皇后碼頭 Queen's Pier

皇后碼頭

由於港島北岸填海計劃，大會堂前大家熟悉的中環海旁皇后碼頭，不久將會遷拆，旁邊的天星小輪碼頭亦已經消失。

皇后碼頭是一個可供小型船隻泊岸上落客的公眾碼頭。首座皇后碼頭於1925年興建，其位置在今日皇后像廣場及香港文華東方酒店附近，當時建有拱門及鋼鐵上蓋。1953年中環進行填海工程，皇后碼頭與天星碼頭同被搬遷至今日的位置。

殖民地時代的皇后碼頭是香港政府官員及英國皇室成員使用的碼頭。歷任港督上任，傳統上都是乘坐港督遊艇慕蓮夫人號在皇后碼頭上岸，之後在愛丁堡廣場舉行就職儀式。1925年金文泰是首位在皇后碼頭上岸的港督。1975年英女皇伊利沙伯二世首次訪香港，亦乘坐慕蓮夫人號渡過維多利亞港於皇后碼頭上岸。

皇后碼頭一直為市民提供著坐船出海、休閒釣魚、拍拖時憑欄遠眺夜景的功能，亦曾是渡海泳的終點。由於鄰近大會堂婚姻註冊處，亦拍攝結婚照的熱門地點，令此處累積了大量普羅大眾不可分割的集體回憶。

Queen's Pier

The Queen's Pier at Edinburgh Square, Central, together with Star Ferry Pier , will be demolished as a result of land reclamation along the north shore of Hong Kong Island.

The pier functions as a public pier for small size boats. The original Queen's Pier was bilut in 1925, located at the site next to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, with a archway and a steel roof. It was moved to its present site as a result of the 1953 land reclamation project.

In colonial time, the Queen's Pier was used by the British colonial officers and the royal family. It was tradtionally the landing place of the British governors of Hong Kong when they arrived at Hong Kong on the governor's yacht, the Lady Maurine. Sir Clementi was the first governor that landed at Queen's Pier in 1925. When Queen Elizabeth II visited Hong Kong for the first time in 1975, she also landed at the Queen's Pier after crossing the Victoria harbour.

The pier has long been used by the Hong Kong citizens as the place for taking cruising trips, pier fishing and evening dating, and used to be the finishing point of the cross-harbour swimming gala. Since it is located right next to City Hall Marriage Registry, it is also a popular spot for wedding pictures. The Queen's Pier embedded firmly in the collective memories of many Hong Kong poeple.