Building sights in Hong Kong
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A
One & Two International Finance Centre
These tapering, pearl-coloured colossi (respectively 39 and 88 storeys), which some say resemble electric shavers, sit atop the International Finance Centre (IFC) Mall. Both were partly designed by Cesar Pelli, the architect responsible for the World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan. The highest you can get is to theHong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre, which contains a library and exhibition areas related to Hong Kong’s banking history. There are half-hour guided tours (at 2.30pm Monday to Friday and at 10.30am on Saturday).
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B
St John’s Cathedral
Services have been held at this Anglican cathedral since it opened in 1849, except in 1944, when the Japanese army used it as a social club. It suffered heavy damage during WWII and after the war the front doors were remade using timber salvaged from HMS Tamar, a British warship that used to guard the entrance to Victoria Harbour. You walk on sacred ground in more ways than one at St John’s: it is the only piece of freehold land in Hong Kong. Enter from Battery Path.
The cathedral’s choir conducts evensong on the third Sunday of each month (from 6pm) from September to June. You can join them for practice (4.30pm) and worship. Call the cathedral and ask for the…
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C
Central Plaza
Central Plaza, Hong Kong’s third-tallest building, looks garish with its glass skin of three colours – gold, silver and terracotta. But it provides direct connection to Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre and Wan Chai MTR station through an elevated pedestrian footbridge.
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D
Hong Kong City Hall
The City Hall, built in 1962, is a major cultural venue in Hong Kong, with concert and recital halls, a theatre and exhibition galleries. Within the Lower Block, entered to the east of City Hall’s main entrance, the Hong Kong Planning & Infrastructure Exhibition Gallery may not sound like a crowd-pleaser, but may awaken the Meccano builder in more than a few visitors.
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E
Exchange Square
This complex of office towers is home to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and a number of corporate headquarters. The main draw is the attractive and relatively peaceful open-air space, featuring fountains and sculptures by Henry Moore and Taiwanese artist Ju Ming. Access is via a network of overhead pedestrian walkways stretching west to Sheung Wan and linked to buildings on the other side of Connaught Rd.
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F
Former Legislative Council Building
The colonnaded and domed building (c 1912) was built of granite quarried on Stonecutters Island, and served as the seat of the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2012. During WWII it was a headquarters of the Gendarmerie, the Japanese version of the Gestapo, and many people were executed here. Standing atop the pediment is a blindfolded statue of Themis, the Greek goddess of justice and natural law.
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G
Former Marine Police Headquarters
Just being completed at the time of writing, this handsome declared monument with a boutique hotel and luxury goods shops is the end result of an extensive and lengthy redevelopment of this prime site overlooking the harbour. While heritage lovers may baulk at the pretty nakedly commercial use of this 1884 historic building, at least visitors can once again get a close-up look at this site, which had been closed for years. The ship’s mast was used to hoist typhoon signals while the tower next to it used to hoist and drop a globe on a pole to mark the time for ships in the harbour.
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H
Old Tai Po District Office
Another large residential and industrial New Town, Tai Po is the springboard for excursions into Plover Cove Country Park and Pat Sin Leng Country Park. The Old Tai Po District Office was built in 1907 and is one of the oldest examples of Western architecture in the New Territories.
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I
Old Wan Chai Post Office
A short distance to the east of Wan Chai Market is this tiny colonial-style building erected in 1913 and now serving as a resource centre operated by the Environmental Protection Department.
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