64-609: The Star Ferry ( Chinese : 天星小輪 ) is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong . Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour , between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon . The service is operated by the Star Ferry Company, which was founded in 1888 as the Kowloon Ferry Company, and which adopted its present name in 1898. With a fleet of twelve ferries,
128-509: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
192-644: A controversy by insisting, together with the tramways , that payment had to be made in Hong Kong currency only. Canton coinage would no longer be accepted. In 1924, the Yaumati Ferry operated the route to Kowloon in a duopoly. In 1933, the Star Ferry made history by building the Electric Star , the first diesel electric passenger ferry of its kind. By 1941, the company had six vessels. During
256-481: A daily average of 74,000 passenger trips were made across the harbour in 2004. On the island side, various New World First Bus and Citybus bus routes as well as public light buses connected to many destinations on Hong Kong Island. The plan to relocate the Central Ferry Piers dates back to July 1999, when proposed amendments to the draft Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan covering
320-518: A human chain at the entrance of the construction site so as to try to stop the construction crew and machines from further demolishing the site. In addition to the public, Civic Party legislators, and Choy So-yuk , a councillor from the pro-government Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong , showed up to lend support. The demolition drew widespread condemnation from the public, legislators, and conservationists, all of whom claimed
384-512: A number of other historical sites threatened with a similar fate. At the end of 2006, in a testament to how the protests have struck a chord with the public, the Ferry protesters were voted "Person of the Year" by RTHK Radio 3 . Local Action, the group of rather young cultural and media activists which formed the core of the movement, were to later influence social movements, in Hong Kong as well as in
448-562: A public place and against the methods and urban planning policies of its government, perceived to favour business interests over the public interest. The struggle to preserve the Star Ferry and, later, the Queen's Pier, was the occasion to raise questions on Hong Kong's history, the question of colonialism, and that of democracy in the HKSAR. The Government had grossly underestimated the very strong public sentiment about this 49-year-old landmark in
512-536: A temporary road through the Edinburgh Place and that the Government has never consulted the public regarding demolition of the pier, or the adjacent Queen's Pier. After the demolition of the pier, the government said that it would consider the memories of the citizens and not the historic value of the building/structure before demolishing it. Conservationists vowed to take the fight to Queen's Pier, and
576-812: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
640-469: Is thought that a service to the public was established in the mid-to-late 1870s, after the cession of Kowloon to the British in 1860. The company was founded by Parsee merchant Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala as the "Kowloon Ferry Company" in 1888. Naorojee bought Smith's boat, and later acquired two steam vessels from a Mr Buxoo, naming them Morning Star and Evening Star . At the time regular service
704-493: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
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#1732802151898768-529: The Central Reclamation III area were published. Both the third generation Star Ferry Pier and Queen's Pier would be demolished and 16 hectares of land directly in front of the fourth-generation pier reclaimed to make way for a six-lane road and a low-rise shopping centre. The cost was estimated at HK$ 3.5 billion. The Government said that the historical significance of the third-generation pier would be recognised and promised to recreate
832-748: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong , the competing Yaumati Ferry was allowed to continue, while the Japanese commandeered the Star Ferry for their own purposes. The Golden Star and the Meridian Star were used to transport prisoners of war from Sham Shui Po to Kai Tak Airport . In 1943, the Golden Star was bombed and sunk in the Canton River by the Americans, and the Electric Star
896-770: The Kensiu language . Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier , often referred to as the "Star Ferry" Pier , was a pier in Edinburgh Place , Central, Hong Kong , serving the Star Ferry . The pier, with its clock tower, was a prominent waterfront landmark. Built in 1957 at the height of the Modern Movement , it was the third generation of the Star Ferry Pier in Central, and
960-640: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
1024-660: The Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier . Thousands of residents passed through this principal gateway to Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula daily from 1957 until 2006. However, the inauguration of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in 1972 popularised vehicular travel across the harbour and reduced the flow of passengers. From 1972 to 2006, the ferry was still used by many as the shortest route from Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) to Central District, and
1088-431: The " collective memory " of Hong Kong residents. By its own retrospective admission, it lacked legitimacy: a Government spokesman conceded that the it had failed to gain the moral high ground. Ferry passengers would face a lengthier trek to reach the new pier. By relocating the new piers 300 m away, it is estimated that the Star Ferry could lose perhaps 13 per cent or more of passengers due to its inconvenience. On
1152-482: The Air , and Earth Care jointly met to urge the public to fight for the preservation of the pier. Over 1,000 signatures were collected on that one day alone, in a petition to be submitted to Chief Executive Donald Tsang and other senior officials. In addition, a group of protesters began a peaceful sit-in that day. So Sau Chung , veteran campaigner (now a monk), whose hunger strike against Star Ferry fare increases triggered
1216-685: The Edinburgh Place terminal. His arrest sparked the 1966 Hong Kong Riots . On 11 November 2006, the end of an era was marked when the third generation pier in Central, the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier , ended its mission, along with the big clock tower. The pier was destroyed to make way for reclamation, amidst great controversy and peaceful but reasonable protests. The Star Ferry operates the following cross-harbour routes (the fares (in HK$ below) are effective from 9 February 2021): Passengers may use Octopus or tokens ( Jeton ) to pay for
1280-570: The Kowloon side. It was rated first in the "Top 10 Most Exciting Ferry Rides" poll by SATW (Society of American Travel Writers) in February 2009. The Star Ferry operates on a franchise from the Government, which was last renewed in March 2018. In 1966, a fare increase of 5 cents (or 25%) of the ferry was a political milestone, as it caused a 27-year-old student to go on hunger strike in protest at
1344-555: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
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#17328021518981408-520: The Star Ferry Pier to Piers 4–7 leading to its destruction would likely raise public objection and dismay. However, the Government had maintained that the Pier and its tower was not old enough to be classified as "historical" and that people were not necessarily "concerned about the building itself". To some extent, it was not wrong, since the activists were mainly fighting for the preservation of
1472-534: The Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, and on the ferry meets Suzie Wong (played by Nancy Kwan ), who scorns his attentions. Several brief scenes in the 1988 TV miniseries Noble House are set aboard the ferry. It also appears in the French films Les Anges gardiens (1995) and The Moustache (2005). Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan ,
1536-496: The Tsim Sha Tsui side of the harbour, the proposed relocation of the bus terminus which acts as a feeder for the ferry is forecast to further reduce passenger numbers by one-fifth. This loss, totalling one-third of its passengers, would translate into revenue loss of some HK$ 17 million per annum for Star Ferry. Architects and conservationists argued that the pier was architecturally significant to Hong Kong as one of
1600-587: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
1664-594: The boats averaged 147 crossings each day. He incorporated the business into the "Star Ferry Co Ltd" in 1898. The ship names and, subsequently, the company name was inspired by his love of Alfred Lord Tennyson 's poem " Crossing the Bar ", of which the first line reads "Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!" . On his retirement in 1898, Naorojee sold the company to The Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited , at that time owned by Jardine, Matheson & Co. and Sir Paul Chater . A pier constructed on
1728-511: The centre of a bitter struggle between the Government and conservationists , who opposed either further destruction of the harbour or the further loss of historical buildings. Consultants who prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment report in 2001 for the Central reclamation noted the pier's significant role in Hong Kong's transport history. The Government was warned that a public backlash could be expected when
1792-415: The clock mechanism and clock face, leaving a gaping hole, and then proceeded to lift the clock tower off in one piece. After the protesters had been dispersed, the remainder of the pier was completely dismantled, away from the glare of publicity. Although the scale of the phase 3 reclamation in Central was cut back from 32 to 18 hectares, the fate of the piers was sealed by the reclamation. The pier became
1856-460: The clock tower, including moving the proposed six-lane road or relocating the clock tower to the front of the new pier as a memorial. One reason cited by the Government against the relocation of the turret clock and tower was that an expert feasibility study advised that there was "no guarantee the clock and chimes would continue to work after relocation, due to their age and obsolete components". However, Neil Brennon Wright of Thwaites & Reed ,
1920-416: The company operates two routes across the harbour, carrying over 70,000 passengers per day, or 26 million per year. Even though the harbour is crossed by railway and road tunnels, the Star Ferry continues to provide a scenic yet inexpensive mode of harbour crossing. The company's main route runs between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui . Before the steam ferry service was first established, people would cross
1984-524: The fleet, together with a tug. Over the years, the fleet has included: Since the Central Star Ferry Pier was moved from its old pier next to City Hall to the new location outside International Finance Centre , passenger numbers have fallen drastically to mainly tourists and a small number of commuters. This has meant the Star Ferry company has lost many millions of dollars since the relocation. Therefore, it decided not to re-tender for
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2048-451: The full implications of the reclamation were known. The Pier, especially its clock tower, is a visually important landmark in Hong Kong. It is an eye-catching icon within the beautiful Hong Kong Harbour particularly for tourists and locals crossing it via Star Ferries from Tsim Sha Tsui. It is a must on their itinerary. No other ferry pier along the harbour could possibly perform such a symbolic function as this clocktower pier. The removal of
2112-408: The government action was contrary to the wishes of the public. Legco members tabled motions to immediately halt the demolition, pending further consultation. The Government denied a last-minute reprieve, reiterating that there has been "adequate consultation", and forged ahead with demolition. The Conservancy Association claimed it made its objection known in 1996 when Government proposed to construct
2176-454: The harbour in sampans . In 1870, a man named Grant Smith brought a twin-screw wooden-hulled boat from England and started running it across the harbour at irregular intervals. In July 1873, an attempt was made to run steam ferries between Hong Kong and Kowloon. This was stopped at the request of the British consul in Canton , who feared it would enable visits to gambling houses in Kowloon. It
2240-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
2304-634: The landmark on the new waterfront. In 2001, an impact assessment for the Central Reclamation recommended the relocation of the Star Ferry Pier, and this was approved by the Antiquities Advisory Board in 2002. 3D Laser Scanning Technology in digital recording of structures was applied to capture three-dimensional images of the pier before the demolition. Following the pier's decommissioning on 12 November 2006, demolition work started amidst protests. The demolition
2368-519: The last remaining examples of a Streamline Moderne public building (along with the Central Market and Wan Chai Market which have been earmarked for demolition); culturally the pier was widely recognised as a part of local collective memory. The Hong Kong Institute of Architects warned against the destruction of Hong Kong's heritage, saying it would be an irreversible mistake. Public opinion has resulted in alternatives put forward to preserve
2432-492: The loss-making Hung Hom-Central and Hung Hom-Wan Chai routes and stopped operating these routes and the relevant piers at Hung Hom Ferry Pier on 31 March 2011. The Star Ferry appears in the 1960 film The World of Suzie Wong . In the beginning of the film, Robert Lomax (played by William Holden ) disembarks from the SS President Wilson (an old American President Lines transpacific passenger vessel) and takes
2496-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
2560-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
2624-983: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
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2688-677: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
2752-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
2816-516: The pier marked every quarter-hour since the pier's inauguration in 1957. The clock was a gift from John Keswick , who had in turn received it from the Prince of Belgium. The mechanism was manufactured by British company Edward John Dent , which also provided the mechanical signature to " Big Ben " of London. There is a major bus terminus on the Kowloon side, which is conveniently situated close to
2880-833: The predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
2944-477: The request by the government of operating the Hung Hom route in 1963. It almost failed to operate as the company thought it could not make profit from it. But with the reconsideration by the Star Ferry, the route was confirmed to be operating starting from March 1965. Until the opening of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in 1972, the Star Ferry remained the main means of public transportation between Hong Kong Island and
3008-534: The ride. Tokens are available in the vending machines at the piers. Direct payment by coins at turnstile is no longer accepted. The Tsim Sha Tsui – Central route does not accept cycles, but the Tsim Sha Tsui – Wan Chai route accepts cycles for an extra charge of $ 14, except during the evening peak hour from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui. Star Ferry has announced plans to provide sightseeing service between Tsim Sha Tsui and Disneyland Resort Pier, which has been empty since its opening. This route consists of two departures and
3072-530: The riots in 1966, came by to lend his support. Further spurred by the start of demolition on the afternoon of 12 December 2006, more protesters started gathering spontaneously after workers removed the bell and the clock face from the tower, leaving a big hole. Activists, including "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung , rushed into and occupied part of the demolition site, chanting slogans from the roof of an excavator and demanded to meet Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands , Michael Suen Ming-yeung . Protesters formed
3136-431: The round trip fare is $ 180. Passengers can enjoy views of Tsing Ma Bridge during the 45-minute journey on the luxury ferry World Star. The Star Ferry "Golden Star' is available for daily charter, for up to 300 people, having been refurbished for cruises and functions, with tables, larger sightseeing windows, an air-conditioned area, and a public address and music system. There are currently 9 diesel-electric ferries in
3200-521: The set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of
3264-547: The special occasion, Star Ferry hosted a "last ride" before the pier was closed-down, with the last four ferries leaving this pier on the stroke of midnight. Eighteen hundred Hongkongers willingly paid up $ 88 (40 times the normal fare) for the last ride, whose proceeds were designated for charity. On 19 November 2006, the Civic Party , Democratic Party , Harbour-front Enhancement Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Architects , People's Sustainable Development Committee, Clear
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#17328021518983328-682: The time. The Star Ferry Pier was designed by a local Chinese architect, Hung Yip Chan (born in 1921). He worked in the Architectural Office (AO) of the Hong Kong Government from 1952 to 1957 as an assistant architect. He designed the façade of the pier, and the Chief Architect, Michael Wright, added the Clock Tower to make the pier more balanced and practical. The chimes of the turret clock installed at
3392-581: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
3456-985: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
3520-518: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
3584-468: The western end of Salisbury Road opened in 1906, it was a fine massive structure at that time and it also had a separate compartment for the first and second class. However, it was destroyed by a typhoon in September 1906. At the turn of the century, Hong Kong currency and Canton currency were both accepted as legal tender in Hong Kong. In the autumn of 1912, following a devaluation, the Star Ferry caused
3648-587: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
3712-493: The world's longest operating clockmaking firm, who arrived from England on 18 December 2006 to examine the clock, said that his firm had restored far worse. The Government promised that it would "rebuild" the chimes of the clock, complete with the restitution of the original clock faces and mechanism at some nearby location. The public outcry, anticipated by the consultancy report for the Antiquities and Monuments Office ,
3776-520: Was completed in early 2007. The entire waterfront where the "third generation" pier was situated was created in the late 1950s following a major land reclamation . The shoreline was shifted from its position at the time, level to the Mandarin Hotel . The pier was built in 1957 in Edinburgh Place , at the height of the Modern Movement , near the City Hall complex which was being planned at
3840-466: Was initiated, ships were moored by having a sailor on the vessel toss the rope to another on the pier, who would then catch it with a long billhook. This is still done today. The popularity of this means of transport enabled him to increase his fleet to four vessels within 10 years: the Morning Star , Evening Star , Rising Star and Guiding Star . Each boat had a capacity of 100 passengers, and
3904-528: Was located near the City Hall and the General Post Office . The pier was the central flashpoint of the Hong Kong riots in 1966 , and 40 years later became the focus of a confrontation between conservationists and the government, which wanted to demolish the pier to allow for reclamation . The ferry service from the pier was suspended on 11 November 2006, and moved to piers 7 and 8 of Central Piers . Demolition commenced on 12 December, and
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#17328021518983968-487: Was originally scheduled for the early part of 2007, but demolition was brought forward by 3 months, to 12 December 2006. The government ignored a nonbinding motion in September in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong urging it to retain the pier and clock tower. The demolition crew took control of the site by erecting scaffolding on 6 December 2006, and demolition commenced on 12 December. Workers took down
4032-404: Was sunk in the harbour. After the war, the ferries were recovered and returned to service. In the early 1950s, construction of the present twin-piered terminal commenced on both sides of Victoria Harbour, designed to handle 55 million passenger trips a year. The structure was completed in 1957, concurrent with the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier built on the island side. The Star Ferry accepted
4096-423: Was to become reality. With the imminent threat of demolition, the local community rallied to save pier, to widespread media coverage. In the weeks running up to the cessation of service from the pier, thousands of Hong Kong residents arrived to post banners and other messages in support of retention. There were some 150,000 nostalgic visitors to the Pier and harbour crossing on the night of 11 November 2006. To mark
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