Ma Yau Tong () is an area on a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

between

Po Lam Po Lam ( Chinese: 寶琳 or 寶林) is a neighbourhood in northern Tseung Kwan O, New Territories. An MTR station with the same name, Tseung Kwan O Village, Yau Yue Wan Village, King Lam Estate, and Po Lam Estate are located there. Name ...

of Tseung Kwan O New Town and Lam Tin of urban

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 T ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. It is named after the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

of the same name. It is known as Lau Tong and Ma Lau Tong in early 20th Century maps. Ma Yau Tong is on the border of New Kowloon and 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 ...

. Ma Yau Tong Au () is a specific name for the mountain pass in the area.

Geography

The land is relatively flat on the saddle between

Tai Sheung Tok Tai Sheung Tok (Chinese: 大上托) is a hill between the communities of Sau Mau Ping and Tseng Lan Shue, Hong Kong. Geography Tai Sheung Tok used to be 419m (1,375ft) in height, but because of mining activities by K. Wah Group (owned by Lui Ch ...

(大上托), Mau Wu Shan (茅湖山) and Black Hill (五桂山). Ma Yau Tong is suitable for farming with rivers flowing towards the valleys east and west. The landform of the valley west of Ma Yau Tong was greatly changed by the construction of the

Tseung Kwan O Tunnel Tseung Kwan O Tunnel () is a 900-metre tunnel beneath Ma Yau Tong in Hong Kong. The tunnel was opened on 9 November 1990. Part of Route 7, it links Sau Mau Ping, Kwun Tong, Kowloon and the Tseung Kwan O New Town, Sai Kung District, the New Te ...

Administration

Ma Yau Tong is a recognized village under the

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

History

At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Ma Yau Tong was 131. The number of males was 60. As Ma Yau Tong is on the ridge of Kowloon, it has been on the defense line against Japanese invasion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The defense line was known as Ma Lau Tong Line.

Transport

In the past, it was reachable on foot. When the British took over New Territories from

Qing 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 ...

in 1899, their army built Anderson Road connecting

Custom Hill Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...

and Devil's Peak along the mountain range, passing through Ma Yau Tong. The section north of Mau Yau Tong became a regular road and a short section south became Ma Yau Tong Road. In 1955, a new road Po Lam Road was built to serve the refugees of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

in Rennie's Mill. The road began at the settlement and ends in Anderson Road at Ma Yau Tong. When the Tseung Kwan O New Town began to develop in 1980s, the road was improved by

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

and extended to Sau Mau Ping. Another road, Tsui Lam Road, was built to connect a new public housing area in

of the new town. Though not related to the transportation serving Ma Yau Tong, the

beneath the high ground Ma Yau Tong is the major road traffic connection between the new town and the urban.

Education

Ma Yau Tong is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 48. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Kwun Tong Government Primary School.

Leisure

The Stage 3 of Wilson Trail passes through Ma Yau Tong.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Ma Yau Tong (Hang Hau) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
*

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

. Historic Building Appraisal
Chu Ancestral Hall, Ma Yau TongPictures
*

. Historic Building Appraisal
Li Ancestral Hall, Ma Yau TongPictures
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