Ticking in Time to History
The tall Clock Tower is an imposing red brick and granite structure 44 meters high, with a 7 meter lightning rod on top. There is a wooden staircase inside the tower that takes you to the top of the tower. Though generally open to visitors wishing to reach the top, it is presently closed for maintenance purposes. The Clock Tower is close to the Victoria Harbor at the foot of Salisbury Road and also near the famous landmark, the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier. Since 1990, the Clock Tower has been listed as a declared monument in Hong Kong.
The plan to construct the Kowloon-Canton railway took shape in 1904, and the first railway was inaugurated on 1st October, 1910. But the construction of the station began only in 1913, with its terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui. Construction was halted midway, due to World War, which prevented British materials from being shipped on time. The Clock Tower and the surrounding part of the station was finally completed in 1915, and the whole station completed only by 28th March 1916.
The new Clock Tower was fixed with the clock from the Pedder Street Clock Tower that had been demolished. This meant that the Clock Tower had a clock only on one side. The other sides were fitted with clocks in 1920 which started operating from the afternoon of 22 March 1921. They have been ticking ever since, except for a brief disruption during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II.
The next change came with the moving of the Kowloon Station to the newly reclaimed land on Hung Hom Bay, and was named the Hung Hom Station, as it is known till today. Despite severe opposition, protests and petitions from the Heritage Society as well as other pressure groups, the station building was demolished. To appease the opposing segments, the Clock Tower was preserved and in place of the station, the Hong Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Cultural Center were constructed.
The bell that was part of the Clock Tower now lies in the railway depot at Ho Tung Lau.
Within the Clock Tower area, you'll find many things to discover and explore and by staying at a Hong Kong hotel nearby, you can enjoy several days of sightseeing without tiring out. The Eaton Hotel Hong Kong is worth staying at, as it offers excellent amenities and services for the modern traveler.
Related Tags: attractions, hong kong attractions, hong kong clock tower, kowloon-canton railway clock tower, landmarks eaton hotel
Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing agency
that offers integrated Internet marketing solutions and specializes in serving the online travel and hospitality industry. (http://www.emarketingeye.com/ )
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