Public Square Street
Encyclopedia
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
, Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population 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...
. The street runs in an east-west alignment from Cliff Road to Ching Ping Street, meeting Nathan Road
Nathan Road, Hong Kong
Nathan Road is the main thoroughfare in Kowloon, Hong Kong that goes in a south-north direction from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mong Kok. It is lined with shops and restaurants and throngs with tourists, and was known in the post-World War II years as the Golden Mile, a name that is now rarely used...
, Temple Street
Temple Street, Hong Kong
Temple Street is a street located in the areas of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is known for its night market and one of the busiest flea markets at night in the territory. The night market is in the Yau Ma Tei, Jordan part of the street and not the Mong Kok part of the street...
, Shanghai Street
Shanghai Street
Shanghai Street is a 2.3 km long street in the Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok areas of Kowloon, Hong Kong. Completed in 1887 under the name of Station Street , it was once the most prosperous street in Kowloon. It originates from the south at Austin Road, and terminates in the north at Lai...
, Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street is a street stretching from Jordan to Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. As its name suggests, it was built on the reclaimed western shore of the Kowloon Peninsula.-Location:Reclamation Street runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road...
and Canton Road
Canton Road
Canton Road is a road in Hong Kong, linking the former west reclamation shore in Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok on the Kowloon Peninsula. The road runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road. It starts from the junction with Salisbury Road in the south and ends in the north at the...
in its course.
The public square in the street's name refers to Yung Shue Tau
Yung Shue Tau
Yung Shue Tau is the public square before Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei of Kowloon in Hong Kong. The name in Cantonese means the head of banyan indicating banyan-covered square. Yung Shue Tau is known natively but seldom written on the maps. The square is bounded by Shanghai Street, Public...
(榕樹頭), a gathering place in front of Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei. Apart from the landmarks of Yung Shue Tau and Tin Hau Temple, there are also the night market of Temple Street, historical Yau Ma Tei Police Station
Yau Ma Tei Police Station
Yau Ma Tei Police Station is a police station in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Its buildings at No. 627 Canton Road, at the junction of Public Square Street, were erected in 1922 after relocation from the junction of Public Square Street and Shanghai Street.-History:Yau Ma Tei Police Station...
, and Broadway Cinematheque
Broadway Cinematheque
Broadway Cinematheque is a cinema in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong, run by Broadway Circuit. Located in Prosperous Garden, a private housing estate, the cinema provides a wider spectrum of films than other cinemas in Hong Kong. The cinema hosts four houses with 640 seats...
. Jade Market is just a few walks away. On the other side of Nathan Road, the end near Cliff Road has steps leading to the hill of King's Park.
History
The street's original name in ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
was 公眾四方街 (Kung Chong Sze Fong Kai in Cantonese), resulting from the word square being misinterpreted as a geometric shape. The more accurate translation of 眾坊街 (Chung Fong Kai in Cantonese language)was adopted in the 1970s.
The end of the street, near present-day Ferry Street, the Yau Ma Tei Ferry Pier was one of main pier for ferry transport across Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent...
between Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
and 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...
. The pier was later relocated to Ferry Point
Ferry Point, Hong Kong
Ferry Point is an area in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was at the sea front and adjacent to Jordan Road Ferry Pier....
near Kwun Chung
Kwun Chung
Kwun Chung , or Koon Chung in early document, is an area of Hong Kong, southwest of Yau Ma Tei located in the Yau Tsim Mong District of western Kowloon Peninsula. South of the area, across Austin Road is Tsim Sha Tsui by Victoria Harbour...
.