The Peak: An Illustrated History of Hong Kong’s Top District

HK$228.00

  • USD: US$29.14
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By Richard Garrett

Part of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies Series

The Peak is Hong Kong’s top residential district, where property prices are as high as the altitude. How did it become an exclusive enclave in the bustling business centre of 19th-century Asia?

The British wanted relief from summer heat and the Peak was the obvious place to escape it. When the Governor adopted Mountain Lodge as a summer getaway, development accelerated and the opening of the Peak Tram in 1888 made access easier. Gradually a community developed and a church, a club and a school were established.

This fully illustrated book describes how the now-popular tourist area developed over time and adapted as needs changed.

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SKU: 9789887792703 Categories: , Tags: ,

Description

The Peak is Hong Kong’s top residential district, where property prices are as high as the altitude. How did it become an exclusive enclave in the bustling business centre of 19th-century Asia? The British wanted relief from summer heat and the Peak was the obvious place to escape it. When the Governor adopted Mountain Lodge as a summer getaway, development accelerated and the opening of the Peak Tram in 1888 made access easier. Gradually a community developed and a church, a club and a school were established. This book describes how the now-popular tourist area grew over time and adapted as needs changed.

“As a civil engineer, historian, Peak resident for decades, and someone who knows the Peak area inside out, no one is better qualifed than Richard Garrett to write about it. The author has traced the Peak District’s development over the past 150 years from its beginnings as a signal station and failed military sanatorium in and above the area of the present upper Peak Tram station. He has chronicled the whole through a close and painstaking examination of its building sites, and of the buildings old and new which have occupied them, thereby revealing its full extent, something not apparent to the casual visitor who travels there only by the funicular railway. The result is a well-illustrated account containing a wealth of carefully researched and accurate facts that cannot fail but interest those who would like to know more about this fascinating and historic part of Hong Kong.” — Dr James Hayes, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong

Additional information

Weight 800 g
Dimensions 180 × 235 mm
Pages

220

Binding

Hardback

Illustrations

Approximately 80 colour photographs and 40 B&W images

About the author

Richard Garrett came to Hong Kong in 1973 as a civil engineer. His work on planning the city’s infrastructure provided him with the opportunity to get to know the territory very well. Since retirement he writes about the history of its colonial era. He has a long association with the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong and has lived on the Peak for over 40 years.