It was initially named as Elgin Street but its name changed in 1909 to Haiphong,[2] a city in Vietnam to avoid confusion with another Elgin Street on the Hong Kong Island. As such, it is one of the few streets in Hong Kong not named for a Chinese or English subject. Along with Nathan Road it was one of the first two streets laid out in Tsim Sha Tsui.[3] Indian merchants, mostly Hindus from the province of Sindh, began establishing shops on the street in the 1920s, supplying Indian goods to soldiers stationed in the adjacent Whitfield Barracks.[4]
Features
Significant locations along this street include the Fok Tak Temple, a century-old temple site that was "once the centre for worship for Kowloon residents";[3] the Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre;[4] and the Haiphong Road Temporary Market, thought to be the oldest such market in Hong Kong.[3][4]
