Then the Opium War broke out in 1841. The British army occupied Hong Kong Island and, before long, put the city’s land for auction in Macau. Fifty plots of land in the northern coast of Hong Kong Island were parceled out for public bid, even though the war was yet to end. Henceforth, Ha Wan (i.e. Wan Chai), east to Central, practically became the territory of Dent & Co., the second largest trading house; East Point, i.e. the area around today’s East Point Road, Yee Wo Street, Paterson Street and Jardine’s Crescent in Causeway Bay, became the province of Jardines, who won the bid at over £500 million. These sites, coastal at that time, were all highly advantageous: the bay allowed vessels to harbour and ports to be built, the shore was fit for warehouse, and there were mounds admitting of residential use and rivulets ensuring water supply. Jardines, therefore, moved its headquarters from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, where a base was set up, with full-scale facilities ranging from the fleets, ports and warehouses to the factory, office building and staff dormitory. A battery was also maintained at the East Point coast for the huge Jardines fleet; it was later set to fire a gun at the sea everyday at noon. The “Noonday Gun” tradition was carried through to the present day, acted out at the Causeway Bay waterfront.
In those days you could find a grassy mound in the area around today’s Percival Street, Leighton Road and Yee Wo Street. It was called East Point Hill, renamed Jardine’s Lookout after the company’s acquisition. On its peak was built a splendid, two-storey mansion in European style, of the name “The Jardine Gardens”, served as the residence and office of the company’s tai-pan (meaning “the entrepreneur”). There were also a stable and a garden, where the upper-class ladies and gentlemen enjoyed their British high tea under the tender shade of the trees and the solicitous service of the stablemen, stewards and servants. With the Victoria Harbour in full view, The Jardine Gardens, like the Dent’s Spring Gardens in Wan Chai, was the upper-class “ballroom” of the days. At the foot of the hill, a stone gate was erected to guard the Jardine gentry in and out of the Gardens in carriages — don’t forget that motorcar was the future and the high society was still traveling by horses and carriages! What’s more, as The Jardine Gardens was adjacent to Happy Valley, the smart set was also in the habit of riding their own horses to the racecourse. The magnificent spectacle would have stupefied even the city’s Governor.
