Noonday Gun
The Noonday Gun (Chinese: 午炮) is a former naval gun mounted on a small enclosed site near the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. A gun has been mounted in this area since the 1860s. The original location was at East Point, which has long since disappeared due to land reclamation projects on the north side of the island.
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[edit] Origin
The tradition originated over an incident in the 1860s when Jardines, who had its main godowns and offices at East Point, had its private militia fire a gun salute to welcome a Jardines tai-pans' arrival by sea. Such a salute was reserved for government officials and senior officers of the armed services. As a result, Jardines was ordered to fire a gun every day at noon, for perpetuity.[1]
In 1941, during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese Imperial Army dismantled the cannon. When Hong Kong was liberated in 1945, the Royal Navy provided Jardines with a new gun with which to continue the tradition of the noon-day gun. On 1 July 1947, the Noonday gun was back in operation. The current gun is a Hotchkiss three-pounder that saw action in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War; the original 6-pound gun was lost during World War II[2].
[edit] Tourist attraction
Although British rule ended in Hong Kong in 1997, the tradition of the noonday gun is continued by Jardines to this day. A small crowd usually gathers for this daily event. Other than noon, the only time the gun is fired is at midnight on New Year's Eve.
It is accessed from a tunnel passing under the road from the basement car park in The Excelsior hotel (operated by Mandarin Oriental hotels, which is owned by Jardines). At the event a Jardines employee, in uniform, hands out leaflets describing the tradition of firing the gun.
[edit] In popular culture
The firing of the gun was famously mentioned in Noel Coward's humorous song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen".
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Jardines Noonday Gun |
- Noon Gun: Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa
- One O'Clock Gun: Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland.
[edit] References
- ^ Michael Ingham; Mike Ingham (17 May 2007). Hong Kong: a cultural history. Oxford University Press US. pp. 76–. ISBN 9780195314960. http://books.google.com/books?id=btcGcTXr6VYC&pg=PA76. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ Andrew Stone; Chung Wah Chow; Reggie Ho (15 January 2008). Hong Kong and Macau. Lonely Planet. pp. 73–. ISBN 9781741046656. http://books.google.com/books?id=PgJTSYeEnNkC&pg=PA73. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
Coordinates: 22°16′57″N 114°11′02″E / 22.28258°N 114.18390°E
