Sai Kung Town () or simply Sai Kung () is a town on the

Sai Kung Peninsula The Sai Kung Peninsula () is a peninsula in the easternmost part of the New Territories in Hong Kong. Its name comes from Sai Kung Town in the central southern area of the peninsula. The southern part of the peninsula is administrated by Sai ...

, facing

Sai Kung Hoi Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as Hebe Haven (), Rocky Harbour () and oth ...

(Inner Port Shelter), part of

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of lan ...

in the

New Territories The 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, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Sai Kung is the central hub of nearby surrounding villages, and hence the name may also refer to the

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

s in its immediate surroundings.

Name

Sai Kung Town, or just Sai Kung, was established as a market town for the surrounding villages as , around 100 years ago. Nowadays, in legal documents, the town is more often referred to as . Despite in modern transliteration, usually meaning city, in

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

, and both mean market. The word was also used by the colonial British government to transliterate the word Town, as in, for example,

Tai Po Town Tai Po New Town, or Tai Po Town, is a New towns of Hong Kong, new town (satellite town) and non-administrative area in Tai Po District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area is a planned town that surrounding the existing indigenous ma ...

. The name Sai Kung () first appeared in Western publications dating back to the early 1900s, but the settlement was at that time only described as "the village of Sai Kung". Sai Kung also probably first appeared on the map of the

Xin'an County Xin'an County () is a county in the west of Henan Province, bordering Shanxi Province to the north across the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Luoyang, and contains its northernmost point. History In an ...

, made by

Simeone Volonteri Simeone Volonteri () (June 6, 1831 – December 21,1904) was an Italian missionary and a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Life Simeone Volonteri was born in Milan, Italy. He joined the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1855. He was ...

in 1866. The origins of the name Sai Kung are unknown. Moreover, there are criticisms of the accuracy of Volonteri's map in general, particularly as regards specific place names, such as '' Green Hill'', which historically known as Tuen Mun Hill.

History

According to Professor , no market was recorded where modern day Sai Kung District is today in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

's ''

Xin'an Xianzhi ''Xin'an Xianzhi'' (; literally ''Gazetteers of Xin'an County'') were the chorography of the historical Bao'an County, Xin'an County (San-On or Sun-On County; literally ''New Peace County''; known at times as the Po-On County (spelt Bao'an in pi ...

'' (), either in the

Kangxi The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

edition (1688) nor in the

Jiaqing The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, born Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from ...

edition (1819). Instead, Faure stated that, due to inaccessibility of land-based transport, Leung Shuen Wan was probably developed into a moorage inlet in the 18th century. Shops were opened on Leung Shuen Wan Island (known in English as the

High Island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

, though this is not within the modern boundary of Sai Kung Town), as well as a

Tin Hau Temple Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong are dedicated to Tin Hau (Mazu). Over 100 temples are dedicated (at least partially) to Tin Hau in Hong Kong. A list of these temples can be found below. Famous temples Famous Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong include: ...

, for the boat people that lived on their boats. Objects in the Temple dated back to the year 1741 of the western calendar. Faure also stated that market(s) on Sai Kung Peninsula was/were founded before the signing of the

Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory, commonly known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking, was a lease signed between Qing ...

in 1898, which ceded the whole Peninsula to the

Hong Kong colony Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

as the

and

New Kowloon New Kowloon is an area in Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Eagle's Nest, Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak. It covers the present-day Kwun Tong District and Wong Tai S ...

. In the early 1900s, the Sai Kung market had expanded to 50 shops, plus 4 boat-building sheds. At the same time, a smaller market of 18 shops existed in

Hang Hau Hang Hau () is a residential area in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung District, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is located at the eastern edge of the Tseung Kwan O New Town. Most of the land was Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed from Ha ...

. (Hang Hau became part of the built-up area of

Tseung Kwan O New Town Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese language, Chinese/Canto ...

, and not part of Sai Kung Town.) There were no proper educational centres in Sai Kung Peninsula at that time, as traditional study halls were located in the smaller villages. However, the Catholic Church of Hong Kong had established a primary school there at the end of the 19th century, which taught a Western curriculum in the market town. The colonial British government also established a police station and a dispensary near the market. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, ships were required to be inspected by the Royal Navy when entering or leaving

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

. The

Port Shelter Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as Hebe Haven (), Rocky Harbour () and oth ...

and Sai Kung market town were located outside the harbour and thus benefited from the policy by becoming places for resupply. A temple inside the Sai Kung market town also became the local civic centre for the settlement of disputes. The shop owners, who were not from the surrounding villages, even acted as representatives for Sai Kung in

Heung Yee Kuk The Heung Yee Kuk, officially the Heung Yee Kuk N.T., is a statutory advisory body representing establishment interests in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The council is a powerful organisation comprising heads of rural committees which repres ...

in the 1920s. Heung Yee Kuk represented the interests of the rural villages of the New Territories and was recognized by the colonial government as a consulting institution. However, in the 1930s, the local merchants formed their own chamber of commence and gradually took over political influence in the market town. Nowadays, however, the Heung Yee Kuk seat for the Sai Kung Central constituency is elected by the local residents of the town through universal suffrage. The rural villages surrounding the town still elect their own representatives to Heung Yee Kuk. According to another author, Sai Kung market town expanded economically in the 1950s. At the time, the world was enforcing an embargo policy on the newly established

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and the market town became a place for smuggling goods to the Republic. Sai Kung town underwent significant expansion during the 1970s when the

High Island Reservoir The High Island Reservoir, located in the far south eastern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula, was opened in 1978 helping to alleviate water scarcity, water shortage problems in Hong Kong. Its water capacity is approximately 273 million cubic ...

and its associated water management schemes required some villagers and fishermen to be rehoused in Sai Kung. This provided a core of government-funded new development, both housing and commercial, in the town centre. This was followed by the Tui Min Hoi (literally 'over the harbour') development under the government's market town programme. Before the relocation of the airport of Hong Kong from

Kai Tak Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...

, the town was a popular residential area for airport staff from all over the world. The town is next to

, which was a fishing harbour. The harbour is now a typhoon shelter, where motorized junks used in the local tourist trade are moored. They are boats that can be hired for fishing and swimming trips.

Boundaries

The statutory boundary of the town was regulated by urban zoning plan ''Sai Kung Town Outline Zoning Plan (OZP)'', which was prepared in the 2000s, and approved circa 2006. However, in election, the town is served by the constituency Sai Kung Central, which roughly cover the same area as the OZP. The statutory boundaries of the town are Hiram's Highway, Po Tung Road and Tai Mong Tsai Road in the north and west. In the south, the town is bordered by the conservation area Tsiu Hang Special Area, as well as

Pak Sha Wan Pak or PAK may refer to: Places * Pakistan (country code PAK) * Pak, Afghanistan * Pak Island, in the Admiralty Islands group of Papua New Guinea * Pak Tea House, a café in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Arts and entertainment * PAK (band), an Ame ...

Peninsula. In the east, the coastline served as the boundary.

Climate

The coordinate of the weather station is .

Public housing

Tui Min Hoi Chuen () is a

public housing estate Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

in Tui Min Hoi, developed by

Hong Kong Housing Society The Hong Kong Housing Society or Housing Society for short, is the second largest public housing provider in Hong Kong (the first being the Hong Kong Housing Authority). The Society housed around 130,000 residents as of 2020. The Housing Societ ...

. It is the first

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

public housing estate developed by Hong Kong Housing Society. It consists of 4 blocks of 5-

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

buildings completed in 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively. HK Lakeside Garden

Lakeside Garden () is primarily a subsidised private housing estate and

Flat-for-Sale Scheme Flat-for-Sale Scheme is a housing development scheme by Hong Kong Housing Society in 1980s. The flats under the scheme are for sale at a concessionary price. It is similar to Home Ownership Scheme by Hong Kong Housing Authority. The first estate ...

estate on the

reclaimed land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...

. It is the third rural housing scheme developed by Hong Kong Housing Society. It consists of ten private residential blocks and one rental residential block, completed in 1997. The rental block provides affordable rental housing similar to those of Hong Kong Housing Authority.

Transport

Sai Kung Town is primarily served by double-decker buses, public light buses and green taxis. There is no MTR link to Sai Kung Town. Ferry services are available to the neighbouring islands and isolated coastal villages in the Sai Kung Hoi, as well as to the public golf course on one of the nearby islands.

Media

Sai Kung is served by '' Sai Kung & Clearwater Bay Magazine'', a free-distribution English language monthly magazine and the community website ''Saikung.com''.

Education

Sai Kung is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 95. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and one government school: Tseung Kwan O Government Primary School (將軍澳官立小學). The

Hong Kong Academy Hong Kong Academy (HKA, ) is a non-profit independent international co-educational day school for students ages 3–18 in Hong Kong. The school was founded in 2000 by Teresa Richman and Ben Frankel. The middle school was added in September 2006 ...

(Early Childhood, Primary & Secondary) is located in Sai Kung. Sai Kung Sung Tsun Catholic School (Primary Section & Secondary Section) is also located in Sai Kung.

References

External links