Name(English): Victoria Park
Name(Chinese): 維多利亞公園
Category: Culture and History
Address(English): 1 Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
Address(Chinese): 銅鑼灣興發街1號
Address Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/BvDQ4WjUitzuMQrr5
Address longitude and latitude: 22.282589785533112, 114.18867007529055
Nearest MTR Station: Tin Hau MTR Station Exit A2
Nearest MTR Station Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/8H4fbcQiVxMis8Pi6
Nearest MTR Station longitude and latitude: 22.282620038561394, 114.19175798362372
How far from the nearest MTR Station: 5 mins from Tin Hau MTR Station Exit A2
Opening Hours:
MON 00:00 – 23:59
TUE 00:00 – 23:59
WED 00:00 – 23:59
THU 00:00 – 23:59
FRI 00:00 – 23:59
SAT 00:00 – 23:59
SUN 00:00 – 23:59
Recommended Time to Visit: Day time or protest day
Accessibility Note: need to walk up staircases
Located right next to the Causeway Bay shopping district, Victoria Park is the largest park in Hong Kong Island. Not only is it a recreation venue for citizens, but also a place for exhibitions, sports and political assemblies. It’s a park filled with collective memories for all walks of life.
Causeway Bay was literally a “bay” 70 years ago, a typhoon shelter. Similar to the other flat lands in Hong Kong, the park is built on reclaimed land which materials included the construction waste from the WWII.
The 6 hard-service soccer pitches at the main entrances of the park is occupied with different kinds of activities throughout the year. For example the Lunar New Year Fair, Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo. You must have also seen images and footages about demonstrations in Hong Kong. Here, we are at the assembly and starting point of all large-scale demonstrations in recent years.
As a result, Victoria Park to the locals holds a special place in their hearts. It would not be an understatement to say Victoria Park is the last frontier of Hong Kong democracy in modern China:
- Since 1990, a vigil attracting tens of thousands of people is held every year on June 4th to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Crackdown. Hong Kong is the only place under the land of China that can publicly host such event.
- On Jul 1st 2003, 500,000 protesters marched to the Legislative Council to oppose the legislation of treason and subversion against the Central People’s Government (China), leading to the step-down of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong.
- Hong Kong was under the spotlight again on Jun 9th 2019. More than one million of protesters (1/7 of HK population) marched to the Central Government Complex in opposition to the Extradition Bill to China.
- After the government refused to withdraw the Extradition Bill, more than two million protesters gathered on Jun 16th 2019 to express their anger against the decision. This was the beginning of months long protest in Hong Kong in 2019.
As listed in Hong Kong Constitution, the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of assembly, procession and demonstration. It is this very freedom, differentiates Hong Kong’s civic society from that of China. Knowing what you know on Hong Kong – China Relationship, what will the future of Hong Kong like twenty years later?
To answer these questions, we hereby invite you to come and talk to the people of Hong Kong. Then finally, YOU as an outsider, shall be able to judge from the view of a Hong Konger.
Welcome to Hong Kong.
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