Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre.

As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay.

[neutrality is disputed] There are various landmarks and skyscrapers within the area, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre.Wan Chai originally began as Ha Wan (下環), literally meaning "a bottom ring" or "lower circuit".

Wan Chai was the first home to many Chinese villagers living along the undisturbed coastlines in proximity to Hung Shing Temple.

[2] With the growth of the British Hong Kong administration, centred in old Victoria (modern Central), Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as "coolie" workers, who came to live on Queen's Road East.

There were abundant incidents of cannibalism, starvation, torture and abuses of the local population by the Japanese soldiers, including the illegal use of child labour.

Senior residents could recall vividly how they survived the hardships: this oral history became an important, first-hand source of the harsh living conditions in Hong Kong under the Japanese period.

[6] During the 1950s, the pro-Communist underground cell network Hailiushe (海流社) established their headquarters at the rooftop of a multi-story house on Spring Garden Lane.

[citation needed] In the 1960s, Wan Chai became legendary for its exotic night life, especially for the US servicemen resting there during the War in Vietnam.

[1] Despite rapid changes of Wan Chai's demography due to reclamation and redevelopment, the presence of sex workers operating among ordinary residential areas has continued to be a distinctive feature.

The WTO Ministerial Conference in 2005 was also one of the largest international events hosted in Hong Kong, with delegates from 148 countries participating.

In May 2009, 300 guests and staff members at the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai were quarantined, suspected of being infected or in contact with the H1N1 virus during the global outbreak of swine flu.

Every year the academy produces a number of Broadway musicals, including Singin' in the Rain, Saturday Night Fever, and Annie.

[17] Southorn Playground on Johnston Road (the tram line) is a meeting place for the locals in Wan Chai, particularly the senior residents.

During the prime years of the British colonial administration, coolie workers would convene at the playground in the morning to await employment opportunities.

Occasionally, the entire playground is used for carnival fairs, three-player drill basketball contests and hip hop dance competitions.

Wan Chai's places of worship represent Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Christianity, Mormonism, Sikhism, and Islam.

[18] The Asia Area Office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with chapels where multiple congregations meet throughout the week, is on Gloucester Road.

Tai Fat Hau footbridge also holds an art display of the fingerprints of 30,000 citizens slated for the Guinness Book of World Records.

[citation needed] The sticker pictures on 50 poles of the bridge have been colloquially called the "50 landscapes of Wan Chai" (灣仔五十景).

Lovers' Rock reclines on the hillside of Bowen Road near Shiu Fai Terrace, mid-levels Wan Chai.

At the same time, buildings like the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, HKCEC, and Central Plaza were constructed on the newly reclaimed land.

Many local residents have relocation worries such as whether the Urban Renewal Authority can compensate enough to put them in a new space of equal size.

[21] The reclamation comprises three discrete development areas to be aligned by public parks, namely, Central, Tamar and Exhibition.

Frequent services cross the Victoria Harbour from HKCEC, Wan Chai to the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.

In light of more convenient and competitive cross-harbour public transportation, the Star Ferry continues to provide an inexpensive option to local commuters.

Prior to the tunnel's opening in 1972, local drivers and pedestrians depended solely upon the Star Ferry services to cross the Victoria Harbour.

An extension project was carried out in the early 2000s; it created two additional entrances/exits, one of which connects to the footbridge network from the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre to the station.

The East Rail line was extended from Hung Hom to Admiralty in 2022 as part of the Shatin to Central Link project, with a newly built station near the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Red minibuses run with government licence but on non-scheduled services, casually connecting regular travellers and commuters to specific urban areas across Hong Kong Island.