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The fair
In the days before Chinese New Year the park hosts a fair
In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, Victoria Park hosts the annual Lunar New Year Fair, which also includes a plant market. The park is Hong Kong's most popular public park, drawing more visitors each year than Hong Kong Park and Kowloon Park combined. It is open all year and free of admission charge.
190,000square metres of park in Causeway Bay
The old shelter
The park stands where fishing boats once sheltered from typhoons
Previously the site was the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, used by small fishing boats and yachts during typhoon seasons. In the 1950s the former bay was filled in and the shoreline pushed north, and the government decided to create a public park on the newly reclaimed land. The park officially opened in October 1957.
The statue
Queen Victoria's statue came back from Japan after the war
The statue was cast in Pimlico, London, and first stood in Central District. During the Japanese occupation it was transferred to Japan to be melted down, but it was retrieved after World War II and restored. In 1955 it was moved to the park that bears the queen's name, where it overlooks the football pitches.
The weekends
Sundays and the streets beside the park belong to its regulars
After the major renovation between 2000 and 2002, the park grew more popular, especially among Indonesian domestic workers. Sugar Street, next to the park, is home to numerous Indonesian food, spice, book, magazine and music shops. Every Sunday, the Arts Corner in South Pavilion Square has artists selling their works, souvenirs and paintings, except when there are citywide events.
The park now
A new road through the park brought a public outcry
In 2014 work began on a slip road for the bypass at the northern end of the park, and it sparked public outcry. Local councillors and residents alleged they had not been informed that the road would cut through the park. In March 2015 the works unearthed unexploded ordnance dating from World War II, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force was called in.
Day 1, morning
Next is Hollywood Road.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Victoria Park (Hong Kong), and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.