Sha Tin District

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Sha Tin District

District emblem
Sovereign state	People's Republic of China
Administrative region	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Location within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Satellite image)
District Council Chairman	Wai Kwok Hung, JP
Constituencies	36
Area   –Land   –Water	69.46 km² km² km²
Population   –Total (2006)   –Density	607,544 8,842/km²
Latitude Longitude	22°39' N 114°21' E
Official website: Sha Tin District Council

Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. One of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen and Ma Liu Shui (Ma Liu Shui is where The Chinese University of Hong Kong is located). The district has the highest population. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 628,634 in 2001, including about 27,000 people living in 48 indigenous villages.

[edit] Overview

The Sha Tin District covers approximately 70 km² (27 sq. mi), including the Sha Tin New Town and several country parks. Built mostly on reclaimed land in Sha Tin Hoi, the well-developed Sha Tin New Town comprises 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 extension 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 (8 sq. mi).

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.

[edit] 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 second batch of satellite towns, 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").

[edit] Land use

Sha Tin and Shing Mun River

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 MTR East Rail Line 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. It is best accessed via the Fo Tan Station. Sha Tin Park is another major park located in Sha Tin.

[edit] Shing Mun River

Residential, commercial and industrial buildings with numerous village type developments has been built along the two sides of the Shing Mun River since the early stage of development of Shatin.

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.

[edit] Transportation

Sha Tin District has the largest number of East Rail Line stations of any district in Hong Kong. It has five stations, namely Tai Wai, Sha Tin, Fo Tan, Racecourse and University. The Ma On Shan Line runs 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.

A network of cycle tracks throughout Sha Tin measures about 50 km 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 completed in 2005. The Route 8 connecting Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon and Sha Tin is scheduled for construction at the end of 2003 and will complete at the end of 2007. The construction of the Ma On Shan Line (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.

[edit] Schools

• S.K.H. Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School
• 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
• Kwok Tak Seng Catholic Secondary School
• Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary school
• Shatin Pui Ying College
• Sha Tin College - The only English Schools Foundation high school in Sha Tin.
• Buddhist Wong Wan Tin College
• International Christian School of Hong Kong - to be completed in 2007

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 expansion of the temple was built in Japanese style and has its own Wheel of Fortune.
• Tao Fung Shan
• 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).

[edit] See also

• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong

[edit] External links

• Sha Tin District Council
• List and map of electoral constituencies (large PDF file)
• 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
• Satellite image of Sha Tin New Town by Google Maps

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