Wan Chai

/wɑːn t͡ʃaɪ//wæn t͡ʃaɪ/

proper noun

A district of Hong Kong.

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Wanchai

  1. A district of Hong Kong.

    Unbeknownst to him, as he was taken into custody, the businessman had become a victim of drink spiking – a crime seen in Wan Chai, a district bristled with clubs and watering holes.

    2019 May 13, Jennifer Creery, “Dazed and confused: Hong Kong’s tourists at risk of drink spiking in Wan Chai”, in Hong Kong Free Press, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2024, HKFP Features
    1 more example

    As dusk fell, demonstrators in the Wan Chai district continued to toss Molotov cocktails at the police while the clanging of bricks on metal street signs — the protesters’ call to arms — echoed through a canyon of tall apartment buildings.

    2019 September 29, Mike Ives, Keith Bradsher, Andrew Jacobs, “Major Clashes Erupt in Hong Kong Ahead of China’s National Day”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2019
  2. An area of Wan Chai district, Hong Kong.

    The flavor of the event was clear from the outset. Police had planned various routes to bring Lam into and out of the stadium, a 3,500-seat indoor sports arena in the Wan Chai district, after forums online discussed blocking her path.

    2019 September 26, Shibani Mahtani, Tiffany Liang, “Hong Kong’s embattled leader faces barrage of criticism at ‘dialogue’ session”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2019, Asia & Pacific
    1 more example

    Four activists from the League of Social Democrats, a pro-democracy political party, staged a small protest near a polling station in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai neighborhood. The activists displayed banners that criticized using this "small circle election" to showcase "public opinion." The police stopped and searched the protesters.

    2021 September 19, “Hong Kong: 'Patriots only' election starts without pro-democracy candidates”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2021, News

Origin

  1. Cantonese灣仔 /湾仔
  2. EnglishWan Chai

From Cantonese 灣仔 /湾仔 (waan¹ zai²).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 灣仔區 /湾仔区, 灣仔 /湾仔
  • 灣仔區 /湾仔区 (waan¹ zai² keoi¹)district of Hong Kong
  • 灣仔 /湾仔 (waan¹ zai²)area in Hong Kong
Cite this entry
APA

Wan Chai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wan%20Chai

MLA

“Wan Chai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wan%20Chai. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Wan Chai,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wan%20Chai.

Source: Wan Chai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.