A man walks past graffiti of the kung fu star Bruce Lee in Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan area, Hong Kong on May 5, 2023. — ANN Photo

HONG KONG — Hollywood Road in Central, the building of which began over 180 years ago and which is one of Hong Kong’s oldest streets, was picked as the second-coolest street in the world by London-based Time Out magazine, second only to Australian city Melbourne’s High Street.

The annual ranking of the world’s coolest street, released on Wednesday, is based on local polls and on the expertise of local editors, according to the magazine.

Time Out said that Hollywood Road pocketed the title because it has many elements that make a street cool. It has a long history. It was built in the 1840s, but is still changing and offering something new, the magazine added.

The one-km street, which connects Central and Sheung Wan, is lined with a mixture of restaurants, bars, antique shops and art galleries, and provides access to other charming old streets in the district such as Wyndham Street, said Time Out.

Hollywood Road was one of the earliest streets to be built in the city’s colonial era. The street has no connection with the famous Hollywood in the United States, and was completed decades before the movie hub emerged and forged its reputation in the 1910s.

There are several theories about the origin of the road’s name. One is that many holly trees were planted near the road at the time of its construction.

Other top 10 streets on this year’s list include the East Eleventh in Austin, the US; Lisbon’s Rua da Boavista in Portugal; and the Chazawa-dori in Tokyo, Japan.

The magazine also ranked Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan as the seventh-coolest street in the world in 2022. — ANN