

Hoi Sham Island , also called To Kwa Wan Island , is a former island in Kowloon Bay off the coast at an urban and bay of To Kwa Wan of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.

The island was famous for the Hoi Sham Rock and Fishtail Rock , and was believed to be a place of good Feng Shui. A Hoi Sham Temple was originally located on the island.

Upon of the bay of To Kwa Wan in the 1960s, the island was connected to the urban To Kwa Wan area, and was converted into Hoi Sham Park in 1972 with the Fishtail Rock preserved. The temple has been relocated to Pak Kung Street in the area.

Hong Kong Park

Hong Kong Park is a public park, located next to Cotton Tree Drive, in Central, Hong Kong, China.It covers an area of 80,000 m? and is an example of modern design and facilities blending with natural landscape.

History


Part of the site was known as Cantonment Hill in early colonial days in 1841. At the upper part of the former location of the , built between 1867 and 1910, the barracks were handed to the government in 1979, which turned the area into the present park. Hong Kong Park was open to public in May 1991. It covers an area of 8 hectares and is an outstanding example of modern design and facilities blending with the natural landscape.

Historic Buildings


* Flagstaff House , since 1984 housing the Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware

A few historic buildings of former were also conserved in the park, including:
* Cassels Block , former barracks for married British officers. Now housing the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre since 1992
* Rawlinson House , former house of the British Deputy General, converted in the 1980s into Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry and the Office of the Park.
* Wavell House , former quarters for married British officers, conerted in 1991 into the aviary support centre .

These historic buildings are graded as Grade II Historic Buildings.

The park can be easily reached by walking through the Pacific Place and its nearby escalator.

Facilities



Hong Kong Park captures the natural landscape in the busy and crowd business centre and provides a relaxing environment. Its main feature is Edward Youde Aviary which is the Hong Kong's largest aviary while the Vantage Point is another great place to see the "bird exhibition". Moreover, inside the Hong Kong Park, there is a greenhouse which holds "plant exhibition" such as "Orchid Exhibition" temporarily. There are also many modern gardens, including Garden Plaza and Garden. In order to suit the sport-lovers, a sport centre and a centre were also built in Hong Kong Park.

Awards


* The design of the park won Honour Award for Urban Design of Hong Kong Chapter, the American Institute of Architects. ,

* The Park was awarded as one of the Top Ten Buildings of the 90s by a building journal in March, 2000.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park , originally named Western Park, is a waterfront park in the Sai Ying Pun district on Hong Kong Island and faces the famed Victoria Harbour. It is the only park in Hong Kong to be named for a historic figure.