Vibrant & bustling main street
- Wellington Street, Central
Food & stuff
Named after the first Duke of Wellington (who once defeated Napoleon), this street is like a jack of all trades, it has always responded to the needs of the Central community. Lots of food choices, but also shops selling ivory products like mahjong tiles and chopsticks, and many bakeries.
Manual printing days
There were also many print shops here in this part of Central and Sheung Wan, 150 of them printing name cards, receipts, invoices and envelopes for small businesses back in 1950s-80s. In 2019, the only surviving family-run print shop on Wellington Street shut down, Mr and Mrs Wong decided to retire after 47 years of proud service.
This street is like a jack of all trades, it has always responded to the needs of the Central community.
Not an easy name
The Chinese had their own way of finding Wellington Street: ‘the street above Big Clock Tower’ or ‘the street behind the fire station’, ‘vertical street of Roman church’. Most importantly, this was the place to hop on a bus heading West.