Kowloon Peninsula

The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula in the southern part of Hong Kong. It is next to Victoria Harbour and faces Hong Kong Island. Together with Ngong Shuen Chau, it is called the Old Kowloon. If we also add New Kowloon, the whole area is just called Kowloon.

Geographically, the Kowloon Peninsula is the area south of several important mountains, such as Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn, and Kowloon Peak. This peninsula includes five of the eighteen districts of Hong Kong. One notable part of the area is Kowloon Bay, which lies on the northeast side of the peninsula.

Geology and reclamation

The Kowloon Peninsula is mostly made of a rock called monzogranite, with some smaller areas of fine granite. Old maps show that it once had flat land near Tsim Sha Tsui Bay and a higher area called Kowloon Hill to the west.

Over time, people added more land to the peninsula from the sea. Much of this happened before 1904 in the south and west. More land was added along Tsim Sha Tsui by 1982. Since 1994, parts of Hung Hom Bay were turned into land, and by 2019, all of it had been changed. The West Kowloon area was expanded as part of a big airport plan and finished mostly by 1995.

History

The Kowloon Peninsula has a very interesting history. Long ago, during China's old dynasties, it was a safe place for people. In 1287, the last emperor of the Song dynasty, Emperor Bing, ran away from Mongol leaders and hid in a cave there. Later, after the Ming dynasty fell, many of the emperor's followers also hid on the peninsula.

In the 1800s, Britain took control of part of the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860. This area became known as British Kowloon. At that time, about 800 people lived there. Today, the peninsula is the land south of several mountain ranges.

City landscape

You can see the Kowloon Peninsula from Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula is in southern Hong Kong, next to Victoria Harbour.