Kowloon

The name 'Kowloon' is thought to have originated when the last emperor of the Song dynasty passed through the area during his flight from the Mongols in the late 13th century. He is said to have counted eight peaks on the peninsula and concluded that there must therefore be eight dragons there. But the young emperor was reminded that with he himself present, there were actually nine dragons. Kowloon is thus derived from the Cantonese words gau, meaning 'nine' and lung, meaning 'dragon'.