Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀天星码头

About Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui

Green-and-white ferries connect this Kowloon frontage with Central and Wan Chai, giving changing views of both shores during an ordinary crossing. Beside the terminal, the Clock Tower and Cultural Centre introduce a waterfront walk. Decide which destination you need before entering the gates: the two crossings lead to different parts of Hong Kong Island.

The ferry service began in 1880 when Mithaiwala (米泰华拉), a Parsi entrepreneur, founded the Kowloon Ferry Company to carry passengers between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central. The Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf company acquired it in 1898 and renamed it Star Ferry; the fleet consisted of five single-deck, coal-fired boats running every 40 minutes for a fare of five cents.

A wooden pier was built at Kowloon Point (九龙角) near the present Ocean Terminal in 1904, completed in 1906, and destroyed by a typhoon that September; it was rebuilt farther south and reopened in 1911. Reconstruction of this pier began in July 1954, alongside rebuilding of the adjacent Kowloon Public Pier, completed on 2 October 1955; the twin-pier terminal was finished in 1957. In August 1979 a Greek cargo ship, driven by Typhoon Hope, struck the pier and ran aground nearby, badly damaging it and closing it for weeks.

The pier shares the plain, practical Streamline Moderne style of the contemporary Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier that once stood across the harbour; because the nearby Clock Tower already marks the waterfront, the pier building itself has no clock tower. Since 2003 it has served as one of four stops on the Star Ferry Harbour Tour, on which visitors ride a replica of a 1920s ferry, the Shining Star (辉星号), around Victoria Harbour.

What to look for

• The green-and-white ferries give a moving view of both harbour shores.
• The nearby Clock Tower and Cultural Centre frame the landside waterfront.

Location & getting there

Getting to Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui

Go to the Star Ferry Pier on Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. For an arrival by water, the Central service uses Pier 7 on Man Kwong Street; Wan Chai departures use the pier on Hung Hing Road. Check the destination and current sailing information at the gate.