九龍
THE LEGEND
Nine Dragons · Kowloon · since 1278
It begins with a boy emperor.
A transliteration of the Chinese 九龍 — gau lung, "Nine Dragons" — Kowloon is named for the eight mountains that rear up behind the plateau. And one final dragon besides.
Eight hills. Nine dragons. One name that has lasted seven centuries.
The eight hills of Kowloon meet the city — the terrain the legend was named for.
1278 · The naming
EIGHT HILLS, AND ONE MORE
Legend says Kowloon was named in 1278 by the boy Emperor Bing of the Southern Song. Surveying the eight hills that ringed the plateau, the young king was pleased to call them the Eight Dragons.
A quick-witted courtier corrected him: the emperor himself was a dragon. That made nine.
"九龍" — and the name held.
The eight dragons
THE PEAKS THAT NAME THE RACE
Eight summits crown the Kowloon range. The 9 Dragons traces their backs — the ninth dragon is the one who runs them.
- 01Kowloon Peak飛鵝山
- 02Tung Shan東山
- 03Tate's Cairn大老山
- 04Temple Hill慈雲山
- 05Unicorn Ridge麒麟山
- 06Lion Rock獅子山
- 07Beacon Hill煙墩山
- 08Crow's Nest大窩坪
There was nowhere left to run.
1279 · The fall
THE LAST STAND
Bing's reign did not last. The boy had been crowned at Silvermine Bay on Lantau, the throne passing to him at seven after his elder brother died fleeing the Mongols.
One year on, the Song made their final stand. At the naval Battle of Yamen on 19 March 1279, some fifty Mongol warships shattered a Song fleet of more than a thousand. There was nowhere left to run.
Lu Xiufu, the emperor's most loyal statesman, lifted the eight-year-old king and leapt into the sea — in search of an honourable death. China was unified under Kublai Khan, and the sun rose on the Yuan.
You can still visit the Terrace of the Song Kings — Sung Wong Toi — in Kowloon City, where a carved rock marks the two short years the boy kings reigned in Hong Kong.
But the last emperor's legacy doesn't lie in a rock. It lies in those eight dragons.
The boy emperor who named a city.
From legend to race
RUN THE DRAGONS
Seven centuries later, the dragons still sleep above Kowloon. Once a year, runners trace their spines from peak to peak. Take on the ridgeline — and become the ninth.