Mong Kok

Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District, on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The Prince Edward area occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.

Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterized by a mixture of old and new multi-story buildings, with shops and restaurants at street level, and commercial or residential units above. Major industries in Mong Kok are retail, restaurants (including fast food) and entertainment. It has been described and portrayed in films as an area in which triads run bars, nightclubs, and massage parlors. With its extremely high population density of 130,000/km² or 340,000 per square mile, Mong Kok was described as the busiest district in the world by the Guinness World Records.

Name

Until 1930, the area was called Mong Kok Tsui (芒角咀). The current English name is a transliteration of its older Chinese name 望角 (Jyutping: mong⁶ gok³; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧]), or 芒角 (Jyutping: mong⁴ gok³; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨˩ kɔːk˧]), which is named for its plentiful supply of ferns in the past when it was a coastal region. Its present Chinese name "旺角" (Jyutping: wong⁶ gok³; IPA: [wɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧]), means "prosperous corner" or "crowded corner."

Mong Kok (disambiguation)

Mong Kok may refer to:

Mong Kok East Station

Mong Kok East Station (Chinese: 旺角東站), formerly Yaumati Station (Chinese: 油蔴地車站) and Mong Kok Station (Chinese: 旺角車站), is a station on Hong Kong's East Rail Line. Only out-of-system interchange is available with Kwun Tong Line and Tsuen Wan Line at Mong Kok Station via a footbridge.

The station, initially named Yaumati Station, was constructed on 1 October 1910 to cope with the opening of the British Section of Kowloon-Canton Railway. The station was later renamed as Mong Kok Station. In 1983, the station was rebuilt. A temporary station was in use just to the south (towards Hung Hom) during reconstruction. After the takeover of KCR operations by the MTR Corporation on 2 December 2007, the station was renamed to Mong Kok East Station because the MTR-KCR merger caused a name conflict with Mong Kok Station on the Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong lines.

Although the station is in the same region and quite close to Mong Kok Station, the fares are quite different from each other.

Mong Kok Station

Mong Kok is a rapid transit station on the Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan Lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong. One of the first stations of the network to open, it is now used by more than 200,000 passengers daily. The colour scheme for Mong Kok is dim red. It was first opened as Argyle, after Argyle Street.

Location

Mong Kok Station is located in the neighbourhood of the same name in Kowloon, along Nathan Road at the intersection with Argyle Street. Important nearby places include the Grand Century Place, Langham Place, and the Pioneer Centre.Mong Kok East Station is about 500 metres to the northeast.

History

Mong Kok Station opened on 31 December 1979, originally serving as part of the Kwun Tong Line. When the Tsuen Wan Line opened in 1982, this station became an interchange station of the two lines.

The station was originally named Argyle after Argyle Street, a major cross street, during the planning stage and early years of operations. The name was changed to Mong Kok on May 31, 1985, when the Island Line was opened.