Sha Tin District
Encyclopedia : S : SH : SHA : Sha Tin District
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| District slogan: none | |||
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Location within H.K.S.A.R. ([Click here for satellite image]) | |||
| District Council Chairman | Wai Kwok Hung, JP | ||
| Area –Land –Water | 69.40 km² km² km² | ||
| Population –Total (2001) –Density | > 600,000 8,646/km² | ||
| Latitude Longitude | 22°39' N 114°21' E | ||
| Official website: [Sha Tin District Council] | |||
| Sha Tin District | |
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| Traditional Chinese: | 沙田區 |
| Simplified Chinese: | 沙田区 |
| Mandarin Pinyin: | Shā Tián Qū |
| Cantonese Jyutping: | sa1 tin4 keoi1 |
Overview
The Sha Tin District covers approximately 60 km² (37.28 mi²), including the Sha Tin New Town and several country parks. Built mostly on reclaimed land in Sha Tin Hoi, Sha Tin is a well developed new town comprising mainly residential areas along the banks of the Shing Mun River Channel. In the early 1970s it was a rural township of about 30,000 people. After Sha Tin's first public housing estate, Lek Yuen Estate, was completed in 1976, the settlement began to expand. Today, about 65% of the district's population live in public rental housing, housing under Hong Kong's Tenants Purchase Scheme, or Home Ownership Scheme (HOS). Sha Tin has now become a major new community, including an extenstion at Ma On Shan, of about 640,000 people today. The total development area of the new town in Sha Tin and Ma On Shan is about 20 km².The Hong Kong government used to showcase Sha Tin as an achievement in building a modern new town. Visiting foreign dignitaries were often invited to tour Sha Tin and its housing estates.
History
Tai Wai Village, the oldest and largest walled village in the town, was built in 1574. Sha Tin was a former market town at the present location of Sha Tin Centre Street and New Town Plaza shopping centre.Sha Tin was the first satellite town, or new town, to be built in the New Territories, on land reclaimed from the sea.
Sha Tin was formerly named Lek Yuen (literally "Source of Trickling" or "Source of Clear Water").
Land use
In addition to the residential areas, there are four industrial areas for light industries: Tai Wai, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen and Shek Mun.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is also located in Sha Tin. People typically travel there via the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) East Rail and get off at the University station. A minibus service operates on campus.
Sha Tin is the location for Hong Kong's second equestrian racecourse (the first and most famous being in Hong Kong Island's Happy Valley - see Hong Kong Jockey Club), which has a capacity of up to 85,000. This course is to host the equestrian events during the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympics are to be hosted by Beijing; there is concern over proper quarantine and disease monitoring in the Chinese capital.
Penfold Park is located inside the racecourse and closed on race days. Penfold Park is best accessed via the Fo Tan KCR Station. Sha Tin Park is another major park located in Shatin.
Shing Mun River
Main article: Shing Mun River
The Shing Mun River is a 7 km long, 200m wide channel originating at the Shing Mun Reservoir (Tai Mo Shan catchment) that runs as a river from the Tai Wai area, through the Sha Tin town centre to the Tolo Harbour. It has three main tributaries, namely Tai Wai Nullah, Fo Tan Nullah and Siu Lek Yuen Nullah. Along the Shing Mun River are high-rise residential, commercial and industrial buildings with numerous village type developments scattered around.
Transport
Sha Tin District has the largest number of KCR East Rail stations of any district in Hong Kong. It has five stations, namely Tai Wai, Sha Tin, Fo Tan, Racecourse and University. And KCR Ma On Shan Rail running along between Tai Wai, Che Kung Temple, Sha Tin Wai, City One, Shek Mun, Tai Shui Hang, Heng On, Ma On Shan, and Wu Kai Sha stations. Ma On Shan Rail is a very efficient public transportation.
A network of cycle tracks throughout Sha Tin measures about 50 kilometers long and is the longest cycle track network in Hong Kong.
Increasing population in the town has exerted pressure on the transportation. Several construction plans have been launched to cope with the demand. The construction of Route T7 linking Ma On Shan Road to Sai Sha Road has been started on January 2001 and is scheduled for completion in 2005. The Route 8 connecting Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon and Sha Tin is scheduled for construction at the end of 2003 and completion at the end of 2007. The construction of the Ma On Shan Railway (11.4 km long) began in December 2000 and was completed at the end of 2004.
Tai Po Road, Sha Lek Highway, Sha Tin Road, Lion Rock Tunnel, Sai Sha Road, Tate's Cairn Tunnel, Tolo Highway and Shing Mun Tunnels already serve the Sha Tin District.
Cuisine
Sha Tin is famous for certain southern Chinese food such as shanshui doufu (Chinese: 山水豆腐; lit. mountain-and-water beancurd) , barbecued pigeon and chicken congee. The cooked food stalls in Wo Che Estate and Fo Tan are hotspots for food.Schools
- Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School
- Hang Seng School of Commerce
- Sha Tin Government Secondary School
- Sha Tin Methodist Collage
- POH Chan Kai Memorial College
- Pui Ying College
- Sha Tin College - The only English Schools Foundation high school in Shatin.
- Buddhist Wong Wan Tin College
Hospitals
There are four hospitals in Sha Tin.
- The Prince of Wales Hospital, one of the centers of the 2003 SARS outbreak among health care workers; (Ward 8A)
- The Sha Tin Hospital;
- The Cheshire Home; and
- The Union Hospital, a private hospital, where James Wong died.
Tourist attractions
Local and tourist attractions in Sha Tin include, most famously, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, which is Hong Kong's newest and arguably best museum. The Museum was opened on 16 December 2000 and includes 12 galleries, a cafe and museum shop. Other attractions include:
- Sha Tin Racecourse
- Che Kung Miu. This three-centuries-old temple was built in Japanese style and has its own Wheel of Fortune (open daily 0700-2100).
- Amah Rock
- Tsang Tai Uk (曾大屋). An 1848 dwelling of granite, timber and green brick, with defence towers and a still-used ancestral hall.
- Lion Pavilion (獅子亭)
- New Town Plaza - a large shopping mall in Shatin
- Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (萬佛寺)
- Shing Mun River
- Lion Rock
- Sha Tin Park (沙田公園). This popular park runs alongside the Shing Mun river channel (open daily 0700 - 2245).
- Penfold Park
- Sha Tin Town Hall. The number one cultural venue in the eastern New Territories, hosting cultural events and exhibitions.
- Snoopy's World. Six zones of amusements on the third floor of the New Town Plaza, including Snoopy's House, a canoe ride and a museum of Peanuts characters (open daily, 1000-2200).
Celebrities
See also
External links
- [Sha Tin District Council]
- [Electoral Boundary Map]
- [Sha Tin New Town]
- [Prince of Wales Hospital]
- [Chinese University of Hong Kong]
- [Hong Kong Heritage Museum]
- [Hong Kong Tourist Board's Sha Tin website]
- [Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong]
- [Satellite image of Sha Tin New Town by Google Maps]
| Districts of Hong Kong |
|
| Hong Kong Island: Central and Western | Eastern | Southern | Wan Chai | |
| Kowloon (including New Kowloon): Kowloon City | Kwun Tong | Sham Shui Po | Wong Tai Sin | Yau Tsim Mong | |
| New Territories: Islands | Kwai Tsing | North | Sai Kung | Sha Tin | Tai Po | Tsuen Wan | Tuen Mun | Yuen Long | |
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