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Possession Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Possession Street (Chinese: 水坑口街) is a street in Sheung Wan, from Queen's Road West to Hollywood Road, on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The street marks the boundary of Queen's Road West and Queen's Road Central.
On 25th January 1841, Charles Elliot of Britain and Kei Sin of Qing signed a Convention of Chuenpeh. A navy official Edward Belcher led a fleet to land Hong Kong. The surveryors of fleet found an elevated plain near the shore suitable for camping in the west side of the island. A road was built from the shore to the camp. The road became Possession Street later. The elevated plain is present-day Hollywood Road Garden, also known as Tai Tat Tei.
In 26th January 1841, the commander of Far East Fleet James John Gordon Bremer came to Hong Kong by HMS Calliope. A flag rise and gun ceremony marked the official possession of Hong Kong. And the landing venue was renamed as Possession Point.
The street was full of brothels until the Matthew Nathan was in office. They were relocated to Shek Tong Tsui and the premises was replaced housing. It was resulted in the golden period of Shek Tong Tsui, tong sai fung yuet (塘西風月), where wealthy Chinese merchants gathered.
The original Chinese name was 波些臣街 (Po Se Son Kai), based on the pronunciation of English name. It was later renamed to 水坑口街 (Sui Hang Hou Kai) after a nullah beside.