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. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District (occupying relatively high ground compared to Central and Wan Chai), or Gateway District (perhaps a reference to the location where the British first entered and occupied Hong Kong).

History

Sheung Wan was one of the earliest settled places by the British, and belonged to the historical Victoria City. The site of the original occupation of Hong Kong Island by British forces in 1842 was at Possession Street, between Queen's Road Central and Hollywood Road. A plaque to this effect can be found in Hollywood Road Park at the top of Possession Street. The foot of Possession Street, Possession Point, was at that time on the shoreline, but is now several hundred yards inland due to reclamation.

Geography

Sheung Wan is surrounded by Sai Ying Pun in the west, Central in the east, Victoria Harbour in the north and Mid-Levels in the south. The border of Central and Sheung Wan is along Aberdeen Street and Wing Kut Street.

Sheung Wan (constituency)

Sheung Wan is one of the 15 constituencies in the Central & Western District of Hong Kong, represented since 1994 by Kam Nai-wai of the Democratic Party in the Central & Western District Council.

The constituency is loosely based on the Sheung Wan area with estimated population of 18,726.

Boundaries

Sheung Wan constituency is roughly based on the northwestern portion of Sheung Wan area, bounded on the west by Wilmer Street, on the south by Queen's Road West and Hollywood Road, on the east by Ladder Street and Cleverly Street, and on the north by Victoria Harbour.

The entrances/exits of MTR Sheung Wan Station, which are all located east of Cleverly Street, are thus not within the boundaries of the constituency, belonging to the neighbouring Chung Wan constituency instead, as is the eastern part of the Sheung Wan where Infinitus Plaza and Wing On Centre are located. Also, the part of Sheung Wan between Hollywood Road and Caine Road belongs to the Tung Wah constituency.

Sheung Wan Station

Sheung Wan is a station of the Hong Kong MTR Island Line.

It was originally built in 1970 as Western Market but its construction was discontinued after further planning for the new lines. Upon the construction of the Island Line, the station was finally constructed and opened in May 1986. The station served as westbound terminus of the Island line up until the extension of the line to Kennedy Town, which commenced in 2014. The livery colour of this station is khaki.

Timetable

Station layout

The platforms are built under Des Voeux Road from Cleverly Street to Rumsey Street. Although platforms 1 and 2 are parallel to and directly opposite each other, there is a wall separating the two tracks giving a false impression that both platforms are separated by a long distance from each other. Both platforms are slightly longer than those on other MTR underground stations. It has been suggested that this was the result of problems in calculations during the station's construction. The former, never-completed Rumsey Station platforms of the East Kowloon Line are still located at the station (see § Rumsey Street platforms).