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Sha Tau Kok 沙頭角 | |
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Coordinates: 22°33′N114°13′E / 22.550°N 114.217°E | |
Country | China |
Special Administrative Region | Hong Kong |
District | North District |
District Councillor | Mr WAN Wo-fai |
Sha Tau Kok | |||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 沙頭角 | ||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 沙头角 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Sha Tau Kok is a closed town in Hong Kong. The last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area,it is Hong Kong's northernmost town.
The small rural village of Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern shoreline of Starling Inlet,10 km north-east of Fanling. The town centre is by the sea and the northern part of the town encompasses the hill known as Yuen Tuen Shan (元墩山).
A section of Starling Inlet located offshore of Sha Tau Kok is one of the 26 designated marine fish culture zones in Hong Kong. [1]
At the time of the 1911 census,the population of Sha Tau Kok was 14. [2]
In 2022,a pilot scheme was announced,where limited areas of the town were opened to tourists. [3] As of July 2023,the government is working on a feasibility study to redevelop the border Control Point between the town and mainland China. [4]
Sha Tau Kok on the Hong Kong side of the border is a rural town located in the North District. The town has a post office,a bank and a few shops. Most of its residents are from Hakka farming or Hoklo (Hokkien) fishing backgrounds. As both farming and fishing have declined in the past few decades,better educated younger people tend to move out and live and work in urban areas. Older villagers,however,remain,most living in the government housing complex in Sha Tau Kok or in other nearby villages. Many working families return to visit at weekends,during festivals or on holidays.
Sha Tau Kok Control Point is one of Hong Kong's border crossing points at the geographical land border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in China. The others are Man Kam To Control Point,Lo Wu Control Point,Lok Ma Chau Control Point,Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point,Heung Yuen Wai Control Point and Shenzhen Bay Control Point.
The border between mainland China and Hong Kong runs along Chung Ying Street. There is a perception of it being a notorious point of goods trafficking. When the checkpoint opened,a flow of Chinese nationals entered Chung Ying Street with visiting permits. Some 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,only limited by the closure of the Chinese customs post.
The control point of the access to Shenzhen is located northwest of the hill in Shan Tsui (山咀).
An influx of mainland China workers flow into Chung Ying Street from 7am onwards when the custom post opens. Residents from the Chung Ying Street area are free to pass in and out of the Chinese border post as they have residency passes. Other non-residents must be issued permits to enter from the Chinese authorities. Since the early 1990s Chung Ying Street has been an established tourist site famous for imported products via Hong Kong,where prices may be higher than within China.
It is possible to travel into Shatoujiao on the China side,via the Sha Tau Kok border. Coaches run at a regular schedule from Luen Wo Hui Bus Terminus,situated near the Luen Wo Market and Library complex,and from Fanling MTR station. Tickets cost HK$20 for each passenger as of 2005. Travellers are taken through the Shek Chung Au (石涌凹) border checkpoint without permit search,then heading directly to the Sha Tau Kok Control Point.
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 27 January 2005,it was announced that street maps for tourists would be put up to aid tourists' navigation. A museum situated near the harbour in Chung Ying Street was built to celebrate the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. It has on display a history of Sha Tau Kok and its place in the incorporation of territory into British Hong Kong at the end of the 19th century. A bronze Peace Bell was installed nearby.
Sha Tau Kok Chuen (Chinese :沙頭角邨) is a public housing estate within the Closed Area [5] built to accommodate the residents affected by the clearance in Sha Tau Kok Closed Area. [6] 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. [7] [8]
The terminus of Sha Tau Kok Railway,which ceased to operate on 1 April 1929 and was replaced by Sha Tau Kok Road,was located in the town. Sha Tau Kok Railway was built from the original narrow gauge of the KCR British Section,which was replaced by standard gauge. Since then,however,the area formerly occupied by the terminus is still known as the train station or fo cha teu in the local dialects (火車頭Pinyin:huǒchētóu). Currently,both Kowloon Motor Bus and minibus services Sha Tau Kok. There are a few shops nearby,at Sha Tau Kok Chuen.
Today,Sha Tau Kok has a bus station served by the KMB Route 78K service as well as the smaller sixteen-seater minibus or public light bus service route number 55K. Both begin in Sheung Shui and pass through Luen Wo Hui before terminating at Sha Tau Kok. However,passengers may not proceed through the Closed Area border checkpoint if they do not carry a valid permit. Police personnel will board the bus at the checkpoint to check the ID Card or identification documents and the required Frontier Closed Area permit of each passenger. If passengers do not possess these documents,they will be asked to leave the bus by police personnel.
Sha Tau Kok is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 83. Within the school net are two aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money):Fuk Tak Education Society Primary School and Sha Tau Kok Central Primary School. No government schools are in the net. [9]
Shan Tsui Public School (山咀公立學校) is in Sha Tau Kok. In 2013 90% of the about 200 students were Hong Kong residents living in Shenzhen. [10]
Other schools:
Lo Wu is an area in North District,New Territories,Hong Kong. It lies on the border 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 passengers travelling to and from mainland China. It is where the Lo Wu station is located.
Nam Chung is an area in the north eastern New Territories of Hong Kong,west of Luk Keng and to the southwest of the Starling Inlet,opposite Sha Tau Kok.
Sha Tin,also spelt Shatin,is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories,Hong Kong. Administratively,it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project.
Shatoujiao is a subdistrict of Yantian District,Shenzhen,Guangdong,located on the border of Shenzhen and Hong Kong,China. The population is mainly composed of migrant workers from all parts of China along with a small number of Russians. Shatoujiao is a port with cargo coming into and exiting Yantian. It has a road connecting to Luohu,with regular bus services to Shenzhen's main train terminus and through connections to Guangzhou. The subdistrict lies near a highway that links to Meixian and Chaozhou while the Shenzhen railway is also part of the transport links between Hong Kong and Beijing.
Lai Chi Kok is a neighbourhood in 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 and also the largest in Hong Kong with 99 blocks. Administratively,it belongs to Sham Shui Po District.
Huanggang Port is a port of entry on the border between mainland China and Hong Kong,in the Futian District of Shenzhen,Guangdong. Its counterpart in Hong Kong is the Lok Ma Chau Control Point,located in Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong's New Territories,across the Sham Chun River from Huanggang.
Chung Ying Street is a street on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen,within the border town of Sha Tau Kok and Shatoujiao (Shenzhen). One side of the street belongs to Hong Kong and the other belongs to mainland China.
The Frontier Closed Area,established by the Frontier Closed Area Order,1951,and 1984 is a regulated border zone in Hong Kong that extended inwards from the border with Mainland China.
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.
The Sha Tau Kok River (Chinese:沙頭角河;pinyin:Shātóujiǎo Hé;Hong Kong Hakka:Sa1tiu2gok5 Ho2),is a river between Hong Kong and Shenzhen serving as a part of the land border between Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China.
Ta Kwu Ling is an area in the North District,New Territories,Hong Kong,located northeast of Sheung Shui,close to the border with mainland China and south to Liantang Subdistrict in Shenzhen.
Kong Ha is a village in Sha Tau Kok,Hong Kong.
Lok Ma Chau Control Point is an immigration control point in Lok Ma Chau,Yuen Long District,New Territories,Hong Kong,which is on the border between Hong Kong and mainland China. It opened in 1989 as the third road crossing between the then British dependent territory and China. It started providing 24-hour passenger clearance in January 2003,and is still the only Hong Kong control point with Shenzhen in mainland China to do so. Its counterpart is the Huanggang Port in mainland China,across Sham Chun River and interconnected by the Lok Ma Chau Bridge.
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.
Shek Wu Hui is a non-administrative subdivision (neighbourhood) and former indigenous market town located in Sheung Shui in the North District of Hong Kong. The place name can be found in the record that published in 1819.
Shek Chung Au is a village in the Sha Tau Kok area of North District of Hong Kong.
Shan Tsui is a village in the Sha Tau Kok area of North District of Hong Kong.
Tong To is a village in the Sha Tau Kok area of North District of Hong Kong.