Duddell Street

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Time-travelling Illumination

With a granite staircase and four gas lights at the end, Duddell Street is a 130-year-old dead-end carriageway that connects Queen’s Road Central to Ice House Street. The first recorded gas lamp, installed in 1922, was replaced with modern electric lights, starting in 1948. These are the only gas-powered street lamps in Hong Kong. They were declared as monuments in 1979.

Both Duddell Street and Ice House Street were named after an English merchant, George and Frederick Duddell. One hundred seventy years ago, because of the hot weather, he founded the Hong Kong Ice Company on the present Ice House Street to transport ice from foreign ports.

Who’s the Dream Partner

Various love stories happen in each romantic place, and Duddell Street in Central is no exception. The mention of “gas lamp” always brings to mind:

A pair of earthworms in the street

Shines upon two attached hearts 

of a pair of young lovers

– “Dream Partner” by Anita Mui

Many young people may not know that Anita Mui‘s “Dream Partner”” and Leslie Cheung’s “Resonate” have featured Duddell Street as the background for MV (music videos).

Among them, the music video of “Dream Partner” is a love story featuring the whole background around Duddell Street. The gas lamps used to be lit by hand, but now they could be switched on automatically. Currently, the lights are on from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the old look is matched with the new operation style.

A World Away

This place is compared to a legendary street. It is because at night, from the corner of the busy Central District, walking to this road is like going through a time tunnel to the 1930s: with the gas lights shining on the granite, which brings you to the scenes in the movie “Love in a Fallen City”! You might as well take a lover to experience the nostalgic scents, or have a pre-wedding shoot is also another very romantic choice.

Don’t wait till –

All that is lost can no longer be pursued… .