Hollywood Road - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hollywood Road is a street in Central

Central, Hong Kong

Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...

and Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District...

, on Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Hollywood Road is filled with trinket and antique shops of all sorts: from Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

furniture to porcelain ware, from Buddha sculpture

Buddharupa

Buddharūpa is the Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism for statues or models of the Buddha.-Commonalities:...

s to Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an rugs, from Japanese netsuke

Netsuke

Netsuke are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function...

s to Coromandel screen

Coromandel Screen

A Coromandel Screen is a wooden folding screen coated in dark lacquer that is carved before being painted with gold or varied colors. Some may be decorated with precious stones....

s, from Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

ceramic horsemen and kitsch Maoist

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

memorabilia. The street runs between Central

Central, Hong Kong

and Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District...

, with Wyndham Street

Wyndham Street

Wyndham Street is a one-way street in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of the earliest colonial streets, once known as Pedder Hill.It starts at the junction with Hollywood Road and Arbuthnot Road, near the Central Police Station, and heads downhill to terminate at Queen's Road Central, near the...

, Arbuthnot Road

Arbuthnot Road

Arbuthnot Road is a thoroughfare in Hong Kong's Central District. The road begins at the site of the former colony's first official home of the British justice, the Central Magistracy. The Central Magistracy, located at No. 1 Arbuthnot Road, is a declared monument of Hong Kong...

, Ladder Street

Ladder Street

Ladder Street is a street in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, consisting entirely of stone steps.One of the most visited temples in Hong Kong, the Man Mo Temple, is on Hollywood Road at the corner of Ladder Street....

, Upper Lascar Row

Upper Lascar Row

Upper Lascar Row, better known as Cat Street , is a narrow alley in Mid Levels, Hong Kong that runs parallel to Hollywood Road on the north side. It is a straight alley measuring over 509 feet. "Lascars" were seamen from South Asia, and particularly from the Indian subcontinent, who frequented the...

, and Old Bailey Street

Old Bailey Street

Old Bailey Street is located in Central, Hong Kong. The name is derived from the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court in central London, United Kingdom....

in the vicinity.

Hollywood Road was the second road to be built when the colony of Hong Kong was founded, after Queen's Road Central. It was the first to be completed. The Man Mo Temple was a place for trial in very early years.

Name

Hollywood Road was put up early in 1844, before the more famous Hollywood in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

was settled. It was probably named by Sir John Francis Davis

John Francis Davis

Sir John Francis Davis, 1st Baronet KCB was a British diplomat, Sinologist, and the 2nd Governor of Hong Kong. He was the son of Samuel Davis and nephew to William Thomas Mercer .-Early career:John Davis was appointed writer in East India Company's factory at Canton in 1813...

, the second Governor of Hong Kong

Governor of Hong Kong

The Governor of Hong Kong was the head of the government of Hong Kong during British rule from 1843 to 1997. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions...

, after his family home at Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol, England. Another origin mentioned for the name is that holly shrubs were growing in the area when the road was constructed. Such plants were not indigenous to the area and would have been imported.

History

Like most major roads in the early years of the colony, Hollywood Road was built by the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

. More than 100 years ago, Hollywood Road was rather close to the coastline. In those days, foreign merchants and sailors would put up the antiques and artefacts they "collected" from China for sale here on their way back to Europe. This is how Hollywood Road began its role as an antique market. The 1960 Hollywood film The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute...

was shot in part in Hollywood Road. An old wood-built building was re-constructed as a bar for the movie.

The Union Church

There was a Union Church in the street founded in 1844 by the Reverend James Legge

James Legge

James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...

, a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

who had been sent to Hong Kong in 1843 by the London Missionary Society

London Missionary Society

The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...

. The first Union Church was built in 1845 on Hollywood Road above Central. Every Sunday an English language service was held in the morning and a Chinese language service in the afternoon. The Church was later relocated to a new site on Staunton Street

Staunton Street

Staunton Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Together with the upper section of Elgin Street, it is the heart of the Soho entertainment area, featuring a number of restaurants, bars and shops...

Man Mo Temple

A Man Mo Temple or Man Mo Miu is a temple for the worship of the civil or literature god Man Tai / Man Cheong （文昌） and the martial god Mo Tai / Kwan Tai . The two gods were popularly patronized by scholars and students seeking progress in their study or ranking in the civil examinations in the...

or Man Mo Miu (文武廟) is a commonly sort of temple worshipping the Man Tai (文帝), Pau Kung and Mo Tai (武帝), Kwan Yu, to pray for good results in examinations in China. The one on the Hollywood Road was built in 1847. It has been managed by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals , with a long history from 1870, is the oldest and the largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. Their education Services and Community Services to the community with a total of 194 service centres spreading over the territory of Hong Kong.Although it appears a...

since 1908. It is it is a declared monument

Declared monuments of Hong Kong

Declared monuments of Hong Kong are places, structures or buildings legally declared to be "protected". In Hong Kong, declaring a monument requires consulting the Antiquities Advisory Board, the approval of the Chief Executive as well as the publication of the notice in government gazette.As of 12...

Central Police Station

Central Police Station was the first police station in Hong Kong. The oldest structure within the compound is a barrack block built in 1864. It is a three-storey building constructed alongside Victoria Prison (see below). A storey was later added to the mass in 1905. In 1919, Headquarters Block facing Hollywood Road was constructed. Subsequently in 1925, the two-storey Stable Block was constructed at the northwest end of the procession ground and later used as a munitions store. The Police Station accompanied by the former Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison form a group of historical architecture representing law and order in Hong Kong.

Hollywood Road Art District

Previously known solely for antique shops, Hollywood Road has recently developed into a contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

district in Hong Kong. The first gallery to open was Plum Blossoms in 1987. It was followed by the opening of Connoisseur Art Gallery in 1989 and Zee Stone Gallery in 1991. Para/Site Art Space, the first non-profit in the area, moved to Sheung Wan in 1997. 2000 brought the opening of the Asia Art Archive

Asia Art Archive

Based in Hong Kong, Asia Art Archive , a non-profit organization and registered charity, is dedicated to documenting the recent history of visual art from the region within an international context...