View source for Wan Chai District

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{{refimprove|date=November 2024}}
{{Short description|District of Hong Kong}}
{{About|the administrative district|the [[List of places in Hong Kong|area]]|Wan Chai}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Wan Chai
| native_name        = {{nobold|灣仔區}}
| native_name_lang   = zh-Hant-HK
| type               = [[Districts of Hong Kong|District]]
| image_skyline      = Wan Chai 2008.jpg
| image_caption      = [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] and high-rise buildings in Wan Chai District
| image_blank_emblem = 
| blank_emblem_type  = Official emblem
| blank_emblem_size  = 60px
| blank_emblem_alt   = 
| coordinates        = {{Coord|22.27968|114.17168|type:adm2nd_region:HK|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[China]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Special administrative regions of China|SAR]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Hong Kong]]
| leader_title1      = [[Wan Chai District Council|District Council]] Chairman 
| leader_name1       = Fanny Cheung Ngan-ling, JP<ref>{{citation|url=https://tel.directory.gov.hk/0253000029_ENG.html|title=Government Telephone Directory|access-date=5 August 2024|publisher=Government of Hong Kong}}</ref> (assumed by the district officer)
| parts_type         = [[List of constituencies of Hong Kong|Constituencies]]
| parts_style        = para
| p1                 = 1
| area_total_km2     = 10.2
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| population_note    = 
| population_as_of   = {{clarify span|2021<ref name="censtatd">{{cite web |url=https://www.census2021.gov.hk/en/main_tables.html |title=2021 Population Census - Main Tables |publisher=Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government |access-date=2025-11-21 |year=2021 |language=en, zh }}</ref>|date=November 2025}}
| population_total   = 166,695
{{bulleted list 
|75% Chinese
|9.8% Filipino 
|4.4% White}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone           = [[Hong Kong Time]]
| utc_offset         = +08:00
| website            = [http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/wc/english/welcome/welcome.html Wan Chai District Council]
| blank1_name_sec1   = Largest neighbourhood by population
| blank1_info_sec1   = [[Happy Valley, Hong Kong|Happy Valley]] (34,259 – 2016 est)<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-dp-tpu.html|title=District Profiles|date=8 December 2017|access-date=15 April 2020|publisher=Government of Hong Kong|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623232803/https://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-dp-tpu.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| pushpin_map        = Hong Kong#Asia
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Hong Kong
| blank1_info_sec2   = 130 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
| blank1_name_sec2   = Location of district office and district council
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| t = 灣仔區
| l = Little Bay District
| showflag = yj
| y = Wāan tsái kēui
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|w|aan|1|.|z|ai|2|-|k|eoi|1}}
| j = Waan1 zai2 keoi1
| p = Wānzǎi qū
}}

'''Wan Chai District''' is one of the [[districts of Hong Kong|18 districts]] of [[Hong Kong]]. Of the four on [[Hong Kong Island]], it is north-central, and had 166,695 residents in 2021, an increase from 152,608 residents in 2011. The district has the second-highest educationally qualified residents with the highest-bracket incomes, the lowest population and the third-oldest quotient. It is a relatively affluent district, with one in five persons having liquid assets of more than [[Hong Kong dollar|HKD]] 1 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://money.business.sohu.com/20060226/n242021838.shtml|title=平均每25人便有一人家财百万|access-date=1 May 2006|archive-date=13 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213161156/http://money.business.sohu.com/20060226/n242021838.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Wanchai60s.jpg|thumb|240px|Wan Chai in the 1960s]]

The area known as ''[[Wan Chai]]'' is loosely that surrounding [[Tonnochy Road]] and the [[Wan Chai station]] of the [[MTR]], which is between [[Admiralty, Hong Kong|Admiralty]] on the west and [[Causeway Bay]] on the east. ''Wan Chai North'', where major buildings such as the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] and [[Central Plaza (Hong Kong)|Central Plaza]] stand, refers to the zone north of [[Gloucester Road, Hong Kong|Gloucester Road]], [[Land reclamation in Hong Kong|reclaimed]] from the sea after the 1970s.

The broader administrative "Wan Chai District" includes the areas of [[Wan Chai]], [[Wan Chai|Wan Chai North]], [[Causeway Bay]], [[Happy Valley, Hong Kong|Happy Valley]], [[Jardine's Lookout]], [[Stubbs Road]], [[Wong Nai Chung Gap]] and [[Tai Hang]].

==History==
{{Expand section|date=April 2016}}

[[File:HK Hennessy Road Wan Chai Section.jpg|thumb|[[Hennessy Road]] in 2007]]

The ceremony of the [[handover of Hong Kong|handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China]] was held in the then-new wing of the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] in Wan Chai North.

In May 2009, 300 guests and staff members at the Metropark Hotel Wanchai were quarantined, suspected of being infected or in contact with the [[Influenza A virus subtype H1N1|H1N1 virus]] during the [[2009 swine flu pandemic]]. A 25-year-old Mexican man who had stayed at the hotel was later found to have the viral infection. He had travelled to Hong Kong from Mexico via Shanghai.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cheng|first1=Jonathan
|last2=Ye|first2=Juliet|last3=Stein|first3=Peter|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124119134084477477|title=Hong Kong Orders Quarantine of Hotel|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=2 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dasgupta|first1=Saibal|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China/Swine-flu-scare-China-puts-460-in-isolation/articleshow/4479363.cms|title=Swine flu scare: China puts 460 in isolation|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=3 May 2009}}</ref>

==Politics==
The [[District Councils of Hong Kong|district council]] [[Wan Chai District Council|of Wan Chai]] consists of 10 councillors, with 2 directly elected, 4 indirectly elected and 4 appointed. Chairmanship is assumed by the [[District Officer (Hong Kong)|District Officer]] starting from 2023.

==Diversity==
[[File:Golden Bauhinia Square 20080830.JPG|thumb|The Flag Rising Ceremony at [[Golden Bauhinia Square]]]]
Today Wan Chai is sometimes described as the ''heart of the city'', representing the epitome of the Hong Kong lifestyle &ndash; it has a well-established arts centre, the large exhibition and conference complexes, luxury apartments, five-star and non-five-star hotels, shopping malls, metropolitan office towers and a large government building cluster. It has a multitude of home decoration shops, bars and [[Mahjong]] centres. Wan Chai District houses a [[Ammar Mosque and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre|mosque]], as well as [[List of cemeteries in Hong Kong|cemeteries]] for several different faiths. Five minutes away from the noisy polluted streets is Bowen Drive, popular for jogging and walking by politicians, movie stars, and government officials.

==Entertainment and shopping==
There are numerous bars and [[Striptease|strip joints]] in the [[red-light district]] part of Wan Chai catering to tourists. Within this, the former [[Fenwick Pier|Fenwick Pier's]] Fleet Arcade hosted the only [[McDonald's]] that served alcohol and pizza in Hong Kong until 2004 when it was closed and was replaced by an up-market restaurant. Benches of the McDonald's were however left behind at the lobby of the arcade.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-01-20 |title='We'll shed a few tears': the last days of Hong Kong's Fleet Arcade |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3163913/last-days-fleet-arcade-fenwick-pier-hong-kong-hang-out |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref>

[[Fenwick Pier]] became landlocked in 2016 following reclamation by the government, and was later closed and handed back to the government on 11 February 2022, with a new fire station to be built on the land of where the arcade stood. Prior to the handover of Hong Kong, Fenwick pier was regularly visited by vessels, with numbers ranging from 37 to 99 annually.<ref name=":0" /> 

[[Johnston Road]] and [[Queen's Road East]] are the two major streets in the area. Export clothing shops line Johnston and [[Luard Road]]s predominantly. Queen's Road East has many stores selling Chinese style wooden furniture.

[[Spring Garden Lane]] and Tai Wo Street are lined with stalls selling vegetables, fruit and household items.

[[Tai Yuen Street]] specialises in toys in stalls and shops.

[[Lee Tung Street]] was in the 2010s converted into a Lee Tung Avenue zone of luxurious residential apartments, shopping, restaurants and bars.

==Education==
{{see also|List of schools in Wan Chai District}}
The main [[Hong Kong Central Library]] is located in Wan Chai District. Additionally, [[Hong Kong Public Libraries]] operates the Lockhart Road Public Library and Wong Nai Chung Public Library within the district.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/locations/wan-chai/libraries.html|title=Wan Chai District Libraries|publisher=[[Hong Kong Central Library]]|access-date=2025-10-12}}</ref>

==Notable places==
Next to the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] is the "[[Golden Bauhinia Square]]". There is a huge sculpture of a [[Bauhinia × blakeana|bauhinia]], which is the representative flower of Hong Kong, in the square. This is a popular tourist spot in Hong Kong for visitors from Mainland China and also the location of a flag-raising ceremony which occurs daily and in a special form on [[National Day of the People's Republic of China|Chinese National Day]] and other occasions.

Notable skyscrapers include:
* [[Central Plaza (Hong Kong)|Central Plaza]], the third tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, located in Wan Chai North
* [[Hopewell Centre (Hong Kong)|Hopewell Centre]]

The [[Old Wan Chai Post Office]] is a [[Declared monuments of Hong Kong|declared monument]]. There is also the [[Hong Kong Police Museum|Police Museum]] near the junction of [[Stubbs Road]] and Peak Road.

The [[Stubbs Road|Stubbs Road Lookout]] is a viewing point of the [[Victoria Harbour]]. The famous [[Bowen Road#Lovers's Stone|Lovers' Stone]] is located on scenic [[Bowen Road]].

[[Tai Yuen Street]] is called 'Toy Street' as this street has a lot of toy shops.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tai Yuen Street (Toy Street) |url=https://www.discoverhongkong.com/ca/interactive-map/tai-yuen-street-toys.html |website=Hong Kong Tourism Board}}</ref>

==Demographics==
According to a household survey by the Census and Statistics Department, the median household income is the second highest of Hong Kong.

As of 2021, the district has a population of 166,695 people. It's one of the most diverse districts in Hong Kong, with 75% of the population being Chinese. The largest ethnic minority groups are Filipinos (9.8%) and White (4.4%).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Household Statistics Analysis Section Census and Statistics Department|date=30 March 2021|title=Population and household statistics analysed by district council district|url=https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/data/stat_report/product/B1130301/att/B11303012020AN20B0100.pdf|access-date=27 June 2021|website=Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region}}</ref>

==Cross-harbour transport==
The first tunnel which crossed [[Victoria Harbour]], the [[Cross-Harbour Tunnel]] opened in 1972, links the former [[Kellett Island]], now part of Wan Chai, with [[Hung Hom]] in [[Kowloon]].

The [[East Rail line|MTR East Rail line]] was extended to [[Admiralty station (MTR)|Admiralty]] in 2022, passing through Wan Chai North. The new [[Exhibition Centre station (MTR)|Exhibition Centre Station]] was built near the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]], and a new cross-harbour tunnel was built to connect this new station to the new East Rail line platform in [[Hung Hom station|Hung Hom]].

The [[Star Ferry]] operates a ferry route from [[Wan Chai Pier]] near [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] to [[Tsim Sha Tsui]].

==Appearances in popular culture==
* The 2000 computer game ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'' features Wan Chai Market as the main district in the Hong Kong chapters of the game.
* Almost a third of the 2001 video game ''[[Shenmue II]]'' is spent in Wan Chai. A small portion of the city is divided into fictional quarters modelled after similar locations.
* The location of the [[The World of Suzie Wong|1957 novel]] and 1960 film ''[[The World of Suzie Wong (film)|The World of Suzie Wong]]'' is set in Wan Chai.
* The 2010 Hong Kong film ''[[Crossing Hennessy]]'' starring [[Jacky Cheung]] and [[Tang Wei]] is set in Wan Chai.<ref>{{cite news |title=重遊《月滿軒尼詩》灣仔取景地 歷史悠久茶餐廳相知相遇 |url=https://www.hk01.com/01TV/802417/%E9%87%8D%E9%81%8A-%E6%9C%88%E6%BB%BF%E8%BB%92%E5%B0%BC%E8%A9%A9-%E7%81%A3%E4%BB%94%E5%8F%96%E6%99%AF%E5%9C%B0-%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2%E6%82%A0%E4%B9%85%E8%8C%B6%E9%A4%90%E5%BB%B3%E7%9B%B8%E7%9F%A5%E7%9B%B8%E9%81%87 |publisher=HK01 |date=12 August 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of places in Hong Kong]]
* [[Wan Chai Pier]]

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

==External links==
{{Commons category|Wan Chai District}}
{{Wiktionary|Wan Chai|Wanchai}}
* [http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/wc/english/welcome/welcome.html Wan Chai District Council]
* [http://www.eac.gov.hk/pdf/distco/2007dc/dc2007b.pdf List and map of electoral constituencies (large PDF file)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103061209/http://www.eac.gov.hk/pdf/distco/2007dc/dc2007b.pdf |date=3 November 2006 }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090502115828/http://www.wanchairotary.org/ Rotary Club of Wanchai]}}
* [http://www.gohk.gov.hk/eng/welcome/wc_intro.html Introduction of Wan Chai District by Home Affairs Department, HKSAR Government] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621110747/http://www.gohk.gov.hk/eng/welcome/wc_intro.html |date=21 June 2014 }}
* [http://www.hkcec.com.hk/english/introduction/intro_locat_map.php Location map in Wan Chai] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224092833/http://www.hkcec.com.hk/english/introduction/intro_locat_map.php |date=24 February 2009 }} – Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

{{Geographic location
| Centre    = Wan Chai District
| North     = [[Yau Tsim Mong District]]
| Northeast = [[Kowloon City District]]
| East      = [[Eastern District, Hong Kong|Eastern District]]
| Southeast = 
| South     = [[Southern District, Hong Kong|Southern District]]
| Southwest = 
| West      = [[Central and Western District]]
| Northwest = [[Sham Shui Po District]]
}}
{{Wan Chai District}}
{{Districts of Hong Kong}}
{{Hong Kong Urban Areas}}
{{Portal bar|Hong Kong}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Wan Chai District| ]]
[[Category:Districts of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Hong Kong Island]]