Hiram's Highway

{{Short description|Road in Hong Kong}}

File:Hiram's Highway.jpg

File:Kau Sai San Tsuen 01.jpg.]]

Hiram's Highway ({{zh|first=t|t=西貢公路|sl=sai¹ gung³ gung¹ lo⁶}}) is a road in Hong Kong connecting the town of Sai Kung to the Clear Water Bay Road at Ta Ku Ling.{{cite book |title= Signs of a Colonial Era|last1= Yanne|first1=Andrew|last2= Heller|first2= Gillis|year= 2009|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|page=93 |location= |isbn= 9789622099449}} It also connects with Po Tung Road in the north. Unlike other roads in Hong Kong with the word "Highway" as part of their names, the Hiram's Highway is not an expressway.

The road's Chinese name literally means "Sai Kung Highway". It earned its English name from the officer in charge of the Royal Marines who upgraded a Japanese track in the immediate post Second World War years. Major John Wynne-Potts CBE was nicknamed Hiram because he shared the name "Potts" with the "Hiram K. Potts" American brand of tinned sausages. An embellishment of the story suggests he was "addicted" to the sausages.{{cite news|last1=Schoonakker|first1=Bonny|title=Slice of Life|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/594674/slice-life|accessdate=9 July 2014|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=29 May 2007}}

Japanese prisoners of war were deployed in the road's construction.{{cite news|last1=Sinclair|first1=Kevin|title=Highway in a bigger mess than in the days of Hiram's|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/369554/highway-bigger-mess-days-hirams|accessdate=9 July 2014|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=23 January 2002}} It was considered a reward to the people of Sai Kung for their resistance during the occupation.{{cite book|last1=Bray|first1=Denis|title=Hong Kong Metamorphosis|date=2001|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|location=Hong Kong|page=106|isbn= 9789622095502}}

A new straightened road, the New Hiram's Highway, near Nam Wai was opened in 2002 to provide an alternative route, bypassing a steep, twisty section of the original road.{{cite web |url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200207/10/0710077.htm |title=New Hiram's Highway opens to traffic |last= |first= |date=10 July 2002 |website=info.gov.hk |publisher=Government of Hong Kong |access-date= |quote=}}