Taiping peak, Hong Kong

Taiping peak is the highest point in Hong Kong, 554 meters above sea level. It is located in the northwest of Hong Kong Island and has always been a symbol of Hong Kong. It is also known as Victoria peak or La Qi Mountain. It is the most famous luxury residential area on Hong Kong Island and the first focus of visiting Hong Kong. This is the best place to overlook the view of Victoria Harbour. Whether you are romantic or not, you must arrange to enjoy the night view of Taiping mountain. When you take the cable car with an angle of 30 ° to the top of the mountain, it feels like flying.

Taiping peak

synonym

The Taiping peak in Hong Kong generally refers to the Taiping peak

Taiping peak is one of the top tourist attractions in Hong Kong. Designed by the famous British architect Terry Farrel, the Lingxiao Pavilion on the top of Taiping peak is a unique bowl shaped place for sightseeing, entertainment and shopping in Hong Kong. Its appearance is widely used by millions of postcards and photos around the world.

Come to the highest 360 degree viewing platform in Hong Kong, lingxiaoge skyscraper 428, which is full of dazzling visual experience. Standing on the invincible viewing platform at an altitude of 428 meters, you can enjoy the intoxicating city scenery in the most advantageous geographical location of Hong Kong, and have a great sense of being king in the world. In addition, Lingxiao Pavilion is equipped with LingXiao gallery and giant display boards to display precious photos of Hong Kong in the early days, so as to let the public return to the past and experience the changes of Hong Kong in the past century.

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The origin of place names

It means the mountain where the flag is hoisted. There are three origins of place names

It is said that Zhang baozai, a pirate of the Qing Dynasty, used the peak as a lookout when he occupied Hong Kong Island. Due to the common use of flag language, every time a ship comes across it, it will take the flag as the signal to inform the maritime party;

In 1842, Hong Kong was officially under British rule. In order to declare sovereignty, the British flag was hoisted on the top of the mountain;

In the early days, there was a lookout platform in majixian gorge. Whenever a ship entered Victoria Harbour, it would pull the flag on Taiping mountain as a sign.

Taiping mountain was also named Victoria Peak by the British after Queen Victoria. This is also the common name of Taiping mountain in English.

Other names of Taiping mountain include Lufeng, Mount Austin and Toushan.

history

Around 1868, sir MacDonald, the governor of Hong Kong, chose the place to build a summer villa in order to enjoy the cool and pleasant living environment of Taiping peak. As a result, moving to Taipingshan has gradually become a fashion respected by the rich and famous. At that time, when the officials and Ladies wanted to travel to and from the top of the mountain, they would hire human sedan chairs carried by sedan bearers in uniform as means of transportation. In 1904, living in Taiping mountain was officially listed as the exclusive right of the upper class and foreign embassies, which showed the extraordinary status of the peak. The system remained in use until 1947.

Taiping peak has always kept her quiet and serene away from the hustle and bustle, until 1881, there was a breakthrough development. At that time, Alexander Finley Smith, who worked on the highland railway in Scotland, proposed to the then governor of Hong Kong, sir Hennessy, to build the cable car railway on Hong Kong Island. One section connects the south side of Murray house with Victoria gorge on the top of the mountain, which is today's peak cable car.

Smith hoped that the cable car service would increase the passenger flow in the area and bring economic benefits to the peak hotel built on his own land in 1873. Unfortunately, the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1938.

Since the stable and reliable means of transportation at the top of the mountain, she has quickly become internationally famous for her commanding view of the magnificent Victoria Harbour. Today, Taiping peak attracts more than 7 million tourists every year and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong.

The Peak Tram

The peak cable car is the most enduring and representative witness of life in Hong Kong's 100 year history. This Hong Kong legend was officially unveiled to the world at the opening ceremony presided over by the governor of Hong Kong, Sir William, on May 30, 1888.

At the beginning of the operation, the price of the first-class car, the Second-class car and the third-class car was 3 cents, 2 cents and 1 cents respectively, and half price for the return journey. At that time, the cable car was still driven by steam generated by burning coal. There were 600 passengers on the first day of operation, and the passenger flow in the first year reached 150000.

1901 from 1908 to 1949, the two seats in the front of the carriage were reserved for the governor's seat. The back of the seat was inlaid with "this seat is reserved for the governor's seat". It was only opened to other passengers two minutes before driving.

In 1926, the peak cable car abandoned coal as a power source, and was officially driven by electricity.

In the 1950s, Hollywood came all the way to view the world-famous peak cable car and Taiping mountain scenery, including the movie "soldier of fate" starring Clark Gable, an international superstar. The opening and ending scenes of the movie were taken in the car of the peak cable car. The famous American TV series "love boat" is also shot in the cable car at the top of the mountain.

In 1959, the 62 seat all metal cable car was officially put into use, which is the predecessor of the fully automated car. Today, more than 4 million tourists from all over the world take the peak tram every year, with a daily passenger flow of 11000.

geographical environment

Taiping mountain has a long history and has many names. Different names refer to different areas. Geographically and historically, Taiping mountain covers a large area of hills east of Longhu Mountain, north of pofulin and west of majixian gorge. This can be confirmed by the historical documents of Taipingshan street and the buildings on the top of the mountain in Sheung Wan. Later, the foot part of Taiping mountain was divided into central and shanghuan, and developed into a central business district; the hillside part was called semi mountainous area, which was a noble residential area; the top part became the residence of rich people and some foreign leaders, and was developed into a tourist attraction in modern times. Therefore, Taiping mountain and the top of the mountain have almost become synonyms.

In Hong Kong, people often call the peak of Taiping mountain the peak or Taiping mountain. However, the general understanding of the mountain top range is not very correct geographically. Most people regard the peak station area of peak cable car as "peak". In fact, the peak station area is Lufeng gorge, and the real peak is located in the Peak Park.

On the map, the top of the mountain can be subdivided into Victoria Peak, Lufeng gorge, Gefu mountain, guanlongjiao and Qili mountain.

climate

Main attractions

Taiping peak

It is one of the major tourist attractions in Hong Kong, with a number of outdoor viewing platforms, including some of the highest viewing platforms in the urban area of Hong Kong, which are free and charged. It attracts more than 6 million people from Hong Kong and foreign tourists every year. Apart from being a shopping mall, the top of the mountain not only provides a clear view of Victoria Harbour in central and Kowloon on the other side, but also provides a panoramic view of the whole Hong Kong Island in each park itself (even if it is not at the viewing platform), which is very popular among the public and tourists. In addition, many British people have settled here in the early years, so there are many historical buildings, including the Lion Pavilion.

The top of Taiping mountain was held by friends of country parks, Lions International Hong Kong Macao 303 district and agriculture, fisheries and Conservation Department, and ranked sixth in the "top ten scenic spots of Hong Kong"

The earliest cable car cableway system in Asia

The peak cable car was officially put into service on May 30, 1888. It is the earliest cable car cableway system in Asia. Over the past 100 years, the cable car has undergone many renovation and modernization projects, from the original traditional coal-fired propulsion technology to the computer control system, and the cable car has also changed from the original wooden car to the metal car. If you are interested in the history of cable car, you can visit the "peak cable car history museum" in the station for free before boarding at Huayuan road cable station. Here are 200 precious exhibits, from which you can learn about the ancient and modern times of the peak cable car

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Taking the cable car on the top of Taiping mountain is the best way to enjoy the night view. You can get to the top of the mountain in 7 minutes by taking the cable car at the cable car terminus at Huayuan Road, central. Remember to choose the right seat near the platform to have a better view. Take the cable car down the hill and get to the garden road terminus soon.

Lingxiao Pavilion skyscraper

The Lingxiao Pavilion on the top of the mountain is designed in a very unique bowl shape, and provides a variety of sightseeing, entertainment, shopping and food experience. The skyscraper on the top floor of Lingxiao Pavilion gives you a 360 degree bird's-eye view of the scenery at the foot of the mountain: Central, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and the world-famous Victoria Harbour are full of vitality and skyscrapers.

Luigi Road

When you go down the mountain, you can choose to walk. Starting from Luji Road, walk about 20 minutes to Luji road scenic spot. Here you can see the magnificent scenery of the city and the harbor. Along the way, there are signboards to introduce the information of geology, climate, plants and common insects along the route. Continue along Lurgi road and you will soon arrive at the junction of ducketton road and Charlotte road. There are two directions to choose from, take xialidao, return to the peak square, and then take a bus or cable car back to central. In the direction of Keaton Road, continue down the hillside. Soon arrive at university road and transfer to line 13

Chinese PinYin : Xiang Gang Tai Ping Shan Ding