Chronicle / 1900s
1900s — Hong Kong milestones
5 checked, dated milestones (1901-01-25 to 1909-03-19). Each entry carries the date, the fact and a primary official source; 5 of them also carry a hand-written English memory note or background paragraph.
中文原句、引用格式同背景聲明只有中文版：見香港大事記 · 1900 年代。 本頁唔會機翻任何中文內容；缺英文欄位嘅條目會照實標明。
1901-01-25 · 九龍（中華電力有限公司成立）
China Light & Power Company Limited is incorporated in Hong Kong, becoming the main electricity supplier for Kowloon and the New Territories.
Memory Registered in 1901, CLP has mainly served Kowloon and the New Territories alongside HK Electric on the Island.
Background China Light & Power Company Limited was incorporated in Hong Kong on 25 January 1901 and later became the main electricity supplier for Kowloon and the New Territories. HK Electric, by contrast, mainly served Hong Kong Island, so the two companies came to supply different parts of the territory. CLP's establishment provided a basis for electricity supply in Kowloon and the New Territories as their population, industry and commerce grew. The two-company arrangement has largely persisted since then, and both remain the territory's main power suppliers today.
Source CLP Group: Company history（CLP Holdings Limited） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1904 · 油麻地
Kung Wo Tong is founded in Yau Ma Tei in 1904, making turtle jelly from the family recipe of Qing-dynasty Imperial Physician Yan Yi Man, becoming the originator of turtle jelly in Hong Kong.
Memory Founded by the Yan brothers using the imperial physician's secret formula, regarded as the originator of Hong Kong turtle jelly.
Background Kung Wo Tong was founded in Yau Ma Tei in 1904, when the Yan brothers began making turtle jelly from the family recipe of Qing-dynasty imperial physician Yan Yi Man. Yau Ma Tei was then a bustling Chinese neighbourhood crowded with herbal and cooling-tea shops, and Kung Wo Tong established itself in that setting and came to be regarded as the originator of Hong Kong turtle jelly. Made by simmering turtle shell with herbs, the jelly belongs to a Lingnan tradition of medicinal foods, and the business carried forward local herbal-tea and Chinese-medicine dietary customs as an enduring old brand.
Source Kung Wo Tong company profile（Kung Wo Tong） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1904-07-30
Hong Kong Tramways opens, running its first electric trams for public service.
Memory The first fleet was all single-deck; the tram has remained a continuous and iconic mode of transport along the north shore of Hong Kong Island for over a century.
Background Hong Kong Tramways opened on 30 July 1904, running its first electric trams for public service and offering the Island a new form of mass transport. The first fleet was entirely single-deck and powered by overhead cables, with fares divided into classes, serving the north shore of Hong Kong Island. Since then the tram has remained a continuous and iconic mode of transport there for over a century, witnessing changes along the waterfront.
Source Hong Kong Tramways: Our Story（Hong Kong Tramways Limited） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1907 · 鰂魚涌（東區）
The Taikoo Dockyard opens, an industrial landmark at Quarry Bay alongside the sugar refinery.
Memory Taikoo Dockyard at Quarry Bay was pre-war Hong Kong's shipbuilding stronghold, later able to build large vessels.
Background The Taikoo Dockyard opened at Quarry Bay in 1907, standing alongside the neighbouring Taikoo Sugar Refinery as an industrial landmark in the district. The dockyard later expanded its scale to build large vessels, making it pre-war Hong Kong's stronghold of shipbuilding. With shipbuilding and sugar refining concentrated at Quarry Bay, the area became an important industrial base on Hong Kong Island's eastern shore, shaping the district's later appearance and population in the decades that followed.
Source Swire: Our Journey Timeline（The Swire Group） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1909-03-19 · 旺角（油尖旺）
The Government gazettes the renaming of "Robinson Road" as "Nathan Road", which becomes the main north–south artery through Mong Kok.
Memory Renamed to honour Governor Nathan, it runs through Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po as one of Kowloon's main arteries.
Background In March 1909 the Government gazetted the renaming of the Kowloon road then called Robinson Road as Nathan Road, honouring the sitting Governor, Nathan, and avoiding confusion with the Robinson Road of the same name on Hong Kong Island. Running north to south through Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po, it is one of Kowloon's main arteries. After the change the road gradually became a core street of the Kowloon peninsula, lined by growing commerce and buildings.
Source AMO Online Article: The History of Nathan Road（Antiquities and Monuments Office） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
