View source for Battery Path

{{Short description|Street in Central, Hong Kong}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Battery Path
| native_name             ={{native name|yue|炮台里}}
| image                   = HK Battery Path 6-1.jpg
| caption                 = Entrance of Battery Path, near the junction of [[Queen's Road, Hong Kong|Queen's Road Central]] and [[Ice House Street]]
| length_m                =
| length_ft               =
| length_mi               =
| length_km               =
| length_ref              =
| width                   =
| location                = [[Central, Hong Kong]]
| coordinates             = {{coord|22|16|47|N|114|09|34|E|type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| direction_a             = West
| terminus_a              = [[Queen's Road, Hong Kong|Queen's Road Central]]
| direction_b             = East
| terminus_b              = [[Garden Road, Hong Kong|Garden Road]]
| junction                =
| construction_start_date =
| completion_date         = 1841
}}
{{Chinese
|c=炮台里
|j=paau3 toi4 lei5
|p=Pàotái Lǐ
}}
'''Battery Path''' ({{zh|t=炮台里}}) is a [[Pedestrian zone|pedestrian-only]]<ref name=guide/> [[footpath]] located beneath [[Government Hill]] in [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]], Hong Kong.  Named after [[Murray Battery]], it stretches from [[Queen's Road, Hong Kong|Queen's Road Central]] to [[Garden Road, Hong Kong|Garden Road]].  The path is noted for many historical landmarks situated on it, most notably the [[Former Central Government Offices]], the [[Former French Mission Building]] and [[St. John's Cathedral (Hong Kong)|St. John's Cathedral]].

==History==
[[File:HK Battery Path 6-2.jpg|thumb|right|The West Wing of the [[Former Central Government Offices]] as seen from Battery Path.]]
During the [[First Opium War]], the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] occupied [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] in 1841 and one year later, the territory was ceded to them in the [[Treaty of Nanking]].  The new administration chose the site around present-day Battery Path to build its headquarters and defences.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why Government Hill needs to be conserved|url=http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/life/government-hill-738180|date=3 May 2011|access-date=7 March 2013|first=Christopher|last=DeWolf|publisher=CNN}}</ref> Construction on the path was completed in approximately 1841, at around the same time that its namesake—[[Murray Battery]]—was built.<ref name=streets>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTAZLIY3D7QC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA22|title=Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|date=1 May 2002|last=Wordie|first=Jason|pages=21–22|isbn=9789622095632|access-date=7 March 2013}}</ref> At the time, both the path and the battery were located on [[Hong Kong Island]]'s waterfront with [[Victoria Harbour]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Yt_z670d9QC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA49|title=Frommer's Hong Kong Day by Day|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=21 February 2011|last=Bond|first=Graham|pages=49|isbn=9780470945872|access-date=7 March 2013}}</ref> However, it is now situated much farther inland due to the amount of [[Land reclamation in Hong Kong|land reclamation]] that has been undertaken since its opening.<ref name=guide>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijM7Ha3zcjoC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA28|title=Exploring Hong Kong: A Visitor's Guide to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories|publisher=ThingsAsian Press|date=1 November 2009|last=Bailey|first=Steven K.|pages=28|isbn=9781934159163|access-date=7 March 2013}}</ref>

During the early twentieth century, the path was popular with and frequented daily by [[Litter (vehicle)|sedan chair]] drivers, who would take advantage of the shade provided by the [[banyan]] that lined the sides of the road.<ref name=streets/> Although the use of sedan chairs ceased after the 1960s, the trees remain in the same place.<ref name=guide/><ref name=streets/>

==Description and features==
From its western end, Battery Path begins at the junction between [[Queen's Road, Hong Kong|Queen's Road Central]]<ref name=war>{{cite news|title=Hong Kong's Second World War|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703730804576318591756167096|date=12 May 2011|access-date=8 March 2013|first=Euan|last=McKirdy|newspaper=Wall Street Journal}} '''{{subscription required}}'''</ref> and [[Ice House Street]].<ref name=streets/> It separates from the main thoroughfare through a series of stairs elevating the path above Queen's Road;<ref name=war/> the stairs are located next to the West Wing of the [[Former Central Government Offices]].  The next landmark on the route is the [[Former French Mission Building]].  Located on 1 Battery Path, this [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] building currently houses the [[Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong)|Court of Final Appeal]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Former French Mission Building, Battery Path, Central – Declared Monuments|url=http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_37.php|access-date=8 March 2013|work=Antiquities and Monuments Office|publisher=Government of Hong Kong|archive-date=16 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216065244/http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_37.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> The path ends at the [[Intersection (road)|intersection]] with [[Garden Road, Hong Kong|Garden Road]], where [[St. John's Cathedral (Hong Kong)|St. John's Cathedral]] is located.<ref name=war/>

==See also==
* [[List of streets and roads in Hong Kong]]
* [[Murray Battery]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Battery Path}}
{{Central, Hong Kong}}
{{HKislandroads}}
{{Portal bar|Hong Kong|British Empire|Roads}}

[[Category:Central, Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Government Hill]]
[[Category:1841 establishments in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Roads on Hong Kong Island]]
[[Category: Odonyms referring to a building]]