Mei Foo Sun Chuen - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mei Foo redirects here. For the MTR
MTR
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...

station in the area, see Mei Foo Station.

Mei Foo Sun Chuen or simply Mei Foo (美孚) is a large private housing estate

Private housing estate

A private housing estate is a term in Hong Kong that refers to a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings,...

in Lai Chi Kok

Lai Chi Kok

Lai Chi Kok is a neighborhood in New Kowloon, Hong Kong, east of Kwai Chung and west of Cheung Sha Wan. Mei Foo Sun Chuen is the largest housing estate in the area. Administratively, it belongs to the Sham Shui Po District.-History:...

, Kowloon

Kowloon

Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population 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...

. Mei Foo Sun Chuen was the first private housing estate

Private housing estate

in Hong Kong and at the time of completion, the 99 tower complex was considered the largest private housing development in the world, accommodating some 70,000 - 80,000 people in 13,500 apartments.

History

Mei Foo Sun Chuen was built in 8 stages from 1965 to 1978 on the reclamation

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...

formerly used for petroleum storage by Mobil

Mobil

Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...

(Now ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

) in Hong Kong (Mobil's Chinese trading name in Hong Kong is 美孚/Mei Foo). The development was conducted by Mei Foo Investments Limited, a subsidiary company of Mobil Oil (Hong Kong) Limited.

At the time of building, the government was tackling the serious squatter hut problem by constructing public resettlement estates for citizens without homes (especially those displaced by the Shek Kip Mei fire). Mei Foo Sun Chuen was conceived to meet the housing needs of Hong Kong's middle-income families, an
emerging and growing group at the time. At the time, a flat in Mei Foo cost around HK$40,000.

Buildings

The residential complexes of Mei Foo were considered grand for the standards at the time in was built; every apartment unit offers a balcony, at least two rooms and one bathroom. The apartment sizes vary from 600 to 1,800 square feet (56 to 167 square metres). Every apartment complex has a 24 hour unified, unarmed security force. Entry to a residential block requires an entrance code, which changes periodically.

Mei Foo Sun Chuen has several school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s, medical clinic

Clinic

A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...

s, salon

Beauty salon

A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women...

s, newspaper kiosk

Newsagent

A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...

s, supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s, shopping arcades, restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

s and food market

Wet market

A wet market is generally an open food market. Some of the common names include "Cultural Markets", "traditional markets", "Gaai Si", "Gaai See".-Terminology:...

s. The private secondary schools, in particular are formerly notable for academically poor students (The schools in Hong Kong are divided, based on academic achievements into 3 categories. The aforementioned schools are in the third category and are deemed to have less than satisfactory performances.) However, as education policy changes, some schools evolve into multicultural ones.

The once largest owners' corporation with legal status in Hong Kong, The Incorporated Owners of Mei Foo Sun Chuen - Stage I, was formed in 1997. The founder of the corporation, Yiu Chi-Wai, served as the Chairman of the Management Committee from 1997 to 2000. The other seven stages' owners' corporations were also formed during the period.

Transport

Mei Foo is on the crossroad between Kowloon

Kowloon

and Tsuen Wan

Tsuen Wan

Tsuen Wan is a bay in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, opposite to Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged for the surrounding villages and fleets of fishing boats in the area. The town is around the present-day Tsuen Wan Station of the MTR...

. It is also considered part of the west border of urban Kowloon

Kowloon

. Kwai Chung Road

Kwai Chung Road

Kwai Chung Road is a main road in Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It starts from the junction with Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road and Butterfly Valley Road in Cheung Sha Wan, via Mei Foo, Lai Chi Kok Bridge, Chung Kwai Chung, to the junction with Castle Peak Road and Cheung Wing...

and Lai Chi Kok Bridge

Lai Chi Kok Bridge

Lai Chi Kok Bridge is a bridge of Kwai Chung Road, linking Mei Foo of Lai Chi Kok in New Kowloon and Kwai Chung in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The bridge spans over the Lai Chi Kok Bay, which was later reclaimed. Under the bridge is now the Mei Foo Station of the KCR West Rail and the...

are the major motorways in the area. A major bus terminus

Bus terminus

A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus stops. Termini can both start and stop at the same...

is located under the Kwai Chung Road underpass as an end destination for multiple bus routes. The MTR

MTR

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...

rapid transit railway services Mei Foo Station by the Tsuen Wan Line, completed in 1982, and by the West Rail Line, operational since 2003. Other forms of public transport like minibus

Minibus

A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...

es and taxi

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s also service the estate.

Events

DBS Bank Safe Deposit Box Destruction Incident (2 October 2004)

Lai Chi Kok Park

The Lai Chi Kok Park is a large public area near the estate, stretching along the Kwai Chung Road motorway. The park, mainly built on reclaimed land, contains a children's playground, public swimming facilities, an indoor sports center, an outdoor running facility, a traditional Chinese garden, basketball courts, squash courts, soccer fields, tennis courts and a skate park.

The indoor sports center has squash courts, basketball courts, ballet studios and badminton courts.

The swimming facility is quite large. It contains 3 training pools, 2 main pools (one 1.2m-1.4m, the other 1.4m-1.9m in depth), two kid's pools, and a diving pool.

The Mei Foo skatepark is the biggest skatepark in Hong Kong and also the most visited. It contains two half pipes and several quarter pipes, single rails and fun boxes. Most of the ramps are above 6 ft (1.8 m). The skatepark has been visited by various professional skateboarders such as Chris Haslam

Chris Haslam

Chris Haslam is a Canadian professional skateboarder.- Biography :Haslam was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in 1980. He lived in St. Catherines and London, Ontario, attending Parkview Elementary school. When he was 11 he moved with his parents to Singapore...

, Terrell Robinson, Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson

Porter Michael "Mike" Peterson is an American professional football player who has been a linebacker in the National Football League for thirteen seasons...

. My Little Airport

My Little Airport

my little airport is a Hong Kong-based indie pop band. Their lyrics are marked by spelling, grammar, and rhythm inflected by Hong Kong English. Ah P writes the lyrics and the music, which he also plays, while Nicole sings...

, a local indie band, made a song about it.

External links

S.K. Hui, A. Cheung, J. Pang, "A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach for Residential Property Valuation:Application to Hong Kong Housing Market", International Real Estate Review, 2010 Vol. 13 No.1: pp. 1 – 29
Yu, Pui-kwan, Robin, "A study on quasi-public space in large scale private residential development, case in Hong Kong", University of Hong Kong, 2007

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Buildings

Transport

Events

Lai Chi Kok Park

See also

External links