Photo of the day No. 45 - Rednaxela Terrace Hong Kong
The curious case of Rednaxela Terrace in the Mid Levels
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.
I have personally completed 2,340+ Private Tours and Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.
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Photo of the day No. 45 - Rednaxela Terrace Hong Kong
The curious case of Rednaxela Terrace in the Mid Levels
The curious case of Rednaxela Terrace and the world according to Grok
click on the image to enlarge
This is a tale of two things :
the curious case of the weird street name Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong and why it so named
why relying on Wikipedia in the stone age was bad and why Grok it’s superior AI replacement cannot be trusted either
and yes, the two subjects are linked
Being a Private Tour Guide means that you have to be a storyteller and I can tell you now the learning never stops, there is so much written about Hong Kong, it has a unique and colourful history and it can all be a little overwhelming.
The one thing I learnt very early on after Wikipedia started in 2001 was you could NOT trust Wikipedia search results and 24 years on I still ignore it, I prefer to do my research with tried and trusted online sources with proper researchers who will read multiple “articles” and cross check the data.
One of the things that many search engines (except Google) get wrong is a bit of actual Hong Kong history
British soldiers planted the flag on 26th January 1841 and claimed Hong Kong Island for Britain
the actual treaty was not signed until 29th August 1842
the treaty became effective on 26th June 1843
Everyone simply refers to the treaty signed in 1942 but in fact Britain was governing Hong Kong and building houses, roads and such after January 26th 1841 - just something to bear in mind and this has a zillion articles and documents on the subject
I have told the story about Rednaxela Terrace many, many times over the years and it really became a mainstream subject for residents and visitors after the Mid Levels Escalator opened in 1993 - you can get off the escalator right next to the sign! prior to the Escalator being built foot traffic in the area was minimal due to the many steep steps you needed to navigate the area.
I can be creative when I tell stories, when it comes to Rednaxela Terrace I offer up an extension of the theory that Rednaxela is just Alexander written backwards and that is the sign writer (who was Chinese) could have been drunk, high on opium or just “pi**ed off” with his boss and wrote it backwards as a joke… all 3 are plausible and would explain the error in writing the name, take your pick as they say!
To save me writing the explanation of the story you can read the Grok Text below, it is largely accurate but has some issues as well and just the way it was written, well you know immediately it was not written by a human and a lot of the source material is from Wikipedia.
We have had a lively discussion on our Private Tour Guides group chat this evening and generally when it comes to AI some of us are worried about AI making us human tour guides obsolete, my comment to that, is NOT in this lifetime or the next.
The problem is an easy one to explain | If you are a long term Hong Kong resident you have had a lifetime of accumulating knowledge and I for one started using Google in 1998 when it was officially launched, to an information junkie it is heaven on earth… so I have always used Google for research and when 20 articles from 20 writers in 20 online magazines tell the same story then the facts are pretty clear. i am a thorough researcher and double check and triple check everything.
As such when you read the Grok explanation below one assertion is totally wrong and it stands out immediately to anyone with even a little knowledge of Hong Kong history.
An alternative theory links the name to Robert Alexander Young, an abolitionist who used “Rednaxela” in his 1829 work, Ethiopian Manifesto.
This is the obvious mistake (and maybe Grok picked it up from it’s search of Wikipedia!)
This chap Robert Alexander Young may have been real he may have been made up but in 1829 Hong Kong was part of China, the British did not plant the flag until 1841 so it is highly improbable that a road was named after a chap that wrote a book on Ethiopia and referenced the word Alexander
The fact is there are historical records from the 19th Century that clearly state that the it was originally called Alexander Terrace and not Rednaxela Terrace, the mistake happened later and was recorded officially
From my perspective it is the accepted story and the subsequent clerical error are 100% plausible,
Now it is possible that many people will say that the reference to it in a book written in `1829 is also plausible but I feel that it is such a tenuous link that it should be discarded and just causes confusion, there is NO evidence that this chap lived in Hong Kong and my understanding is that the Hong Kong Government would NOT name a street | road with the middle name of someone that nobody even recognised.
It is more than likely that Alexander Terrace was named after this individual
“William Hastings Alexander, a colonial official who served as Registrar and acting Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong during the 1860s. His prominence in the colonial administration makes him a plausible candidate for having property named after him, though no direct evidence confirms he owned land on Rednaxela Terrace”
This individual was NOT referenced in the Grok search results
So there you have it, a Hong Kong Urban Legend explained.
The World according to Grok
The data was collated by the AI Engine Grok in response to my query about Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong | my conclusion is DO NOT believe everything that AI spits out, there are mistakes and inaccuracies and sometimes the context is ignored - something to bear in mind.
The text below is the result of a search request I did for “Rednaxela Terrace Hong Kong” on the AI Search Engine Grok
“Rednaxela Terrace is a pedestrian-only street in the Mid-Levels district of Hong Kong, stretching 63 meters between Shelley Street to the west and Peel Street to the east. Its unusual name has sparked curiosity and debate, with no definitive origin but several plausible explanations rooted in Hong Kong’s colonial history and linguistic quirks.
The most widely accepted theory is that Rednaxela Terrace was meant to be named “Alexander Terrace” after a Mr. Alexander, who likely owned property in the area during the 19th century. At the time, Chinese script was often written right-to-left, and a transliteration error by a clerk or sign-painter may have reversed the English name “Alexander” to “Rednaxela.” This mistake was never corrected, and the name stuck. Hong Kong government records support this, showing “Alexander Terrace” listed in 1884, but by 1898, it had become “Rednaxela Terrace.” The error is plausible given that naming mistakes in colonial Hong Kong often stemmed from transliteration issues, though some argue a right-to-left transposition is unlikely under bureaucratic oversight.
An alternative theory links the name to Robert Alexander Young, an abolitionist who used “Rednaxela” in his 1829 work, Ethiopian Manifesto. The Chinese transliteration may have adopted this name, and it was retained by the neighborhood without further changes. However, this connection is less substantiated, as no direct evidence ties Young to Hong Kong.The street gained historical significance as the residence of José Rizal, the Filipino revolutionary and national hero, who lived with his family at Number 2 from December 1891 to June 1892. Rizal operated an ophthalmology clinic on D’Aguilar Street in Central during this period, finding Hong Kong a safe haven for political activism, as did other revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen and Ho Chi Minh. In 2004,
the Hong Kong government erected a commemorative plaque at the intersection of Rednaxela Terrace and Shelley Street to honor Rizal. Another notable resident was Dr. Lourenço Pereira Marques, a prominent Portuguese figure who lived there and was involved in combating the bubonic plague in Hong Kong from 1894.Rednaxela Terrace is also home to a few residential buildings, including The Rednaxela, a 25-storey high-rise developed by Yu Tai Hing Company Ltd., completed in 1998 with 75 units, and ACTS Rednaxela at No. 8, developed by Goldig Investment Group. Its proximity to the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, the world’s longest outdoor covered escalator system, and amenities like supermarkets and public transport (about 14–15 minutes’ walk to the MTR), makes it a convenient location for residents and expatriates.The street’s history reflects Hong Kong’s colonial past, linguistic blending, and its role as a hub for notable figures. Its quirky name, whether a clerical error or a nod to an abolitionist, adds to its charm in the city’s evolving narrative.”
click on the image to enlarge.
This sign is directly next to the Rednaxela Terrace street sign, it does not tell much of a story does it! the Grok explanation above is really all you need to know.
My insider tip
Please note that in general if you book a tour on Viator or Tripadvisor you generally have NO control over what guide will lead your Private Tour of Hong Kong and this is the most important component of the tour. I urge you to check the actual company website and book via their website and do not forget to read Tripadvisor reviews as well.
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