Hong Kong Island: Central - Hong Kong - page 161

Statue Square Statue Square offers views of Hong Kong's landmarks, including the Bank of China Tower.
Alexander Pols / Getty Images ©

HSBC Building

BUILDING

OLD BANK OF CHINA BUILDING
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 1 Bank St, Central; Central, exit K)
Constructed in 1950, the old Bank of China building now houses the bank's Central branch
and, on its top floors, the exclusive China Club , which evokes the atmosphere of old
Shanghai. The BOC is now headquartered in the awesome Bank of China Tower to the
southeast, designed by Chinese-born American architect IM Pei and completed in 1990.

HISTORIC BUILDING

FORMER LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BUILDING
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 8 Jackson Rd, Central; Central, exit G)
This colonnaded and domed building (c 1912) was built of granite quarried on Stonecutters
Island, and served as the seat of the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2012. During WWII it
was a headquarters of the Gendarmerie, the Japanese version of the Gestapo, and many
people were executed here. Standing atop the pediment is a blindfolded statue of Themis,
the Greek goddess of justice and natural law.