Star Ferry

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Image:Lower deck of a Star Ferry.jpg

Image:StarFerry-TST.png Image:Hong Kong Star Ferry.JPG Image:1005029.jpg Image:Starferrypier7.jpg Image:Newandoldstarferrypier.jpg

The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry service operator in Hong Kong, China. Its principal routes carry passengers across the Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The company has been operating since the late 1880s. It was founded by Parsee Dorabjee Nowrojee as the Kowloon Ferry Company in 1888 and renamed it to Star Ferry in 1898. The name was inspired by his love of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar", whose first line was Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!

The fleet of twelve ferries operates four routes across the harbour, carrying over 70,000 passengers a day, or 26 million a year. Even though there are now other ways to cross the harbour (by MTR and road tunnels), the Star Ferry continues to provide an efficient, popular and inexpensive mode of crossing the harbour. The company's main route runs between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, which is what most people mean by "the Star Ferry" in common parlance. This route is also popular with tourists, and has become one of the icons of Hong Kong heritage in the eyes of tourists. From the ferry, one can take in the famous view of the harbour and the Hong Kong skyline.

[edit] Ferry routes and fares

The Star Ferry operates the following cross-harbour routes:

• Central to Tsim Sha Tsui (orange): HK$1.7 for the lower deck, HK$2.2 for the upper deck
• Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui: HK$2.2
• Central to Hung Hom (green): HK$5.3
• Wan Chai to Hung Hom (purple): HK$5.3

The company also operates a tourist cruise, making an indirect, circular route to all the stops.

[edit] History

• In 1966, a fare increase of 10 cents of the ferry sparked the 1966 Hong Kong Riots.
• Until the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972, the Star Ferry was the main means of public transportation between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon side.

The Star Ferry makes a "star turn" in the 1950s film The World of Suzie Wong. In the beginning of the film, Robert Lomax (played by William Holden) debarks from the USS President Harrison (an old American President Line transpacific passenger vessel) and takes the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, and on the ferry meets Suzie Wong (played by Nancy Kwan), who scorns his attentions as unwanted.

The ferry itself is completely recognizable, and the layout of the pier where William Holden debarks in Kowloon is familiar to the resident or denizen of Tsim Sha Tsui, but missing are the giant shopping malls of today.

On November 11, 2006, the Star Ferry Pier in Central ended its mission along with the big clock tower (see below). The pier will be demolished to make way for reclamation.

[edit] Fleet

There are currently 8 ships in the Star fleet with average age of the fleet at 44 years:

[edit] Piers

• Star Ferry Pier at Central
  • First Generation (1890) at junction of Ice House Street and Connaught Road Central
  • Second Generation (1912) at Pedder Street, the present site of Jardine House
  • Third Generation (1957) near Edinburgh Place
  • Fourth Generation (2006) (Pier 7 and 8 of Central Ferry Piers) at Man Kwong Street
• Star Ferry Pier at Tsim Sha Tsui (1957)
• Hung Hom Pier
• Wan Chai Pier

[edit] Closing down of the third generation Central pier

The Third Generation Star Ferry Pier at Edinburgh Place, Central, together with Queen's Pier, have been closed down owing to new land reclamation for building new roads. Both piers have been replaced by new piers further out into the harbour on newly reclaimed land.

The plan to relocate the Central Star Ferry Pier dates back to July 1999, when proposed amendments to the draft Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan covering the Central Reclamation III area were publicised. Concerns were immediately raised in the public but the Government decided to go ahead with the plan, indicating that the historial significance of the third generation pier was recognised and the landmark would be recreated on the new waterfront.

The Star Ferry piers hosted a "last ride" before its closed-down on 11 November 2006, with the last four ferries leaving this pier between 11:00pm and midnight. [1]

The Government now plans to demolish both the third generation Star Ferry Pier and Queen's Pier to give way to a six-lane road and a low-rise shopping centre, requiring 16 hectares of reclaimed land directly in front of the fourth generation pier.

[edit] Fourth generation Central pier

Part of the new fourth generation pier was an existing pier built at the time of the reclamation on which the Hong Kong Station of the Airport Express MTR line and the International Finance Centre are built (i.e. no.7 of the outlying islands ferry piers). The Star Ferry proposed a historical heritage design approach and this pier is being expanded eastwards to resemble a replica of the second generation Edwardian pier.

Construction began in mid-2003. The present mock-Edwardian pier, being a 600-square-metre terminal, features a clock tower with a new set of five bells that sound similar to those of the third generation pier, despite being controlled electronically. The new pier was open for public use on 12 November 2006.

As these structures occupy a prime waterfront site, the Government took the opportunity to try to develop the piers into a new landmark for public enjoyment.

[edit] Controversy

The third generation Central pier is well-known of its antique mechanical clock at the clock tower and its unique chimes marking every quarter-hour since 1957. The antique mechanical clock was manufactured by E. Dent, the same British company that provided the mechanical signature to the Big Ben of London. Earlier on, the Star Ferry carried out a technical feasibility study to see whether it could relocate the clock mechanism to the new site. However, an expert and specialist clock supplier advised against relocation as there was no guarantee the clock and chimes would continue to work after relocation, due to their age and obsolete components. Part of the clock (five bells) is now planned to be put on display in the new pier after demolition of the third generation pier. [2]

There are local community efforts trying to save the third generation pier raising widespread media coverage. Architects and conservationists state that the old piers have important architectural and cultural value to Hong Kong: architecturally the pier is one of the last examples of a Streamline Modern public building in Hong Kong (along with the to-be-demolished Central Market and Wan Chai Market); culturally the pier is widely recognised as an integral part of local collective memory. The Hong Kong Institute of Architects vice-president Mr. Vincent Ng Wing-shun, for example, warned that the government was destroying Hong Kong's heritage. [3] Public opinion includes moving the proposed six-lane road so to save the third generation pier, or to relocate the famous clock tower to the front of the new pier as a memorial.[4]. However the decision ultimately lies with the Government as the piers are Government property.

Moreover, the mock Edwardian fourth generation pier, a product of the Government's effort in trying to "recreate history", has been backfired with heavy criticism from the public. The choice of modern materials and the oversized proportions of the new design contrast with its Edwardian style, resulting in a "theme park", "film studio" appearance. It has been described as "dishonest", "imitation of the past without capturing the spirit of the past or present", and "dressing up a modern person in historical costume."

Image:Victoria Harbour from City Hall 14-Oct-2005 (1).jpg By relocating the new piers 300m away, the Star Ferry could lose up to 30 percent of passengers due to its inconvenient location. The public argues that there is a risk for the Star Ferry to be slowly reduced as just a tourist attraction.

[edit] Connections

• Taxicabs of Hong Kong

[edit] See also

• Transportation in Hong Kong
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry
• Clock Tower, Star Ferry

[edit] External links

• Project SEE
• Official website
• Save the Star Ferry Pier and the Clock Tower
• Star Ferry Video
• Documentary on the Star Ferry Protest
• Guy Photo Collection - Star Ferry Sub-page
• More pictures of Star Ferryja:スターフェリー

zh:天星小輪