Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations a deeply important role in the formation of the modern Hong Kong. Sovereignty of Hong Kong was ceded to the UK "in perpetuity" on 29 August 1842 through the Treaty of Nanking. The UK further expanded the territory of Hong Kong in 1860 by another cessation, plus a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. The stability, security, and predictability of British law and government enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a centre for international trade. Localisation of teritary institutions, the Hong Kong government and the independent Judiciary in the run-up to the 1997 Handover of sovereignty, caused a
Queen's Road, Hong Kong runs between Wan Chai and Happy Valley. At the western end, Queen's Road East starts at a fork junction with Queensway and Hennessy Road near Justice Drive. Although situated inland and south of five trunk routes (Gloucester Road, Jaffe Road, Lockhart Road, Hennessy Road and Johnston Road) from the Victoria Harbour, Queen's Road East runs along the old, original shoreline of Hong Kong Island. Queen's Road has become an icon of the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. During the transition period before sovereignty transfer, there were rumours that all streets and roads named after the British and Commonwealth colonial