Cha Kwo Ling
Encyclopedia
Cha Kwo Ling is a hill in the eastern New Kowloon
of Hong Kong
, and the area around it. It is adjacent to Victoria Harbour
and located to the west of Yau Tong
and southwest of Lam Tin
. Administratively, it belongs to the Kwun Tong District
. The northeastern entrance to the Eastern Harbour Crossing
is located in this area.
The Cha Kwo Ling Village (茶果嶺村), described as one of the last squatter villages
in Hong Kong, has a population of approximately 2,400. It is located approximately 1.4 km northwest of Lei Yue Mun
, adjacent to the Laguna City
development. It lies at the foot of the hill and stretches along Cha Kwo Ling Road, which was built on reclaimed land
and separates the village from the coast.
settlement after the establishment of Victoria City
in 1841. The foundation of city drew a large demand of stone. Skillful Hakka people set up a quarry
in the stone-rich Cha Kwo Ling. It was one of four quarry hills and one of the 13 major village districts in eastern New Kowloon. The usage of new building materials later made the demand for stone drop. The population profile changed during the Civil War in China
, when penniless refugees from mainland China settled in and around the original mining village, building makeshift shacks in a maze of dark alleys. At its peak between the 1950s and the 1970s, the village had a population of about 20,0000. Between 1983 and 2006, three big fires burned down many of the squatter houses and many villagers were relocated to public housing estates
.
There is a Tin Hau Temple
along Cha Kwo Ling Road, next to Cha Kwo Ling Village. Initially built near the coast in Cha Kwo Ling in 1825, during the Qing Dynasty
, it was destroyed by a typhoon in 1912. The image of Tin Hau was then transferred to a shack nearby and remained there for thirty years. A new temple was built on the old site in 1941 with funds raised by the local villagers of Si Shan (四山, literally "four hills" composing four villages in the area, namely, Lei Yue Mun
, Ngau Tau Kok
, Sai Tso Wan and Cha Kwo Ling). However, the temple was demolished in 1947 to give way for the construction of an oil tank of Asiatic Petroleum Company
(South China) Limited. At the request of the local residents, a new temple was built at the present site. The current temple opened officially in 1948. It has been managed by the Chinese Temples Committee
since then. The building is constructed of granite
blocks, which is uncommon in Hong Kong. Its roofs have been covered with brown ceramic tiles in a 1999 renovation.
Two rocks stand in front of the Tin Hau Temple. Shaped like two testicles, they have been named "Fung Shui Rocks", "Child-Giving Rocks" or "Stone of Fertility", and are believed to bless those who pray to them for sons.
Law Mansion (羅氏大屋), located at Nos. 50A, 51 & 51A Cha Kwo Ling Road, is a village house in the centre of Cha Kwo Ling Village. Constructed in 1855 of locally quarried granite, it is the oldest surviving residential building in Cha Kwo Ling.
stations are Lam Tin Station and Yau Tong Station. Minibus
lines connect Cha Kwo Ling to the stations.
New Kowloon
New Kowloon is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak...
of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and the area around it. It is adjacent to Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent...
and located to the west of Yau Tong
Yau Tong
Yau Tong is an area in the eastern Kowloon, Hong Kong, located between Lei Yue Mun and Lam Tin, at the east shore of Victoria Harbour. Administratively, it is under Kwun Tong District....
and southwest of Lam Tin
Lam Tin
Lam Tin is an area in the Kwun Tong District in southeastern New Kowloon, Hong Kong. Lam Tin is primarily a residential area, though it also hosts a major transport interchange and the location of several renowned shopping attractions. Lam Tin was once a large field in the vicinity of Kowloon Bay....
. Administratively, it belongs to the Kwun Tong District
Kwun Tong District
Kwun Tong is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon. It had a population of 562,427 in 2001. The district has the third highest population while the income is below average....
. The northeastern entrance to the Eastern Harbour Crossing
Eastern Harbour Crossing
The Eastern Harbour Crossing, abbreviated as "EHC" , is a tunnel in Hong Kong. It is a combined road and MTR rail link under Victoria Harbour between Quarry Bay in Hong Kong Island and Cha Kwo Ling in Kowloon.- History :...
is located in this area.
The Cha Kwo Ling Village (茶果嶺村), described as one of the last squatter villages
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
in Hong Kong, has a population of approximately 2,400. It is located approximately 1.4 km northwest of Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun is a short channel in Hong Kong, between Junk Bay and Victoria Harbour, separating Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The channel is an important passage in the South China Sea. It is the east gate of Victoria Harbour.The lands around the channel are also called Lei Yue Mun...
, adjacent to the Laguna City
Laguna City
Laguna City was one of the earliest large-scale private-housing estates built in Lam Tin, Kwun Tong District, in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was developed jointly by Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa Property and completed in the early 1990s....
development. It lies at the foot of the hill and stretches along Cha Kwo Ling Road, which was built on reclaimed land
Land reclamation in Hong Kong
Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...
and separates the village from the coast.
History
Cha Kwo Ling Village was established before Hong Kong became a British colony. Cha Kwo Ling became a major HakkaHakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
settlement after the establishment of Victoria City
Victoria City
Victoria, Victoria City, or statutorily, the City of Victoria, was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong after it became a British colony in 1842. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon known as Victoria...
in 1841. The foundation of city drew a large demand of stone. Skillful Hakka people set up a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
in the stone-rich Cha Kwo Ling. It was one of four quarry hills and one of the 13 major village districts in eastern New Kowloon. The usage of new building materials later made the demand for stone drop. The population profile changed during the Civil War in China
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, when penniless refugees from mainland China settled in and around the original mining village, building makeshift shacks in a maze of dark alleys. At its peak between the 1950s and the 1970s, the village had a population of about 20,0000. Between 1983 and 2006, three big fires burned down many of the squatter houses and many villagers were relocated to public housing estates
Public housing in Hong Kong
Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower-income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the population now residing in some form of public housing...
.
Features
Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong
Over 70 temples are dedicated to Tin Hau in Hong Kong. They include:* Tin Hau temple, located at 10 Tin Hau Temple Road, Causeway Bay, east of Victoria Park, in Eastern District, on Hong Kong Island. It is a declared monument. The temple has given its name to the MTR station serving it .* The Tin...
along Cha Kwo Ling Road, next to Cha Kwo Ling Village. Initially built near the coast in Cha Kwo Ling in 1825, during the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, it was destroyed by a typhoon in 1912. The image of Tin Hau was then transferred to a shack nearby and remained there for thirty years. A new temple was built on the old site in 1941 with funds raised by the local villagers of Si Shan (四山, literally "four hills" composing four villages in the area, namely, Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun is a short channel in Hong Kong, between Junk Bay and Victoria Harbour, separating Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The channel is an important passage in the South China Sea. It is the east gate of Victoria Harbour.The lands around the channel are also called Lei Yue Mun...
, Ngau Tau Kok
Ngau Tau Kok
Ngau Tau Kok is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, located at the northern part of Kwun Tong District, next to Kowloon Bay. It covers Jordan Valley, Ngau Tau Kok and Upper Kwun Tong town centre. The population of Ngau Tau Kok exceeds 210,000...
, Sai Tso Wan and Cha Kwo Ling). However, the temple was demolished in 1947 to give way for the construction of an oil tank of Asiatic Petroleum Company
Asiatic Petroleum Company
Asiatic Petroleum Company was a joint venture between the Shell and Royal Dutch oil companies founded in 1903. It operated in Asia in the early twentieth century. The corporate headquarters were on The Bund in Shanghai, China. The division tested the limits of corporate liability in the Lennard's...
(South China) Limited. At the request of the local residents, a new temple was built at the present site. The current temple opened officially in 1948. It has been managed by the Chinese Temples Committee
Chinese Temples Committee
The Chinese Temples Committee is a statutory body in Hong Kong established under the Chinese Temples Ordinance . It is mainly responsible for the operation and management of twenty-four temples directly under its management. It also handles temple registration...
since then. The building is constructed of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
blocks, which is uncommon in Hong Kong. Its roofs have been covered with brown ceramic tiles in a 1999 renovation.
Two rocks stand in front of the Tin Hau Temple. Shaped like two testicles, they have been named "Fung Shui Rocks", "Child-Giving Rocks" or "Stone of Fertility", and are believed to bless those who pray to them for sons.
Law Mansion (羅氏大屋), located at Nos. 50A, 51 & 51A Cha Kwo Ling Road, is a village house in the centre of Cha Kwo Ling Village. Constructed in 1855 of locally quarried granite, it is the oldest surviving residential building in Cha Kwo Ling.
Transport
The nearest MTRMTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
stations are Lam Tin Station and Yau Tong Station. Minibus
Public light bus
A Public light bus is a common public mode of transport in Hong Kong. It mainly serves the area that standard Hong Kong bus lines cannot reach as efficiently. It is also colloquially known as a minibus or a van, defined as a kind of share taxi....
lines connect Cha Kwo Ling to the stations.