5 tricky Hong Kong street names, how to pronounce them in English and the fascinating history behind

As Hong Kong reopens to the world, here are five street names you wouldn’t want to mispronounce to visitors, and some of the interesting historical facts behind them (in case anyone asks).

1. Des Voeux Road (Central and West)

Correct pronunciation: “devoe”, like Defoe

Not: “des vo” or “des voy”

Cantonese pronunciation in full: 德 dak1 輔 fu6 道 dou6

Des Voeux Road Central and Des Voeux Road West are two main roads on Hong Kong Island along which the city’s iconic trams run.

Des Voeux Road Central begins near The Landmark high-end mall in the Central financial district and ends at Morrison Street where Western Market and the Sheung Wan Post Office are located. The tramway takes a brief turn into Connaught Road West (just for a few blocks) before turning back into what has now become Des Voeux Road West.

This road runs through Sai Ying Pun until it reaches Kennedy Town Praya in Shek Tong Tsui, near HKU Station on the MTR Island Line.

These two roads are named after Sir William Des Vœux, a British colonial administrator and the 10th governor of Hong Kong, from 1887-1891.

A notable feature of Des Vœux’s colonial service, which began in 1863, was the stand he took against the system of indentured labour under which, following the abolition of the slave trade, Indians were transported to other British colonies as indentured servants.

In 1869, he wrote a 10,000-word report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies based on his experience in British Guiana (modern-day Guyana).

A detailed account of the many instances of cruel and unjust treatment of indentured servants by plantation owners and managers, his report led to many improvements in the workers’ treatment.

2. D’Aguilar Street

Correct pronunciation: “dag-u-lar”

Not: “di-a-gui-lar”

Cantonese pronunciation in full: 德 dak1 己 gei2 立 lap6 街 gaai1

When we think of nightlife in Hong Kong, D’Aguilar Street is usually one of the first streets that comes to mind.

D’Aguilar Street starts just west of the Entertainment Building on Queen’s Road Central and climbs through the Lan Kwai Fong entertainment quarter to end near the Fringe Club performing arts venue at a junction with Wyndham Street, Glenealy and Lower Albert Road.

L-shaped D’Aguilar Street has seen many changes since the founding of Hong Kong. It owes its name to Major-General George Charles d’Aguilar (a surname derived from Old French), who was the first commander of British troops in China.

He arrived in Hong Kong in December 1843 and was appointed lieutenant governor of Hong Kong – the second highest position during British colonial rule, after the governor – in January 1844.

The first Headquarters House (later renamed Flagstaff House) in what is now Hong Kong Park was built as d’Aguilar’s residence in 1846. It was designed in the Greek revival style.

The oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong, the building was partly shelled and suffered bomb damage during the Japanese occupation in World War II before being repaired and taken over by the Japanese commandant during the occupation.

Since 1984 the building has housed the Museum of Tea Ware, a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and is home to the world’s oldest known extant teapot.

3. Jervois Street

Correct pronunciation: “Jarvis”, as in Ironman’s butler in the Marvel Comics

Not: Jer-vois (pronounced with a touch of a French accent) as in the British comedian Ricky Ger-vais

Cantonese pronunciation in full: 蘇 sou1 杭 hong4 街 gaai1 (this name is not a phonetic translation)

Jervois Street begins at the intersection of Bonham Strand and Wellington Street in Sheung Wan and ends at Morrison Street where the Sheung Wan Market and Cooked Food Centre is.

The narrow street was the scene of a deadly fire on December 28, 1851, which burned down the then Sheung Wan Market and hundreds of Chinese houses around it, resulting in 30 deaths.

William Jervois was the commander and lieutenant governor of Hong Kong at the time. He supervised the redevelopment of the district and gave his name to the street.

There isn’t much on record about him, but it is believed that he belonged to a military family of Huguenot descent – a Calvinist Protestant group in France in the Middle Ages that was heavily persecuted under the Catholic Church.

As a major Protestant nation, England was comparatively accommodating towards Huguenots, and financed the emigration of many to its colonies.

4. Arbuthnot Road

Correct pronunciation: “aa-buth-nuht”

Not: overthinking the pronunciation

Cantonese pronunciation in full: 亞 aa3 畢 bat1 諾 nok6 道 dou6

Arbuthnot Road is a steep street that runs uphill from Wyndham Street to the junction of Caine Road, Upper Albert Road and Glenealy, next to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens – the oldest park in Hong Kong.

There are several influential Arbuthnots after whom the road could have been named, but the most likely contender is George Arbuthnot (1802-1865), a distinguished member of the permanent British civil service who worked in the treasury at the Colonial Office in Hong Kong when the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank’s charter was first drawn up.

The former Central Magistracy, at No 1 Arbuthnot Road, was built between 1913 and 1914 and housed a magistrates court for more than six decades until 1979. After this, it was used by different associations affiliated with the Hong Kong Police Force.

5. Rednaxela Terrace

Cantonese pronunciation in full: 帝 dai3 華 waa4 台 toi4 (again, not a phonetic translation)

Well, little point learning how to pronounce this one in English because Rednaxela Terrace is merely a pedestrian-only street 63 metres (69 yards) long in Mid-Levels, between Shelley Street and Peel Street, and has just a few residential buildings.

What language does Rednaxela sound like to you? If the answer is none, that’s because it was probably not a real name. If anything, it might have been a lost-in-translation error.

It is believed that the terrace was named after a Mr Alexander who owned the surrounding properties. Since Chinese was typically written right-to-left at the time, “Rednaxela” was perhaps an unfortunate transposition of the name.

After all, most of the naming errors in Hong Kong, especially in colonial times, owe their origin to incorrect transliterations.

Another possibility is that the name is inspired by abolitionist Robert Alexander Young, who used the name Rednaxela in his 1829 The Ethiopian Manifesto: Issued in Defence of the Black Man’s Rights in the Scale of Universal Freedom, elucidating a black resistance to slavery and discrimination.

The Filipino revolutionary and national hero José Rizal lived at No 2 Rednaxela Terrace from December 1891 to June 1892.