Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour separates Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula. Its deep, sheltered water was the main reason the British settled Hong Kong in the 1840s, and it was named after Queen Victoria.

The harbour grew into one of the busiest ports in Asia. Land reclamation on both shores over more than a century has made it much narrower than it once was, and the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance now restricts further reclamation. Several road and rail tunnels run beneath it, starting with the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in 1972.

The skyline along Central, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay on the island faces the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront in Kowloon, with Victoria Peak rising behind. The Star Ferry has carried passengers across the harbour since 1888, and its short crossing between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central or Wan Chai is one of the cheapest harbour views in the world. The Tsim Sha Tsui promenade gives wide views across the water. Every evening at 8 pm, the Symphony of Lights show uses lights and lasers on buildings along both shores. The harbour is also the setting for New Year fireworks and other celebrations.

Viewing from the promenades is free. Star Ferry fares are low and payable with an Octopus card. Harbour cruises are offered by private operators. The light show can be cancelled in bad weather.

The harbour covers about 41 square kilometres of water. Four islands lie within it: Green Island, Little Green Island, Kowloon Rock and Tsing Yi Island. No bridge crosses it, so all fixed links run underneath, including four MTR rail routes alongside the road tunnels.

Ships have used these waters for centuries. Sailing maps by the Ming admiral Zheng He, dated around 1425, appear in the seventeenth-century military treatise Wubei Zhi, and the first detailed chart was drawn in 1810 for the East India Company by Daniel Ross and Philip Maughan. In the 1850s the Victoria Recreation Club, Hong Kong's first sports club, held swimming and water polo races in the harbour.

Aviation shaped the eastern side too. The old Kai Tak Airport had its runway in the harbour, and in 1993 China Airlines Flight 605 overran it in a storm and ended up in the water, the first hull loss of a Boeing 747-400. The port still handles a huge volume of traffic: about 220,000 vessels visit each year, and the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals to the west work around the clock. For the best view of the skyline, cross on the Star Ferry after dark, then walk the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade in time for the 8 pm light show.