The City of Victoria

When E and I first visited London 12 years ago, each of us bought a copy of the Oxford English Reference Dictionary. Back home when I checked out the entry on Hong Kong which states that the capital of Hong Kong is Victoria, I was so disappointed (I had believed that the Dictionary was the second best to Britannica which we could not afford) and thought necessary to write a letter to the editors to correct their mistake. As a Hongkonger I was not aware that we had a capital at all. If anything, Victoria is the name of our Habour and Park, but not the capital, if there were one.

As it turns out that, I was, as always, quite wrong. Once upon a time Victoria was the de facto capital of Hong Kong. The Apple Daily has a feature on the Boundary Stones of the City of Victoria. Indeed, Schedule 1 to the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance, Chapter 1 of the Laws of Hong Kong, defines the boundaries of the City of Victoria:-

On the north-The Harbour; 

On the west-A line running due north and south drawn through the north-west angle of Inland Lot No. 1299 and extending southwards a distance of 850 feet from the aforesaid angle; 

On the south-A line running due east from the southern extremity of the western boundary until it meets a contour in the vicinity of the Hill above Belchers 700 feet above principal datum, that is to say, a level 17.833 feet below the bench-mark known as "Rifleman's Bolt", the highest point of a copper bolt set horizontally in the east wall of the Royal Navy Office and Mess Block Naval Dockyard, and thence following the said contour until it meets the eastern boundary; 

On the east-A line following the west side of the Government Pier, Bay View and thence along the west side of Hing Fat Street, then along the north side of Causeway Road to Moreton Terrace. Thence along the west side of Moreton Terrace to the south-east corner of Inland Lot No. 1580 and produced in a straight line for 80 feet, and thence along the north side of Cotton Path and produced until it meets the west side of Wong Nei Chong Road on the east side of Wong Nei Chong Valley and thence to the south-east angle of Inland Lot No. 1364, produced until it meets the southern boundary.

Roughly, the West End is Sai Ning Street, Kennedy Town and the East End is Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay.