Jardine's Lookout (Chinese: 渣甸山) is a mountain in Wan Chai District, Hong Kong with a height of 433 metres (1,421 ft).[1] It is located east of Happy Valley, south of Causeway Bay, and west of Braemar Hill and north of Tai Tam Country Park.
| Jardine's Lookout | |
|---|---|
| 渣甸山 | |
 Jardine’s Lookout from Victoria Harbour | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 433 m (1,421 ft) |
| Coordinates | 22°16′5.772″N 114°11′32.784″E / 22.26827000°N 114.19244000°E |
| Geography | |
  Jardine's Lookout Location of Jardine's Lookout in Hong Kong | |
| Location |  Hong Kong |
| Jardine's Lookout | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 渣甸山 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Jardine Mountain | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
A low-density, high-end residential area called Jardine's Lookout can be found between Wong Nai Chung Gap and Mount Butler. The residential area of Jardine’s Lookout consists of thirteen roads named after famous British persons during Hong Kong’s colonial times. Addresses on Tai Hang Road, Tai Hang Drive and Chun Fai Road are considered to be Tai Hang Mid-levels or Happy Valley, not Jardine’s Lookout.[2]
Jardine's Lookout is surrounded by several other hills including Mount Nicholson, Violet Hill and Mount Butler.
History
editJardine's Lookout is named after William Jardine, founder of Jardine Matheson. It was from here, in the days of the sailing ships, that a watch was kept for the first glimpse of the sails of the firm's clippers coming from India and London. As soon as a vessel was signaled, a fast whaleboat was sent out to collect Jardines' mails. The correspondence was rushed back to the office so that the directors could have the first possible information on the world's markets. (This practice saved the company on at least one occasion, in 1866, when it learned of the collapse of the discount house Overend, Gurney and Company, about one hour before others did, and quickly withdrew its balances at a local bank before anyone else had heard of the news.)
Jardine's Lookout was the sight of fierce conflict in the Battle of Hong Kong and particularly, the Battle of Wong Nai Chung Gap. The Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps and Middlesex Machine gunners manned two pillboxes and other areas defending the pass around Jardine's Catchwater, as well as Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers defending the adjacent Mount Butler. Japanese forces, after landing on the North Shore of Hong Kong Island; used Sir Cecil's Ride and moved up to this pass midway up the lookout and were engaged by Commonwealth forces. The fighting was the preliminary conflict in the Battle of Wong Nai Chung Gap.
Jardine’s Lookout and Mount Butler are popular for hikers who can enjoy scenery of Victoria Harbour.[3] There are different routes to the top of the mountains and hikers often start near Hong Kong Parkview through Wilson Trail. Jardine’s Lookout Gallery Route has some of the most beautiful sceneries of Hong Kong Island.[4]
Residential area
editDue to its scenic view and low population density, Jardine's Lookout is an affluent neighbourhood with the most expensive houses in Hong Kong, with prices higher than Victoria Peak.[5] The residents of this community include highly placed expatriates, government officials and successful business people.
Although Jardine’s Lookout is commonly known as where Cavendish Heights is located at, the multi-block estate sits on the fringe of Jardine’s Lookout, on the border of Mount Butler, which is on the eastern side of block one.[6] Residential buildings such as Park Garden, Flora Garden and Elm Tree Towers on Tai Hang Drive and Chun Fai Road are considered as the upper part of Tai Hang, below Mount Butler not Jardine’s Lookout.[7][8]
Jardine's Lookout has large detached houses in private lots and more moderate townhouses on its thirteen roads. Low-rise and high-rise apartments make up the rest of the community. Houses in private lots include ones built in the 1950s which were in recent years sold to wealthy mainlanders. In 2015, Cheung Chung-kiu, Chairman of CC Land, reportedly purchased 1 Purves Road for about HK$760 million, or around HK$100,000 per square foot.[9] In 2019, Joseph Lau Luen-hung's residence at Goldsmith Road ranked the fifth as Hong Kong’s most expensive residential properties in rental value estimated by the Hong Kong Government, with an annual estimated rental value of HK$8.23 million.[10] In 2018, this house was reportedly by Apple Daily to be worth HK$2.5 billion.[11] Translating into HK$250,000 per sq. ft. based on internal floor area of around 10,000 square feet,) it is the most valuable house in Hong Kong, followed by 75 Deep Water Bay Road. In 2020, the site at 20 Perkins Road was sold for HK$850 million representing a 40 percent drop compared to previous market transactions. This price translated into over HK$82,000 per square foot compared to another site on Perkins Road in 2018 which changed hands at HK$145,000 per square foot.[12] Jardine’s Lookout has no hospitals, few public facilities, and very few local and overseas tourists. Only single detached houses can be built on private lots of most of the streets.[13][14]
Jardine's Lookout has a grocery store, deli, florists, post office and many small provisions stores. This community is conveniently linked with public transportation and well-equipped with facilities. Jardine's Lookout is only a 10-minute drive to Central and 5-minute drive to Causeway Bay, (given good traffic) where the Cross-Harbour Tunnel is located, making the travel to Kowloon easy.
Famous residents
edit- Joseph Lau Luen-hung, property tycoon[citation needed]
- Gordon Wu, property tycoon[citation needed]
- Miyakawa Michiko, wife of Chow Yei-ching, late Chairman of Chevalier Group [citation needed]
- Cheung Chung-kiu, property tycoon[citation needed]
In June 2016, the Government of Canada sold the official residence of the Consul General located at 6 Goldsmith Road.[15]
Education
editJardine's Lookout is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 12. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and the following government schools: Hennessy Road Government Primary School and Sir Ellis Kadoorie (Sookunpo) Primary School.[16]
Located on Mt Butler Drive, the Lycée Français International Victor Segalen, a French international school, maintains its Jardine’s Lookout campus, housing primary school classes.[17]
Braemar Hill Nursery School is on Chun Fai Road, on the fringe of Jardine’s Lookout.
Transport
editThere are taxis and buses that can bring residents to the main districts in Hong Kong.
Thoroughfares, roads and streets
edit- Boyce Road
- Clementi Road (not accessible by car)
- Cooper Road
- Creasy Road
- Goldsmith Road
- Henderson Road
- Moorsom Drive
- Moorsom Road
- Mount Butler Drive
- Mount Butler Road
- Perkins Road
- Purves Road
- Price Road
- Sir Cecil's Ride (not accessible by car)
- Wilson Road
See also
edit- Names related to Jardine
References
edit- ^ Bernie Owen; Raynor Shaw (2007). Hong Kong Landscapes: Shaping the Barren Rock. Hong Kong University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-962-209-847-3. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ "Elm Tree Towers｜Tai Hang Mid-Levels｜Estate Info｜Centaline Property". hk.centanet.com. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ "JARDINE'S LOOKOUT HIKE IN HONG KONG". Journey Era. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ "JARDINE'S LOOKOUT HIKE IN HONG KONG". Journey Era. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ am730 (4 February 2016). "香港哪一區最豪？". am730 (in Chinese). Retrieved 31 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Cavendish Heights – Jardine's Lookout". midland.com.hk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "Elm Tree Towers – Tai Hang Road". midland.com.hk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "Park Garden – Tai Hang Road". midland.com.hk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "Jardine's Lookout remains magnet for wealthy mainlanders". South China Morning Post. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Hong Kong's most expensive homes in rental value terms EJINSIGHT – ejinsight.com". EJINSIGHT. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "【渣甸山大業主】大劉高士美道大屋 1億升至25億 ｜ 蘋果日報". 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "Luxury Site Huge Price Drop".
- ^ am730 (4 February 2016). "香港哪一區最豪？". am730 (in Chinese). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 周顯大師資料庫 (18 January 2017). "周顯: Harbour View豪宅 世界最貴". 周顯. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Canadian consulate sells luxury Hong Kong home, but not to fugitive Joseph Lau". South China Morning Post. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ "POA School Net 12" (PDF). Education Bureau. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ "Une éducation d'excellence pour tous". French International School (in French). 10 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
