Kowloon Park

Kowloon Park is a large public park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It has an area of 13.3 hectares (33 acres) and is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

History

The park was formerly the site of the Whitfield Barracks of the British Army, with a former battery (Kowloon West II Battery) in the northwestern part of the Park.

The Urban Council redeveloped the site into the Kowloon Park in 1970. The first stage of the park was officially opened on 24 June 1970 by the then Governor of Hong Kong, Sir David Trench.

Part of the site was occupied in the construction of the MTR from 1975 to 1978, and this was cited as a reason for the slow progress in developing the remaining three stages of the park for recreational use.

The Government was criticised when the Executive Council approved plans in 1982 for a strip of retail premises fronting Nathan Road to be carved into the hill of Kowloon Park. The move was first proposed when the Barracks were converted into public open space in 1970, and ignited some controversy. It was opposed by the Urban Council, as well as the Muslim community, whose mosque was close by. The rights for the development of the 5,410 square metre strip were sold in February 1983 to a subsidiary of New World Development for $218 million. The commercial development is called "Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard". Owing to the grade change, the roofs of the shops are level with the ground of Kowloon Park, and so the gardens extend onto the building rooftops.

Kowloon

Kowloon (/ˌkaʊˈluːn/; Chinese: 九龍; Jyutping: gau²lung⁴; Hong Kong Chinese: Giu³lung²) 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, the mountain range including Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km² in 2006. Kowloon is located north of Hong Kong Island and south of the mainland part of the New Territories. The peninsula's area is approximately 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi). Together with Hong Kong Island, they contain 48 percent of Hong Kong's total population.

The systematic transcription Kau Lung or Kau-lung was often used in derived place names before World War II, for example Kau-lung Bay instead of Kowloon Bay. Other spellings include Kauloong and Kawloong.

History

The name Kowloon stems from the term Nine Dragons, which refers to eight mountains and a Chinese emperor: Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest and Emperor Bing of Song.

Kowloon Station (MTR)

Kowloon is a station on the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express of Hong Kong's MTR. The station provides in-town check-in service for passengers departing from the Hong Kong International Airport and free shuttle bus services to most major hotels in the Tsim Sha Tsui and Yau Ma Tei areas.

The station is located less than a kilometre west of Jordan Station on the Tsuen Wan Line.

Escalators link Elements directly with the station concourse.

History

The station was designed by TFP Farrells. During the planning stage, it was called West Kowloon Station (Chinese: 西九龍站).

On 16 September 2000, the new shopping mall "Dickson CyberExpress" (Chinese: 迪生數碼世界) was opened by Dickson Poon. The size was 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) spread over four levels of the station with six shopping areas. However, the mall did not have the expected volume of customers and business was weak. After half a year, the mall shrank its size. The mall management company planned to decrease the level of the mall from 4 levels to 3 levels and to combine some of the shopping areas. Business remained poor due to sparse population near the station and a recession at that time. The mall finally closed its operation in 2005.

Kowloon (disambiguation)

Kowloon is an urban area that is part of Hong Kong, China.

Kowloon may also refer to:

Places

Kowloon, Hong Kong