Soho, Hong Kong
Encyclopedia
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...
is an entertainment zone located 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 bordering 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...
, within 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...
. The name is derived from its location: South of 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 it arguably extends up to and including Robinson Road
Robinson Road, Hong Kong
Robinson Road is a 2-lane, bi-directional road on the Mid-levels, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. In the east, it is connected with the Magazine Gap Road and Garden Road, and in the west with Babington Road and Park Road, Robinson Road is quite long. With Central-Mid-Levels escalator, it also...
.
History
The Central-Mid-Levels escalator was built in 1993; the now vibrant character of Soho is attributed to the creation of the escalator system, which at the time was the longest escalator system in the world. Prior to the escalator construction, the area was populated by many elderly locals, old go-downs and porcelainPorcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
shops.
The area now consists of restaurants, bars
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
, nightclubs, art galleries and antique stores of Staunton Street and Elgin Street. Soho also is home to the first fulltime comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong
The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong
The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong is a venue for stand-up comedy and improvisational comedy located at 34 Elgin Street, basement, Central, Hong Kong. Founded in February 2007 by Jami Gong, a leading Chinese American stand-up comedian, TakeOut Comedy is the first fulltime comedy club in Asia...
. Hong Kong taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
drivers usually regard "Soho" to mean either 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...
or Elgin Street
Elgin Street, Hong Kong
Elgin Street is located in Central, Hong Kong. It was named after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin. One of the earliest streets in Hong Kong, it was also known as "Mud Street" by the locals, as the street became very muddy in rainy days in the old days....
.
Buildings in the Soho area are a mix of commercial/residential, with the commercial businesses on the lower floors, and residential above the First Floors. Around the same time the Mid Levels Escalator was built, a few foreigners started to move into the area, taking up both commercial premises and renting flats. At the time the flats were cheaper than other expat areas in Hong Kong, and only a few minutes' walk from the business district.
The name Soho was first mentioned in a 1996 article in the South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000....
newspaper attributed to Elgin Street restaurant owner, Thomas Goetz, who came up with the acronym. Goetz was also instrumental in forming Soho's first business group, and The Soho Association Limited (TSAL) was established in 1998 to represent its members in relation to difficulties they were experiencing with the local government departments in relation to licencing, and to collectively promote the area. The first Chairman was Jean-Paul Gauci, who had opened many businesses in the area.
However, in 2000, Democratic Party member Kam Nai-wai wanted to see Soho formally re-named the "Elgin/Staunton Street Themed Dining Area", and Kam and some long-term residents associated the name Soho with being a place of disrepute, with red light district associations. The irony is Elgin Street was known in the 1860s as "Hung Mo Giu Gai," or "Foreign Girls Street," due to the vast number of European-staffed brothels. It was renamed after Lord Elgin, British envoy to China, during the Second Opium War (1857–1860). For several years the Democratic Party fought an ongoing battle against the new bars and restaurants in the area, and also against formal adoption of the name "Soho", preferring instead the descriptive "Staunton/Elgin Street Themed Dining Area" so as not to associate the area with alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption may refer to:* Alcohol consumption by youth in the United States* Alcoholic beverage* Legal drinking age* List of countries by alcohol consumption* Long-term effects of alcohol* Short-term effects of alcohol...
. The name "Soho" could also cause association with the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
area of the same name
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
.
Like much 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...
, this district treads a precarious balance between preserving the Chinese and colonial culture that shaped it, and recent modern developments. The escalator is a quintessential symbol of modernity which has encroached on the residential neighbourhood, bringing with it expats and the bars, cafes and boutiques which help cocoon some from Cantonese traditions.
The contrast between the past and present enriches the area and makes for great sightseeing on foot. The newly signposted Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail guides visitors along 16 points of historical interest from The University of Hong Kong to Central, taking in century old steps and leafy residential lanes. Unfortunately, most of the sites from Dr Sun's past have long been razed, replaced by concrete skyscrapers that are characteristic of 21st century Hong Kong. Even the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum
Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum
Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum is a museum in Hong Kong. It is located in Kom Tong Hall , at 7 Castle Road, Central. After the preparation work undertaken by the Hong Kong Museum of History, the museum was opened on December 12, 2006, so as to commemorate the 140th birthday of the influential Chinese...
's grandiose facade off Caine Road is easy to miss, perched as it is upon Castle Road which turns up through Mid-levels
Mid-levels
Mid-levels is an expensive residential area on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is located halfway up Victoria Peak, directly above Central...
, surrounded by modern blocks.
Nowhere is the contrast more apparent than on the northern edge of Soho, on 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...
itself where the brand new multistorey Centre Stage upscale residential complex towers alongside the historic Man Mo Temple
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...
.