Admiralty (HK)

Admiralty
Admiralty skyline in August 2013. The Central Government Complex is in the centre.
Traditional Chinese	金鐘
Literal meaning	Golden Bell
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin jīn zhōng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gam1 zung1

Admiralty is the eastern extension of the central business district (adjacent to, but separate from, Central) on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It is located on the eastern end of the Central and Western District, bordered by Wan Chai to the east and Victoria Harbour to the north.

The name of Admiralty refers to the former Admiralty Dock in the area which housed a naval dockyard. The dock was later demolished when land was reclaimed and developed northward as the HMS Tamar naval base. The Chinese name, Kam Chung (金鐘), lit. "Golden Bell", refers to a gold-coloured bell that was used for timekeeping at Wellington Barracks.

The area was developed as a military area by the British military in the 19th century. They built the Wellington Barracks, Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks and Admiralty Dock at the site. Following the urbanisation of the north shore of Hong Kong Island, the military area split the urban area. The Hong Kong Government tried many times to get the land from the British military to connect the two urban areas, but the military refused. It was not until the 1970s that the land was gradually returned to government and changed to commercial buildings and gardens.

The Admiralty Station of the MTR was built on the former site of the Hong Kong dockyards which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s. After its completion, the area became increasingly known as Admiralty, rather than Central.