# Yee Wo Street

Yee Wo Street (Chinese: 怡和街; Cantonese Yale: yi4 wo2 gaai1) is a street, actually a thoroughfare nowaday, on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, situated in the area of East Point in the early colonial history and the area of Causeway Bay after World War II. It connects Hennessy Road to the west and Causeway Road to the east, functioning as an aorta on metropolitan island side. Hong Kong Tramways pass through it, numerous bus routes run and stop on it.
Its great junction with Hennessy Road, where East Point Road, Great George Street, Jardine's Bazaar and Jardine's Crescent meet, is one of the busiest junctions in Hong Kong. Sogo Causeway Bay is the most visible feature at the junction. The street joins Paterson Street and Sugar Street on the north side and Pennington Street south. Its east end is also a great junction with Causeway Bay Terminus of the trams, where Causeway Road, Gloucester Road, Irving Street, Leighton Road and Tung Lo Wan Road meet. Regal Hong Kong Hotel is situated at this end as well.
Built in 1965, the circular footbridge, given a number HF85 and having no fixed name, in the middle of the street erects over the junction with Sugar Street and Pennington Street is a tourist and cinematic feature in the area. It was known by several name such as Yee Wo Street Footbridge, Yee Wo Street Circular Pedestrian Bridge, Causeway Round Pedestrian Bridge and so on.
Like most of the area, the street is surrounded by skyscrapers. Lacking of large shopping centres in the middle make it less prominent shopping street comparing to Hennessy Road and Great George Street. But it does not mean it is less busy. Over a million people walk through the street each day, with a great number of passengers of buses and trams boarding and alighting on the street. Building like Hang Seng Causeway Bay Building and McDonald's Building as attracting doctors operates private clinics inside.
The origin street, long before it was named, ran naturally along the original coastline of Causeway Bay east of East Point. The place was under its landlord Jardine, Matheson and Company which dominated the development of the area from 1841. In 1842 it adopt the Chinese name, 怡和, /jy wɔ/, transcribed as Ewo which became Yee Wo reflecting on the street name. The shore along the street and East Point was later reclaimed. The street got its present name no later than 1889. Over time the street was straightened and widened, and finally got its present shape around 1920s.

## Name

Yeewo was the Cantonese name of a Qing dynasty hong established by Wǔ Guóyíng (simplified Chinese: 五国莹; traditional Chinese: 伍國瑩) in Canton in 1783, which later became the leader of the cohong of the Thirteen Factories under the stewardship of Howqua, who took over in 1803. The name was later used by trading company Jardine, Matheson & Co., owners of much land in East Point in the early days of Hong Kong.
The road was renamed "Kasuga-dori" (春日通) during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. After the surrender and evacuation of the Japanese army, the name was reverted.

## Features

The street begins west at Hennessy Road and ends east in Causeway Road. It hosts a section of Hong Kong Tramways and its Causeway Bay terminus. During the 2014 Hong Kong protests (aka "Umbrella Revolution"), substantial tracts of the area were occupied by suffragists.