Chronicle / 1910s
1910s — Hong Kong milestones
14 checked, dated milestones (1910 to 1918). Each entry carries the date, the fact and a primary official source; 14 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 · 1910 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。
1910
The East Rail Line (formerly the British Section of the KCR) begins service.
Memory The East Rail's forerunner, the KCR British Section, opened on 1 October 1910; its Tsim Sha Tsui terminus clock tower became a landmark, declared a monument in 1990.
Background In 1910 the East Rail Line's forerunner, the British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, entered service, linking Kowloon with the New Territories and onward to the border. The British Section opened on 1 October 1910, its Tsim Sha Tsui terminus clock tower becoming a landmark that was declared a monument in 1990. The railway greatly improved the movement of people and goods between the New Territories and the urban area, forming an early backbone of land transport. The official record gives only the year 1910 for the start of service.
Source Railway Network (July 2022)（Transport and Logistics Bureau） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1910 · 上環（金銀業貿易場）
The Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society is founded, a leading platform for gold trading in Hong Kong.
Memory A traders' society mainly of Chinese merchants dominating Hong Kong's gold market, linked to international gold prices.
Background The Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was founded in Sheung Wan in 1910 as a traders' guild made up mainly of Chinese merchants, and it has long dominated gold trading in Hong Kong. As a leading platform for dealing in precious metals locally, its gold prices are linked to international gold prices. Its establishment reflected Hong Kong's place in regional gold and silver trade at a time when such commerce was important to the economy. The society remains associated with the city's bullion market.
Source Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange: history（Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1910-03-16 · 薄扶林（香港大學）
Construction of the University of Hong Kong's main building begins at Pok Fu Lam.
Memory The University opened in 1912; the main building was declared a monument in 1985.
Background Construction of the University of Hong Kong's main building began at Pok Fu Lam on 16 March 1910, marking the start of the first comprehensive university campus in Hong Kong. Before this, students who wanted a university education generally had to study overseas. The university formally opened in 1912 and began providing higher education in the city. The main building was later declared a monument in 1985, standing as a record of the establishment of Hong Kong's higher education system and remaining a landmark of the university.
Source HKU: the early years（The University of Hong Kong） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1910-10-01 · 尖沙咀
The Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) opens, linking Kowloon and Lo Wu.
Memory The British Section ran via Sha Tin, Tai Po and Fanling to the Lo Wu border — the first rail artery between Kowloon and the New Territories, later electrified.
Background The Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) opened on 1 October 1910, linking Kowloon and Lo Wu; because the Tsim Sha Tsui terminus was not yet built, an interim station was set up in a Kowloon wharf godown. The line ran via Sha Tin, Tai Po and Fanling to the Lo Wu border, the first rail artery between Kowloon and the New Territories. It was progressively electrified and became a key foundation for transport in the New Territories.
Source Kowloon–Canton Railway history（Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1911 · 油麻地（廣華醫院）
Kwong Wah Hospital opens as the first Chinese hospital in Kowloon and the New Territories, and the first Tung Wah hospital to offer western medicine.
Memory Founded by the Tung Wah Group, it was the first Chinese hospital in Kowloon and the New Territories and pioneered Western medicine there.
Background Kwong Wah Hospital opened in Yau Ma Tei in 1911 as the first Chinese hospital in Kowloon and the New Territories. It was founded by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and was the first of its institutions to introduce Western medicine. Before it opened, the region lacked a comparable hospital for Chinese residents, so Kwong Wah provided nearby Western and charitable medical care. Reflecting the group's tradition, it combined the treatment of patients with relief for the poor, and formed part of the group's wider charitable network serving the Chinese community.
Source HA: Kwong Wah Hospital（Hospital Authority (Kwong Wah Hospital)） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1911-03-30 · 中西區
The University of Hong Kong is founded, the territory's first comprehensive university.
Memory Formed from bodies including the Hong Kong College of Medicine and first housed in Sai Ying Pun, it was Hong Kong's first university.
Background The University of Hong Kong was founded on 30 March 1911, formed from bodies including the Hong Kong College of Medicine and first housed in Sai Ying Pun in Central and Western District, making it the territory's first comprehensive university. Before it, Hong Kong had no degree-granting university; its establishment built a full system of higher education and trained local talent for medicine, education and the public service, laying the foundation for higher learning in the city.
Source HKU: Stories of HKU (university history)（The University of Hong Kong） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1911-06-19
The old General Post Office opens at the corner of Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road.
Memory The old GPO building was demolished in 1976; the site later became the World-Wide House, and the space was needed for the MTR Central station.
Background The old General Post Office building opened on 19 June 1911 at the corner of Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road, serving as Central's postal hub. As the government's main postal building, it reflected the growth of Hong Kong's entrepôt trade and communications needs. The building was demolished in 1976; the World-Wide House was later built on the site, and the cleared land also served the construction of MTR Central station. Postal service was one of the public services the government provided early on, and siting the headquarters in Central matched the growth of the commercial and administrative core there.
Source History of the old General Post Office（Hongkong Post） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1912-07-12 · 尖沙咀（油尖旺區）
The Hong Kong Observatory is granted royal title on 12 July 1912, becoming the Royal Observatory Hong Kong.
Memory Granted the royal title by King George V for its meteorological and time services in 1912, it reverted to the Hong Kong Observatory after the 1997 handover.
Background The Hong Kong Observatory, based in Tsim Sha Tsui, provided meteorological observations and time signals for the colony, serving shipping and the wider public. On 12 July 1912 it was granted the royal title by King George V in recognition of its weather and time services, becoming the Royal Observatory Hong Kong. The title reflected its standing within colonial administration. After the 1997 handover, the institution reverted to the name Hong Kong Observatory, which it still uses in daily life today.
Source History of the Hong Kong Observatory（Hong Kong Observatory） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1913 · 大埔區
The Chinese-style Tai Po Market railway station building is constructed, later a railway museum.
Memory The old station house has a Chinese-style pitched roof; after the station moved in 1984 it became the Hong Kong Railway Museum.
Background Built in 1913, the old Tai Po Market station house has a Chinese-style pitched roof and was one of the stops on the British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. After the station moved to a new site in 1984, the old building was converted into the Hong Kong Railway Museum. Preserving early railway architecture and rolling-stock relics, it helps later generations learn about the history of New Territories railways and is one of the few surviving old station buildings.
Source HKRCH: Tai Po Market Station building (1913)（Commissioner for Heritage Office） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1913 · 油麻地石龍街（油尖旺區）
Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market, originally a government vegetable market, is built in 1913.
Memory Converted from shelters to permanent red-brick stalls in the 1920s-30s; still a fruit wholesale hub; grade II 2009.
Background The Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market stands on Shek Lung Street and was built by the government in 1913, originally as a vegetable market. In the 1920s and 1930s it was converted from temporary shelters into permanent red-brick buildings. It gradually became the main fruit wholesale market in Yau Ma Tei and is still a fruit wholesale hub in Hong Kong today. In 2009 the Antiquities Advisory Board confirmed it as a grade II historic building.
Source Antiquities Advisory Board: Results of the Assessment of 1,444 Historic Buildings（Antiquities Advisory Board） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1916 · 中西區（些利街）
The Jamia Mosque is completed on Shelley Street in 1916, Hong Kong's oldest mosque, declared a monument in 2017.
Memory On Shelley Street in Central beside the Muslim cemetery, it has long been the main place of worship for Hong Kong's Muslim community.
Background The Jamia Mosque was completed on Shelley Street in 1916 and is the oldest mosque in Hong Kong. Standing in Central beside the Muslim cemetery, it has long served as the main place of worship for the local Muslim community. It is one of several places of worship that long stood in the Central district. The Antiquities and Monuments Office records that it was declared a monument in 2017, and its survival reflects the spread of religious buildings across the Island in the pre-war years.
Source AMO: Jamia Mosque assessment report（Antiquities and Monuments Office） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1916-03-28 · 尖沙咀
The Kowloon–Canton Railway terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui opens.
Memory The terminus moved to Hung Hom in 1975; the main building was demolished in 1978, leaving only the clock tower.
Background The Kowloon–Canton Railway terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui opened on 28 March 1916; its building was finished as early as 1915 but delays to equipment during the First World War prevented it from opening on schedule. The Tsim Sha Tsui terminus was once the Kowloon end of the railway. The terminus moved to Hung Hom in 1975 and the main building was demolished in 1978, leaving only the clock tower. The clock tower that survives today is a landmark on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront and the only part of the station building retained.
Source AMO: Declared monuments in Kowloon（Antiquities and Monuments Office） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1917-09-24 · 中環（中國銀行）
The Bank of China opens an office in Hong Kong, forerunner of BOCHK, which obtained note-issuing rights in 1994.
Memory BOCHK is one of the three note-issuing banks; it was reorganised in 2001 and listed on HKEX in 2002.
Background On 24 September 1917 the Bank of China opened an office in Hong Kong. At a time when local banking was long dominated by foreign institutions, the arrival of a bank with state capital behind it marked a shift in the financial landscape. This office became the forerunner of BOCHK, which gained note-issuing rights in 1994 and stands among the three note-issuing banks; after a 2001 reorganisation it listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2002. The episode traces a city moving from entrepôt trade toward a financial centre.
Source Bank of China (Hong Kong): history and milestones（Bank of China (Hong Kong)） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
1918 · 中環（東亞銀行）
The Bank of East Asia is incorporated in Hong Kong, a long-established locally listed bank.
Memory Founded in 1918 by Chinese businessmen including Kan Tong-po, Li Koon-chun, Fung Ping-shan and Chow Shouson, it was one of the few Chinese-owned banks before World War II.
Background The Bank of East Asia was incorporated in Hong Kong in 1918. Promoted by Chinese businessmen such as Kan Tong-po, Li Koon-chun, Fung Ping-shan and Chow Shouson, it pooled local merchant capital. Before the Second World War local banking was largely foreign-run, and BEA was one of the few Chinese-owned banks, showing how a rising Chinese merchant class began founding its own institutions to serve the local community. It went on to become a long-established locally listed bank, and Chinese capital gradually took a firm place in the market.
Source BEA company profile（The Bank of East Asia） · official publication
Chinese original & citation →
