g Location
North Point (北角 Traditional Chinese) is an area located in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island.
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g History
In 1919, the Hongkong Electric Company started operation of the territory's second power station at North Point.
In the early 1940s, the area had a refugee camp housing Kuomintang soldiers. It also served as the site of North Point Camp, a Prisoner of War camp for captured Canadian soldiers during the Japanese occupation.
During the Chinese Civil War, a large number of the rich and middle class from Shanghai fled to Hong Kong to escape the turmoil of war. When the Communist Party took control of China in 1949, Shanghai businesses had moved directly to North Point. In 1950, North Point became known as "Little Shanghai", since in the minds of many, it has already become the replacement for the surrendered Shanghai in China.
The first wave of emigrants introduced Shanghai-style restaurants, beauty parlours and barbershops. They also learned Cantonese and intermarried with people of other dialect groups.
By the 1950s, North Point was the premiere place of residence for these emigrants, leading to a massive population boom. When the Guinness Book of Records was first published in the 1950s, North Point was listed as the most densely populated place on earth.
The first school in Hong Kong to use Mandarin as the main medium of instruction, Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School, was founded in North Point by these early Shanghainese immigrants. Shanghai at the time was heavily associated with leftist movements. Leftist-supported businesses in North Point such as the Sunbeam Theatre, showcasing Chinese Opera, are a legacy of their influence.
The second group that moved to North Point were the Fujianese, who were mostly displaced by political events in Southeast Asia. Small Indonesian specialist grocery shops selling coffee, coconuts, and bumbu are some of the remaining traces of their identity. The area became known as "Little Fujian".