First and Last (only) Noonday Gun in Hongkong
Posted by: 
PINOY01
N 22° 16.952 E 114° 11.032
50Q E 209811 N 2466806
First and Last (only) Hongkong NoonDay Gun, of Noel Coward song fame, and Rudyard Kipling originally.
Noon Day Gun
MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit D1, walk along Lockhart Road to Cannon Street. Walk along Jaffe Road to World Trade Centre. Access through a tunnel next to the hotel, in front of World Trade Centre.
Waymark Code: WM9A9J
Location: Hong Kong
Date Posted: 07/21/2010
Views: 38
The Noonday Gun is a former naval gun mounted on a small enclosed site near the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. A gun has been mounted in this area since the 1860s. The original location was at East Point, which has long since disappeared due to land reclamation projects on the north side of the island.
The tradition seems to have originated over an incident in the 1860s when Jardines, who had their main godowns and offices at East Point, had their private militia fire a gun salute to welcome the tai pans arrival by sea. The Royal Navy thought that such a salute should be reserved only for government officials or senior officers of the armed services. In penance, Jardines has been required to fire a gun at noon ever since, to serve as a time signal.
In 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army occupied Hong Kong and dismantled the cannon. When Hong Kong was liberated in 1945, the Royal Navy gave Jardines another cannon, so that the noon-day gun tradition could continue. On 1 July 1947, the Noonday gun was back in operation. The current gun is a Hotchkiss three-pounder that saw action in the First World War during the Battle of Jutland.
Although British rule ended in Hong Kong in 1997, the tradition of the noonday gun is continued by Jardines in perpetuity. A small crowd usually gathers for this daily event. Apart from noon, the only other time the gun is fired is at midnight on New Year's Eve. During this event, employees of Jardine Matheson and invited guests attend and partake in Scottish highland dancing, which reflect the cultural origins of the firm.
To watch the event, people must make their way to the enclosure - the easiest way to get there is to take the tunnel under the road from the basement car park in The Excelsior hotel. The Excelsior itself is owned by Mandarin Oriental hotels, which itself is a part of Jardines. At the event, the Jardines man, who wears a Jardines uniform, hands out leaflets to those gathered which describe Jardines version of the background to the gun firing.
The firing of the gun was famously mentioned in Noel Coward's humorous song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" -- "... Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to, Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve till one. But Englishmen detest-a siesta. In the Philipines they have lovely screens to protect you from the glare ...In Hong Kong, they strike a gong and fire off a noonday gun ..."
Noel Coward is thought to have gotten his inspiration from Rudyard Kipling -- "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun ..."
Joe Cocker had a best selling album titled "Mad Dogs and Englishmen"
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