Sha Tau Kok
Encyclopedia
- See ShatoujiaoShatoujiaoShatoujiao is an area located in the Yantian Qu of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China, Located on the border of the mainland China and Hong Kong. Shatoujiao is a bustling metropolis in comparison to Sha Tau Kok in the Hong Kong , due to the development of special economic zone...
for an area of ShenzhenShenzhenShenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
(Sham Chun/Chim Tsoon/Sem Tsun), GuangdongGuangdongGuangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
neighbouring Sha Tau Kok.
Sha Tau Kok or Shataukok or Sathewkok is a town in the northeastern corner 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...
. Located on the border with mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, there is another town of same Chinese name, Shatoujiao
Shatoujiao
Shatoujiao is an area located in the Yantian Qu of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China, Located on the border of the mainland China and Hong Kong. Shatoujiao is a bustling metropolis in comparison to Sha Tau Kok in the Hong Kong , due to the development of special economic zone...
, romanized using Hanyu Pinyin, across the Sham Chun River
Sham Chun River
Sham Chun River serves as the natural border between Hong Kong and Mainland China, together with the Sha Tau Kok River....
-defined border in Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
of mainland China.
Geography
Starling Inlet
Starling Inlet or Sha Tau Kok Hoi is a harbour in northeast New Territories, Hong Kong. The whole body of water falls within the Closed Area and generally restricted to local residents....
, within the Closed Area. The town centre is closer to the sea and north of town is a hill of Yuen Tuen Shan (元墩山). The control point of the access to Shenzhen is located northwest of the hill in Shan Tsui (山咀).
Closed Area
Today, the Hong Kong-controlled Sha Tau Kok is a quiet rural town, part of North DistrictNorth District, Hong Kong
North District is the northernmost district of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the northwestern part of the New Territories. The new town of Fanling-Sheung Shui is within this district. It had a population of 298,657 in 2001. The district has the second lowest population density.It...
and lies within the Closed Area
Closed Area
The Frontier Closed Area is a 28 km² area in Hong Kong along the border with mainland China. It was gazetted and established in June 1951, and expanded to its current limit in 1962...
. It has a post office, a bank, a few shops and a small population. Most of the residents are from Hakka
Hakka 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....
farming or Hoklo
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
(Hokkien) fishing backgrounds. Both farming and fishing have declined in the last few decades, with the younger better educated generation of people being more affluent as they have moved to live and work in more urban areas. The older generations, however, carry on living in some of the villages and government housing complexes in Sha Tau Kok, but during weekends, festivals and holidays, working families return to their villages and roots to spend time with them. The Hong Kong portion of Sha Tau Kok is within the Closed Area and access is limited.
Border
Sha Tau Kok is one of the four official border crossings between Hong KongHong 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 mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, the other three being Man Kam To
Man Kam To
Man Kam To or Mankamto is a place in the North District, New Territories, Hong Kong near the border with Shenzhen of mainland China.-Border:...
, Lo Wu
Lo Wu
Lo Wu or Lowu is an area in North District, New Territories, Hong Kong. It lies on the borders between Hong Kong and mainland China, specifically the Luohu District of Shenzhen in mainland China. The area is most notable as the location of the most heavily used immigration control point for...
and Lok Ma Chau
Lok Ma Chau
Lok Ma Chau or Lokmachau is a village in Hong Kong's New Territories and also a major pedestrian and road border crossing point between Hong Kong and mainland China. It lies just south of the Sham Chun River , which forms the border between Hong Kong and mainland China...
.
Chung Ying Street
Chung Ying Street
Chung Ying Street is a street on the border between Hong Kong and mainland China, within the border town of Sha Tau Kok/Shatoujiao. One side of the street belongs to Hong Kong, and the other side the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen....
lies on the border between mainland China and Hong Kong. There is a perception that it is a notorious point for goods trafficking. When the checkpoint opens a flow of mainlanders enters Chung Ying Street with their visiting permits. Some may make several trips a day acquiring goods and abusing the custom tariff limits on goods. These traffickers then unload their burden to collect their pay inside mainland Shatoujiao. Although there are a lot of goods leaving Hong Kong from Sha Tau Kok via Chung Ying Street there is also an inflow of foodstuffs and other commodities that come through from China into Hong Kong throughout the day, and only limited by the closure of the Chinese custom post.
An influx of mainland China workers flow into Chung Ying Street from 7am when the custom post is opened. Residents from the Chung Ying Street area are free to pass in and out of the Chinese border post, because they have residency passes. Other non-residents must be issued with permits to enter from the Chinese authorities. Tourists are also found visiting Chung Ying Street to buy Western products from Hong Kong first hand, and prices may be higher than within China, but equivalent products found within China are suspected by mainland China residents as not being wholly genuine.
It is now possible to travel conveniently into mainland China's Shatoujiao
Shatoujiao
Shatoujiao is an area located in the Yantian Qu of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China, Located on the border of the mainland China and Hong Kong. Shatoujiao is a bustling metropolis in comparison to Sha Tau Kok in the Hong Kong , due to the development of special economic zone...
via the Sha Tau Kok border crossing. Coaches run a regular schedule from Luen Wo Hui
Luen Wo Hui
Luen Wo Hui or Luen Wo Market is a market town east of Fanling in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Located northeast of Fanling Station, it was formerly a market founded by villages in the surrounding area and later became a town. The market has now ceased to operate and only a few structures...
(a small town near Fanling
Fanling
Fanling , also known as Fan Ling and Fan Leng, is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District...
, in the New Territories
New Territories
New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory...
) Bus Terminus, situated near the recently opened Luen Wo Market and Library complex, and from Fanling MTR Station
Fanling Station
Fanling Station is a station on Hong Kong's East Rail Line. It is next to Fanling Town Centre, and is only a short walk away from Fung Ying Seen Koon, a well-known Taoist temple. The Fanling Highway was built from 1983 to 1987 directly adjacent to the station...
also. Tickets (as of 2005) cost HK$20 for each passenger. The coaches also provide space for luggage. Travellers are taken through the Shek Chung Au (石涌凹) border check point without permit search, and are driven directly to the Sha Tau Kok Immigration checkpoint
Sha Tau Kok Control Point
Sha Tau Kok Control Point is a land immigration control point of Hong Kong, located in Sha Tau Kok, North District, New Territories, Hong Kong, along the border between mainland China and Hong Kong. It acts as a border gateway from or to places in eastern Guangdong Province, such as Huizhou and...
.
Here, passengers alight, go through customs, and have their documents processed, before reboarding the coach to be driven to the mainland border immigration checkpoint. They alight and take all their belongings through the mainland Chinese customs and again have their documents processed. Travellers from outside China are advised to obtain entry visas from the appropriate authorities, or via a travel agent before attempting the entry. Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality should hold 'Home Return Permits' (回鄉證) for entry into China.
On the 27 January 2005, it was announced that street maps for tourists were put up around Shatoujiao, in order to aid tourists' navigation. In fact, the Chinese government has strived to promote Sha Tau Kok tourism. A museum situated near the harbour in Chung Ying Street was built to celebrate the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...
. It has on display, a history of Sha Tau Kok and its place in the incorporation of territory into British Hong Kong
British Hong Kong
British Hong Kong refers to Hong Kong as a Crown colony and later, a British dependent territory under British administration from 1841 to 1997.- Colonial establishment :...
at the end of the 19th century. A bronze Peace Bell was installed nearby.
Public housing
Sha Tau Kok Chuen is a public housing estatePublic 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...
within the Closed Area
Closed Area
The Frontier Closed Area is a 28 km² area in Hong Kong along the border with mainland China. It was gazetted and established in June 1951, and expanded to its current limit in 1962...
built to accommodate the residents affected by the clearance in Sha Tau Kok Closed Area. It consists of 51 low-rise blocks completed in 1988, 1989 and 1991, and it is the public housing estate with the most number of blocks in Hong Kong.
Transport
The terminus of Sha Tau Kok RailwaySha Tau Kok Railway
The Sha Tau Kok Railway was a gauge narrow gauge railway running from Fanling to Sha Tau Kok in the northern New Territories of Hong Kong. The line began service on 1st April 1912. It was built with the narrow gauge tracks of the Kowloon-Canton Railway when the latter was converted to standard...
, which ceased to operate on 1 April 1929 and was replaced by Sha Tau Kok Road
Sha Tau Kok Road
Sha Tau Kok Road is a road connecting Sha Tau Kok and Fan Ling in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It had been the only road access to mainland China from Hong Kong since its construction in 1927. The road replaced Sha Tau Kok Railway as the connection between two areas.-See also:* List of...
, was located here. Sha Tau Kok Railway was built from the original narrow gauge of the KCR
Kowloon-Canton Railway
The Kowloon–Canton Railway refers to a railway network in Hong Kong which is now combined with the MTR railway system, comprising rapid transit services, a light rail system and feeder bus routes within Hong Kong, and intercity passenger and freight train services to the rest of China...
British Section, which was replaced by standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
. Since that time, the area formerly occupied by the terminus is still called the train station or fo cha teu in the local dialects (火車頭 huochetou). Currently, both KMB and 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...
services are available in the Sha Tau Kok area. There are a few shops nearby, and Sha Tau Kok Chuen.
Today, Sha Tau Kok has a bus station which is served by the KMB Route 78K
KMB Route 78K
KMB Route 78K is a North District air-conditioned bus route operated by Kowloon Motor Bus in Hong Kong. It is one of the four bus routes in Hong Kong with the terminus in the Boundary Closed Area and is the only bus route that serves Sha Tau Kok...
service as well as the smaller sixteen-seater minibus or public light bus
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....
service route number 55k. Both begin in Sheung Shui
Sheung Shui
Sheung Shui is an area in New Territories, Hong Kong. Sheung Shui Town, a part of this area, is part of the Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town in the North District of Hong Kong. Fanling Town is to its southeast.-History:...
and pass through Luen Wo Hui
Luen Wo Hui
Luen Wo Hui or Luen Wo Market is a market town east of Fanling in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Located northeast of Fanling Station, it was formerly a market founded by villages in the surrounding area and later became a town. The market has now ceased to operate and only a few structures...
and terminate in Sha Tau Kok. However, passengers may not proceed through the closed area border check point if they do not carry a valid permit. Police personnel will board the bus at the check point to see each passengers ID Card or identification documents and the required permit. If passengers do not possess one, they will be asked to leave the bus by the police personnel.
Famous people
- Lee Wai LimLee Wai LimLee Wai Lim is a Hong Kong football player, who currently plays as a forward for South China. He joined Tai Po FC in the 2003–04 season. He is the brother of TSW Pegasus player Lee Hong Lim.-Tai Po FC:...
(Hong Kong First Division footballer) - Lee Hong LimLee Hong LimLee Hong Lim is a Hong Kong midfield football player, who currently plays for Woofo Tai Po, which he joined in the 2003–04 season. He is the brother of fellow Hong Kong footballer, Lee Wai Lim.-Early age:...
(Hong Kong First Division footballer)
See also
- List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
- List of villages in Hong Kong
- Kuk PoKuk PoKuk Po is situated in the north eastern New Territories of Hong Kong, to the south of the Starling Inlet , opposite the town of Shataukok.-History:...
- Lai Chi WoLai Chi WoLai Chi Wo is a Hakka village near Sha Tau Kok, in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is described as a "walled village" by some sources. Lai Chi Wo is located within the Plover Cove Country Park and near Yan Chau Tong Marine Park .-History:The History of Lai Chi Wo dated back to...
- Yim Liu HaYim Liu HaYim Liu Ha is an area part of Sha Tau Kok, in North District, Hong Kong.-External links:*...
- MacIntosh FortsMacIntosh FortsThe MacIntosh Forts are a group of seven observation posts built in Hong Kong between 1949 and 1953 at the border with China, to safeguard the border against illegal immigrants, when there wasan influx of refugees from China due to political instability...