1 Shanghai Street
Contrary to a more popular explanation, Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei was not named so because of its Shanghainese population. Rather, its name change in 1909 from its previous one of Station Street was to avoid confusion—there was already a lane called Upper Station Street on the Island side. But why call it Shanghai, then?
Turns out, the British colonial government had a spot of rivalry, as they thought that Hong Kong’s Shanghai Street area was as prosperous as the famed port city of Shanghai in China back then. They weren’t wrong, as the Shanghai Street area was a densely populated business corridor, with over a hundred shops that sold traditional wedding dresses, feng shui tools, and more. Its neighbour, Canton Road, was similarly renamed to avoid confusion, and not because of its Cantonese population—though the Chinese and English names refer to different places, as the translator mistook Guangdong (廣東) for the city of Canton (廣州).