Nam Cheong Street

Wikipedia

Nam Cheong Street
Interactive map of Nam Cheong Street
Native name南昌街 (Chinese)
NamesakeAn announcement on No. 616 of Hong Kong Government Gazette on 14 April 1961 [1]
TypeStreet
Length1.7 mi (2.7 km)
Width4 lanes
LocationSham Shui Po, Hong Kong[2]
FromLung Ping Road and Yan Ping Road
ToTung Chau Street and Boundary Street
Nam Cheong Street in 1950.
A pedestrian bridge on Nam Cheong Street linking to Shek Kip Mei Park
At Apliu Street
Shek Kip Mei Estate
Pak Tin Estate
Overlook of Sham Shui Po from Nam Cheong Street

Nam Cheong Street (Chinese: 南昌街) is a street in Shek Kip Mei and Sham Shui Po, Sham Shui Po District, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It begins in the north at Lung Ping Road and Yan Ping Road in Shek Kip Mei and terminates in the south at Tung Chau Street and Boundary Street in Sham Shui Po. At first, it was known as Nan Chang Street,[3] and later Nanchang Street.[4]

Etymology

Nam Cheong Street takes its name from Nanchang, a city in China. Most streets in Sham Shui Po are named after Chinese cities.[4] A map from 1920 showed new urban development in Sham Shui Po, with a section of the street from Apliu Street to the reclamation frontage of Tung Chau Street named Nan Chang Street. At the seafront junction, it was also intended to connect with the junction of Boundary Street and Chung King Street in Fuk Tsun Heung.[3]

Its Cantonese and current English names are very similar to that of Chan Nam Chong (Cantonese: 陳南昌), a tycoon and philanthropist in Hong Kong. There has been some speculation attributing the name’s origin to him, although this is not supported by historical records.[5][6]

A section of Nam Cheong Street at Ki Lung Street has wholesale, retail, ribbon, and zipper shops. Therefore, it is called lace street.

Parkone (Chinese: 南昌一號; lit. 'No. 1 Nam Cheong'), Nam Cheong Estate, Nam Cheong station, Nam Cheong Place (南昌薈, formerly Fu Cheong Shopping Centre 富昌商場) and Nam Cheong Park are all named after the street. Apart from Parkone, all of these features are located south of the southern end of Nam Cheong Street.

History

Nam Cheong Street was laid out in the 1920s,[7] although its appearance in a 1920 map suggests that it might be earlier.[3] The British obtained a lease for the New Territories from Imperial China in 1898. British Kowloon was poised for expansion across the boundary into the New Kowloon. In 1906, the Hong Kong government began constructing a new town, Sham Shui Po, adjacent to Fuk Tsun Heung, through reclamation. The works were completed in the 1910s, including the construction of Nam Cheong Street.[8]

Overview

Nam Cheong street features many old Chinese-style buildings and shops. From Un Chau Street to Tung Chau Street, there are only six parking spots among its two lanes.

The section from Wai Lun Street to Cornwall Street is a big slope. There is also a Transport Department center at Nam Cheong Street.

Redevelopment

Developers had already acquired or own tenement buildings/tong lau and would demolished them and turn them into luxury residential or commercial buildings. Buildings currently under construction are Parkone, Nam Cheong Street and Berwick Street and Yiu Tung Street etc. The view of the street has changed over time.

Features

Features from south to north include:

Intersections

"The Prince Near You" (Chinese: 南昌街王子, "The Prince of Nam Cheong Street") is a song by Fiona Sit composed and written is Terence Lam and Wyman Wong, respectively. There are not a lot of new buildings in this street. Most are tenements or tong lau. This is why The Prince in Nam Cheong Street may not live in a castle.

See also

References

  1. 地政總署 - 憲報圖則KRM67
  2. 《香港特別行政區政府憲報》,2016年3月18日 第1597號政府公告
  3. 1 2 3 Map of the Kowloon Peninsula (including portion of New Kowloon) (New Territories) Colony of Hong Kong (Map). Crown Lands and Survey Office, Public Works Department. 1920.
  4. 1 2 第1297號公告,香港政府憲報第87卷第67期,1941年10月31日。
  5. 獅子山下隱世史南昌街有個陳南昌 Archived 2020-03-16 at the Wayback Machine,《蘋果日報》,2006年11月3日
  6. 何國標 (2012-06-03). "唔抵得錯 考證求真". 明報. Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  7. 1 2 "Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.aab.gov.hk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  8. "圖說香江:1986年的南昌街 - 香港文匯報". paper.wenweipo.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  9. Antiquities Advisory Board. List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings with Assessment Results Archived 2020-01-26 at the Wayback Machine

22°19′59.0766″N 114°9′59.94″E / 22.333076833°N 114.1666500°E / 22.333076833; 114.1666500