At 6pm today, 9 December 2021, a ‘Chiming Ceremony’ commemorated the centenary of the former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower Bell. It’s the first time the bell has been heard in 70 years.
The Kowloon-Canton Railway Kowloon Terminus used to be located at the present site of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and built on reclaimed land overlooking the harbour; the Kowloon Terminus opened in 1916 as the southernmost railway station of China and served as a gateway between the Mainland and Hong Kong.
A lack of space for expansion saw the southern terminus move, in 1974, to a new station built on land reclaimed from Hung Hom Bay.
The station building was demolished in 1978 except the clock tower which was conserved thanks to the efforts of the Heritage Society. Additionally, six pillars of the original station building were moved to the Urban Council Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East.
Now known as the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, the tower is a popular landmark. The Bell of the Clock Tower began service in 1921 and ceased operation in 1950.
Now in 2021 the Bell’s chime will be brought back and report the time via a digital bell system synchronised with the web clock of the Hong Kong Observatory, sounding hourly every day between 8am and midnight.
A “Centenary of the Bell – Resonance of Time” exhibition will run from 10-24 December in the foyer of the HK Cultural Centre. More information at www.hkculturalcentre.gov.hk/en/hkcc/TSTClockTower
Images courtesy of the relevant owners