1870's Sheung Wan

Text on Flickr:

簡述 : Sheung Wan/Hong Kong Island

Western District (Sheung Wan) and the Harbour, Hong Kong Island, c.1870.

An early photograph, taken before the completion of the first reclamation in 1873. The street in the middle is Queen's Road West. The western-style building, on the extreme left, is Ko Shing Theatre, popular at the time with patrons of Chinese opera. Closely packed poorly constructed tenement houses are clearly seen, making the area susceptible to outbreaks of fire and later plague epidemics.

The date seems correct (c.1870 is estimated to be 1875), but there already was a first reclamation in 1850/60, and the result is visible here. Before the reclamation, no paved praya did exist - it does now.