Tai Ping Shan Street

Tai Ping Shan Street is a street marking the early colonial history in Hong Kong. Located at the north slope of Victoria Peak in Sheung Wan, the street starts east from a ladder street at the junction with Bridges Street and end west in Po Yan Street near Tung Wah Hospital. The street runs parallel to Hollywood Road.

Tai Ping Shan Street

Tai Ping Shan Street. Kwong Fook Tsz is visible on the right
Native name	太平山街 (Yue Chinese)
Location	North slope of Victoria Peak
East end	Bridges Street
West end	Po Yan Street

Tai Ping Shan Street
Traditional Chinese	太平山街
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Taai pìhng sāan gāai Jyutping Taai3 ping4 saan1 gaai1

Its junction with Po Yan Street near Tung Wah Hospital

Its junction with Square street and Kui In Fong

Today, Tai Ping Shan Street is well known for its contemporary art, with plenty of pop-up galleries and other specialty retailers offering their wares to shoppers passing by.^[1]

History

Tai Ping Shan (太平山) is an alternative name to Victoria Peak, and literally means "Peace Hill". After the cession of Hong Kong Island from Qing China to the British in the 1840s, British forces made garrison here and later the government relocated all Chinese residents in Choong Wan to the area surrounding Tai Ping Shan Street.

The Chinese writer Wang Tao wrote in 1860 that the street was full of brothels: "gaudy houses, sporting brightly painted doors and windows with fancy curtains".^[2]

In May 1894, the bubonic plague, which had been ravaging China, erupted and caused massive deaths in the area during the 1894 Hong Kong plague. The Hong Kong Government soon implemented a series of measures including cleaning of street, demolishing residences to build Blake Garden, and establishing the Bacteriological Institute.

The street's population soared after the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of China in 1900.

Features

Buildings in Tai Ping Shan Street include:

• Shui Yuet Kwun Yam Tong (水月觀音堂) (No. 7)
• Tai Shui Temple (太歲廟) (No. 9)
• Tai Ping Shan Kwun Yum Tong (太平山街觀音堂) (No. 34)
• Kwong Fook Tsz (No. 40)

See also

• Description on the plague outbreak in History of colonial Hong Kong
• Central and Western Heritage Trail
• First Opium War
• List of streets and roads in Hong Kong