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Jose Rizal Hong Kong Historical Trail

Unknown to many Filipinos, Jose Rizal left Europe in 1891, with newly-published El Filibusterismo (published in Ghent, Belgium with the financial aid of Valentin Ventura. In the same note, Maximo Viola financed the publication of Rizal's first novel Noli me Tangere in Berlin) and his annotation of Dr. Antonio de Morga's "Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas," to live and practice medicine (opthalmology) in Hong Kong until 1892.

Rizal requested his family, persecuted and driven out of their home in Calamba by the Spanish friars aided by the guardia civil, to join him in Hong Kong.

Rizal's business card (right)on display at Rizal Shrine, Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila

these pictures of places where Rizal lived and held clinic officially marked by The Antiquities Authority of Hong Kong

Marker of Rizal's residence on Rednaxela Terrace (Rednaxela is Alexander spelled backwards attributed to a Chinese street sign painter who couldn't read English)



Written on the marker: "Dr. Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896) National hero of the Philippines Lived in this area with his family from December 1891 to June 1892."

Looking down on the granite steps where Rizal used to pass on his way to his clinic unaided by the escalators. (Try also to look for Health Cafe and Deli at 10 Shelley St. downstairs for healthy, organic treats)
the view of the present place upwards with the Central Mid-level escalators, the longest outdoor covered escalator in the world, in view plus the nearby Orange Tree Restaurant

the granite steps near Lyndhurst Terrace and marker #13 of the Sun Yat-Sen Historical Trail. The old buildings are gone but these are almost the same granite steps hurdled by Rizal more than a hundred years ago.

It is noteworthy that when Rizal was living in Hong Kong, Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), instrumental in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and acknowledged as the father of modern China, was studying medicine at the nearby Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese.

Rizal and Sun Yat-sen might have crossed paths in Hong Kong!



Going down from Rednaxela Terrace, passing through Shelley street, and Hollywood Road going to D'Aguilar Street, you'll see the marker (above) on Century Square, where Rizal's clinic used to stand.

marker states:

"Dr. Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896)
Philippine physician, poet, author and patriot practised medicine in 1891-92 in a clinic which once stood on this site"



A view of D'Aguilar environs. Modern Hong Kong does it's usual business in a hurried pace.

With thousands of Filipinos living and working in Hong Kong, it's a shame if they just pass by the marker oblivious of the man who once practiced medicine there.

Tutubi would love to thank ms. Isabel Escoda, a Hong Kong-based writer and Inquirer contributor, for guiding him in Hong Kong to these historical markers.

How to go to there:

The Mid-level escalators that pass through Rednaxela terrace can be reached via MTR at Central station Exit C. The marker on Rednaxela is near Orange Tree Restaurant whose location map on their website will guide you there. The former clinic location is near Lan Kwai Fong.