Praya was a term used in Colonial Hong Kong

Colonial Hong Kong

In the 19th century the British, Dutch, French, Indians and Americans saw Imperial China as the world's largest untapped market. In 1840 the British Empire launched their first and one of the most aggressive expeditionary forces to claim the territory that would later be known as Hong Kong.In a few...

 to refer to a promenade by the waterfront. The name comes from the Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 term for the broad stone-faced road that runs parallel along the harbour in front of the city. HSBC and Dent & Co.

Dent & Co.

Dent & Co. or Dent's, was one of the wealthiest British merchant firms, or hongs, active in China during the 19th century. The company was a direct rival to Jardine, Matheson & Co...

 were just some of the major companies based in the area.

History

British occupation Hong Kong Island on 26 January 1841, and the colonial government held its first land sale on 14 June of that year. Purchasers were mostly the British, Indian and Parsee traders such as Dent, Jardines, Lindsay, etc. These traders were mainly import and export merchants and required land with frontage along Victoria Harbour.

Queen's Road

Queen's Road

Queen's Road is the first road in Hong Kong built by the Government of Hong Kong between 1841 and 1843, spanning across Victoria City from Shek Tong Tsui to Wan Chai...

, to the south, was the first road opened. The land lots acquired were subsequently much expanded and reclaimed from the sea without paying rent to the government. The first land reclamations after 1841 were private ones without any planning at all, making the shoreline very irregular.

A number of reclamation schemes took place around the time that John Bowring

John Bowring

Sir John Bowring, KCB was an English political economist, traveller, miscellaneous writer, polyglot, and the 4th Governor of Hong Kong.- Early life :...

 served as the Hong Kong Governor. Hence many of the major Praya areas were named after him. The long names are usually "Bowring Praya East", "Bowring Praya Central" for example.

Praya West

The Praya Reclamation Scheme

Praya Reclamation Scheme

The Praya Reclamation Scheme was a large scale reclaimed land project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in Colonial Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick.-Early proposal:The project was first proposed in 1855...

 began in 1868 in this area. It was completed in 1873, adding significant land to Praya West and Central. Praya west is now Des Voeux Road West.

Praya East

The Praya East area went through a series of land reclamation

Land reclamation in Hong Kong

Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...

 projects. The earliest series was known as Praya East Reclamation Scheme

Praya East Reclamation Scheme

Praya East Reclamation Scheme was a large scale land reclamation project in Colonial Hong Kong lasting from 1921 to 1931 under Sir Catchick Paul Chater.-Proposal:...

. The filled in area is known as today's Johnston Road

Johnston Road

Johnston Road is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It spans from the junction with Heard Street, Hennessy Road and Stewart Road are at its east towards another junction with Hennessy Road and Queensway at its west near Asian House...

 and Hennessy Road

Hennessy Road

Hennessy Road is a thoroughfare on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It connects Yee Wo Street on the east in Causeway Bay, and Queensway on the western end in Wan Chai.The road is named after John Pope Hennessy, the Governor of Hong Kong between 1877 and 1882....

 in Wan Chai

Wan Chai

Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...

. The Hong Kong Tramways

Hong Kong Tramways

Hong Kong Tramways is a tram system in Hong Kong and one of the earliest forms of public transport in Hong Kong. Owned and operated by Veolia Transport, the tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Shau Kei Wan and Kennedy Town, with a branch circulating Happy Valley...

 first opened its service in 1904 in Praya East.

Roads and areas

There are four waterfront roads in Hong Kong that still retain the name praya:

• Aberdeen Praya Road
  Aberdeen Praya Road
  Aberdeen Praya Road is a road in Aberdeen on the southern Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. The road runs along the Abredeen harbour and is adjacent to Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market and Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery...
  
   (香港仔海旁道)

• Cheung Chau Praya - roadway that lines the southwest part of the island; the street is lined with buildings for most of the route facing the island's inner harbour

• Kennedy Town Praya (堅尼地城海旁) - a short roadway from about Collinson Street westwards to Sand Street in Kennedy Town
  Kennedy Town
  Kennedy Town is at the western end of Sai Wan on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It was named after Arthur Edward Kennedy, the 7th Governor of Hong Kong from 1872 to 1877...
  
  . The eastern end of the street becomes Des Voueux Road West, itself formerly called Praya West. Reclamation projects have made the roadway landlocked.

• New Praya, Kennedy Town (新海旁街) - located north of the Kennedy Town Praya and runs from Sand Street to west of Cadogan Street. Unlike Kennedy Town Praya, this praya is still a waterfront roadway