Lyndhurst Terrace is a street in the 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...

 area of 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...

. Built on a slope in southern Central district, the terrace links Hollywood Road

Hollywood Road

Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.Hollywood Road is filled with trinket and antique shops of all sorts: from Chinese furniture to porcelain ware, from Buddha sculptures to Tibetan rugs, from Japanese netsukes to Coromandel screens, from Ming...

 and Wellington Street

Wellington Street, Hong Kong

Wellington Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is a straight road running downward and westward from Wyndham Street to Queen's Road Central. The two sides of street is a mosaic of old and new buildings. Varieties of trades can be found on the street level...

. In the middle it meets Gage Street

Gage Street

Gage Street is a street in Central, Hong Kong. It is on the lower hill and between the junction with Cochrane Street and Lyndhurst Terrace, Graham Street and Aberdeen Street. The street is mainly a market.It is named after William Hall Gage.-See also:...

 and Cochrane Street

Cochrane Street

Cochrane Street is a hilly street between Queen's Road Central and the junction with Gage Street and Lyndhurst Terrace in the Central, Hong Kong...

, and also the Central-Mid-Levels escalators

Central-Mid-Levels escalators

The Central–Mid-levels escalators in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The entire system covers over 800 metres in distance and elevates over 135 metres from bottom to top...

.

Name

The terrace was named after John Singleton Copley Lyndhurst, an Assistant Magistrate. The Cantonese name 擺花 (pai fa) literally means "flower arrangement", possibly because of presence of numerous stalls in the area in the mid-19th century, selling flowers to the customers of the nearby brothels.

History

Lyndhurst Terrace and the surrounding area were the location of some of the earliest brothels

Prostitution in Hong Kong

Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organized prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment , causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation....

 established in Hong Kong, in the mid-19th century. Western prostitutes concentrated there, while Chinese brothels were located in the Tai Ping Shan

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...

 area near Po Hing Fong. They gradually moved to Possession Street

Possession Street

Possession Street is a street in Sheung Wan, from Queen's Road West to Hollywood Road, on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The street marks the boundary of Queen's Road West and Queen's Road Central....

 and relocated to Shek Tong Tsui

Shek Tong Tsui

Shek Tong Tsui is a town in Sai Wan on the north shore of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it belongs to the Central and Western District....

 in 1903. The name of the street appears in this context in James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

's Finnegans Wake

Finnegans Wake

Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...

, published in 1939.

The original Site of Xing Yan Lou Western Restaurant (杏讌樓西菜館) was located at 2 Lyndhurst Terrace. The restaurant was a historical meeting place for Dr Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

 when he was studying at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese

Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese

The Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese was the first college in Hong Kong to fully adopt and accept Western medical science practices...

, from where he graduated in 1892, and a refuge for revolutionaries outside Hong Kong, who took part in the failed "1895 Guangzhou uprising" (廣州起義) against the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 in Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

. The site, located at the intersection with Pottinger Street

Pottinger Street

Pottinger Street is a street in Central, Hong Kong. It is also better known as the Stone Slabs Street by the locals, after the granite stone steps which are a rarity nowadays in Hong Kong. The street was named after Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong.-Location:The street was...

, is part of the Central and Western Heritage Trail

Central and Western Heritage Trail

The Central and Western Heritage Trail is a Heritage Trail in Hong Kong, that was designed by the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.It covers the Central and Western District of Hong Kong and consists of 3 parts:...

 and the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail

Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail

The Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail was set up in November 1996 by the Central and Western District Council to commemorate the 130th birthday of Sun Yat-sen. It includes 15 spots in the areas of Central and Sheung Wan in Hong Kong, related to the life of Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries in...

. It is now occupied by a commercial building (8 Lyndhurst Terrace).

Tai Cheong Bakery

The Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家) first opened at Lyndhurst Terrace in 1954. Their egg tart

Egg tart

The egg tart or egg custard tart is a kind of custard tart pastry commonly found in Hong Kong and other Asian countries, which consists of an outer pastry crust that is filled with egg custard and baked...

s gained fame when Chris Patten

Chris Patten

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC , is the last Governor of British Hong Kong, a former British Conservative politician, and the current chairman of the BBC Trust....

, the last 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...

, called them "the best Egg Tarts in the world". It later received intense media attention when it closed in May 2005, citing increasing rent, reaching HK$ 80,000 per month. It reopened at another location in the street in September 2005 and went on to open several new outlets across Hong Kong.