Statue Square

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    underground rail: Central (exit K)

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Statue Square, due south of Star Ferry pier, is divided roughly in half by Charter Rd. In the northern part, reached via a pedestrian underpass from the pier, is the Cenotaph (Greek for 'empty tomb'; 1923), a memorial to Hong Kong residents killed during the two world wars. Due west is the venerable Mandarin Oriental, which opened in 1963 and is consistently voted the best hotel in the world.

To the east the Hong Kong Club Building (1 Jackson Rd), which houses a prestigious club of that name that was still not accepting Chinese members until well after WWII. The original club building, a magnificent four-storey colonial structure, was torn down in 1981 despite public outcry and was replaced with the modern bow-fronted monstrosity there now.

The square derives its name from the various effigies of British royalty on display here that were spirited away by the Japanese during the occupation. Only one statue actually remains, a bronze likeness of Sir Thomas Jackson, a particularly successful Victorian chief manager of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank.