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British Hong Kong

1841 establishments in Hong Kong1841 establishments in the British Empire1997 disestablishments in Hong Kong19th century in Hong Kong20th century in Hong Kong
British Hong KongChina–United Kingdom relationsConcessions in ChinaEngvarB from August 2014Former British colonies and protectorates in AsiaFormer countries of the Cold WarHarv and Sfn no-target errorsHistory of Hong KongHong Kong and the Commonwealth of NationsHong Kong–United Kingdom relationsStates and territories disestablished in 1941States and territories disestablished in 1997States and territories established in 1841States and territories established in 1945United Kingdom-centric
Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997)
Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997)

British Hong Kong was a colony and dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period under Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. The island was ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Nanking, ratified by the Daoguang Emperor in the aftermath of the war of 1842. It was established as a Crown colony in 1843. The colony expanded to include the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War. Hong Kong's territory was further extended in 1898 when the British obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories. Although China ceded Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in perpetuity, the leased New Territories comprised the vast majority of the total area. Britain did not see any viable way to divide the colony, while the People's Republic of China would not consider extending the lease or allowing British administration thereafter. With the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which states that the social and economic systems in Hong Kong would remain unchanged for 50 years, the British government agreed to transfer the entire territory to China upon the expiration of the New Territories lease in 1997.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article British Hong Kong (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

British Hong Kong
Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road, Hong Kong Island The Peak (Central and Western District)

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 22.266666666667 ° E 114.15 °
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Address

薄扶林水塘道 Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road

Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road
Hong Kong Island, The Peak (Central and Western District)
Hong Kong, China
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Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997)
Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997)
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Peak Church
Peak Church

The Mt. Gough Peak Protestant Church, also called the Peak Church (or Peak Chapel) was a Protestant chapel of ease in the Peak District of Hong Kong Island and held its first service in June 1883. It was "... an unpretending structure in the similitude of a jelly mould ..." which explains its affectionate nickname The Jelly Mould. Sunday Services were in the late afternoon (4:30 or 5:30 pm). The first three Sundays was a Church of England service, with a Presbyterian service on the fourth. 50 years later - in the 1930s, the only regular Anglican service was 7:30 on Thursday, but the church was regularly used by the Scandinavian Mission to Seamen.The last service was held on Christmas Day, 1941 - the day Hong Kong was surrendered to the Japanese. The sermon was given by Rev. Charles Higgins. His wife, Mary Atkinson Tyng Higgins, may have been the woman who took the cross from the Peak Church to Stanley Internment Camp where it was used during services in camp during the war. The cross is still in use at St. Stephen's Chapel in Stanley. Peak Church was destroyed by a shell during World War II and not rebuilt. Rev. Johan Nielsen, the Norwegian Seamen's Mission pastor who had been holding services there up until the Japanese attack, tells of finding the building "blown to bits," with nothing left but ninety hymnals. Its lease expired in 1958 and, lacking church endowments, parish and congregation, it was decided to return the land to the Government, give the cross to St. Stephen's College and the font to be used in another church. The location, Rural Building Lot 23, is now a public playground near the Peak Fire Station on Peak Road opposite Bluff Path (Chinese: 百祿徑). The records of the Peak Church are held by the Hong Kong Public Records Office.

The Peak Hotel
The Peak Hotel

The Peak Hotel was a hotel at upper terminus of the Peak Tram in Hong Kong. It started as a bar and restaurant, and a hotel with twenty bedrooms for summer visitors opening about the same time as the Peak Tram, in 1888.About 13 years earlier, in 1875, N.J. Ede had built a house named Dunheved on the property. In 1881, Alexander Findlay Smith, a Scottish former railway man, had petitioned for the right to introduce a funicular railway to Hong Kong. The Peak Tram was built and began operations in 1888. About the same time, Findlay Smith bought Dunheved from Ede, and reopened it as the Peak Hotel; Ede and his family moved next door. After the Peak Tram opened, Findlay Smith quickly put the Peak Hotel on the market. It was sold and completely rebuilt into an imposing three-story building, reopening in 1890. It boasted of commodious and well-appointed accommodation, and the hotel was deservedly popular. Later, another story was added to make it four stories, and then a two-story annex with views down to Pok Fu Lam was built. A further addition doubled the size of the annex and added a third story. The hotel commanded views of the city and Victoria Harbour in one direction, and of Pok Fu Lam facing Lamma Island in the other. In 1922, the hotel was bought by the owners of the rival Hongkong Hotel for HK$600,000. The hotel's poor construction led to further deterioration. It closed in 1936, and in 1938 its fate was finally sealed by a fire. Today, the Peak Hotel's former site is occupied by The Peak Galleria complex.