Information AboutStar Ferry |
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.]] , Kowloon .]] at night, with the 2 Ifc and 1 Ifc in the background]] The “Star Ferry” ( service operator in Hong Kong whose principal routes take people across Victoria Harbour , between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon . The company has been operating since the late 1880s. It was founded by Parsee Dorabjee Nowrojee as the Kowloon Ferry Company in 1888 and renamed Star Ferry in 1898. The fleet of twelve Ferries operates four routes across the harbour, carrying over 70,000 passengers a day, or 26 million a year. Even though there are now more modern ways to cross the harbour (by MTR and road tunnels), the Star Ferry continues to provide an efficient, popular and inexpensive mode of crossing the harbour. The company's main route runs between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui , which is what most people mean by "the Star Ferry" in common parlance. This route is also popular with tourists, and has become one of the icons of Hong Kong heritage in the eyes of tourists. From the ferry, one can take in the famous view of the harbour and the Hong Kong skyline. CROSS-HARBOUR ROUTES AND FARES
HISTORY
The Star Ferry makes a "star turn" in the 1950s film '' The World Of Suzie Wong ''. In the beginning of the film, Robert Lomax (played by William Holden ) debarks from the USS President Harrison (an old American President Line transpacific passenger vessel) and takes the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, and on the ferry meets Suzie Wong (played by Nancy Kwan ), who scorns his attentions as unwanted. The ferry itself is completely recognizable, and the layout of the pier where William Holden debarks in Kowloon is familiar to the resident or denizen of Tsim Sha Tsui, but missing are the giant shopping malls of today. FLEET
PIERS ONGOING EVENTS engulfed by reclamation in Central . The replacement for the Star Ferry Pier is directly in front of the existing one in the harbour.]] The Star Ferry Pier at Edinburgh Square , Central, together with Queen's Pier , will be demolished as a result of Land Reclamation along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. Both piers will be re-positioned further out into the harbour on newly reclaimed land. Part of the new pier for the Star Ferry will be an existing pier built at the time of the reclamation on which the Hong Kong Station of the Airport Express MTR Line and the International Finance Centre are built (i.e. no.7 of the outlying islands ferry piers). This pier is being rebuilt and expanded eastwards to resemble a replica of the Star Ferry Pier in the early 20th century, rather than the existing, soon-to-be-demolished pier. Although the pier is being relocated 300 metres away and will no longer be close to City Hall , its Clock Tower will be preserved at its current location. SEE ALSO
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