Ngau Tau Kok is an area of eastern

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

in Hong Kong, in the north of

Kwun Tong District Kwun Tong is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon, and is the easternmost and southernmost district in Kowloon. It had a population of 648,541 in 2016. The district has the second highest population in Hong Kong, af ...

east to

Kowloon Bay Kowloon Bay is a body of water within Victoria Harbour and an area within Kowloon, Hong Kong. The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victoria Harbour, between ...

. Largely residential, Ngau Tau Kok has a population in excess of 210,000.

Geography

In Chinese, Ngau Tau Kok means ''ox horn'' or ''ox head cape'': before the reclamation of Kowloon Bay, the coastline of Ngau Tau Kok was shaped like the horn of an ox. Ngau Tau Kok includes two hills -

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

(Shum Wan Shan) and Crocodile Hill (Ngok Yue Shan), where around half of the residential blocks are located. Crocodile Hill is a relatively quiet residential area encircled by Kung Lok Road. This road is mainly lined with residential blocks and is home to two parks, the similarly-named Kung Lok Road Playground and the Kung Lok Road Children's Playground (about 100 metres apart). The former comprises a cycling area and is linked to the Lok Wah Playground. The latter houses a garden and a children's playground. The two parks were completed by the

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

in 1988. Kung Lok Road is also home to the

Mu Kuang English School The Mu Kuang English School () is a secondary school on Kung Lok Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a non-government school funded under the Direct Subsidy Scheme. History The school was founded by Elsie Elliott in Kai Tak New Villa ...

, founded by

Elsie Elliot Elsie Tu (; ; 2 June 1913 – 8 December 2015), known as Elsie Elliott in her earlier life, was an English-born Hong Kong social activist, elected member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong from 1963 to 1995, and member of the Legislative Counc ...

. Hong Lee Road travels up to the summit of the hill, terminating in a dead end at the

St Catharine's School for Girls St Catharine's School for Girls, Kwun Tong ( zh, t=聖傑靈女子中學) is located in Hong Lee Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. It is a girls' secondary school. History The school was established by its first principal, The Rev. Joyce M. Benne ...

, founded in 1968.

Features

Ngau Tau Kok is a residential area close to the town centre of Kwun Tong District. The area around

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate was a 7-block public housing estate built on reclaimed land in Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, located opposite Kowloon Bay station on the MTR. The demolition of the estate started in March 2010. The e ...

is known for its

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

, including

congee Congee or conjee ( ) is a type of rice porridge or gruel eaten in Asian countries. It can be eaten plain, where it is typically served with side dishes, or it can be served with ingredients such as meat, fish, seasonings and flavourings, most o ...

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Indo ...

s and other traditional

Cantonese cuisine Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine ( or ) is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Maca ...

. In summer, Ngau Tau Kok hosts many religious ceremonies to celebrate the Yu-lan festival, a festival from Chinese ghost tales. In 2021, the

East Kowloon Cultural Centre The East Kowloon Cultural Centre is an under construction arts complex in Ngau Tau Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It will be located on part of the former site of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, directly across Kwun Tong Road from Kowloon Bay station. It ...

is expected to open on part of the site of the former Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate.

History

Ngau Tau Kok has a long history of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

inhabitants. In the early colonial days of Hong Kong, it was one of the "

Four hills of Kowloon The Four Hills of Kowloon () are four hills that were historically the site of granite quarries in Kwun Tong District, New Kowloon, Hong Kong. History At the end of the 18th century, Hakka settled into the Cha Kwo Ling area, and quarrying beca ...

" ()

Civil Engineering and Development Department The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) is a department of the Hong Kong government that reports to the Development Bureau. Its major services include provision of land and infrastructure, port and marine services, geotechnic ...

"Further Development of Tseung Kwan O. Feasibility Study. Environmental Impact Assessment. Chapter 13"
July 2005 in eastern Kowloon where

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

was extracted. The granite from Ngau Tau Kok was transported to Victoria City on

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

across

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 ...

. Some stone was even exported to Canton City for the construction of its Sacred Heart Cathedral. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Ngau Tau Kok was 440. The number of males was 314. Before being a residential area, Ngau Tau Kok was an industrial area.

Amoy Food Amoy Food Limited is a manufacturer of cooking sauces and condiments in Hong Kong. Its products, which now include foodstuffs such as frozen foods and instant foods for heating in a microwave oven, are sold around the world. It was acquired in 2 ...

sited a factory in Ngau Tau Kok to manufacture

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

. A high-density private housing estate,

Amoy Gardens Amoy Gardens () is a private housing estate in the Jordan Valley area of Kowloon, Hong Kong completed from 1981 to 1987.reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

formerly provided fresh water to Ngau Tau Kok but is now disused and used as a

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

area. An

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

was also located in Jordon Valley but it was removed to make way for the urban development project. The site of the MTR Kowloon Bay

Depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

was formerly the Ngau Tau Kok Industrial Estate.

SARS outbreak

During the spring of 2003, Ngau Tau Kok was severely impacted by the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

outbreak. A concentration of cases of the deadly disease occurred in

Amoy Gardens Amoy Gardens () is a private housing estate in the Jordan Valley area of Kowloon, Hong Kong completed from 1981 to 1987.Wai King Building () was seriously damaged by the blast which was caused by leakage of

town gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

from underground pipes belonging to

Hong Kong and China Gas The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, doing business as Towngas, is the sole provider of towngas in Hong Kong. Founded in 1862, it is one of the oldest listed companies in the territory. History In February 1862, the concession to su ...

, a major local utility.

2016 fire

Ngau Tau Kok was the site of the Amoycan Industrial Centre fire in which two firemen were killed.

Transport

Major roads in Ngau Tau Kok include: * Choi Ha Road * Chun Wah Road * Elegance Road * Kung Lok Road * Ngau Tau Kok Road * Shun Lee Tsuen Road *

Kwun Tong Road Kwun Tong Road () is a major thoroughfare in Kwun Tong District, New Kowloon, Hong Kong. Location Kwun Tong Road starts at the junction with Prince Edward Road East, Clear Water Bay Road and Lung Cheung Road in Ngau Chi Wan. It runs along the c ...

A MTR station in the northern part of Ngau Tau Kok is named

Kowloon Bay station Kowloon Bay is a station on the Hong Kong MTR . It is located between and stations in Kowloon East. The station was opened in 1979. Kowloon Bay station is one of the five MTR stations on the Kwun Tong line located above ground level, and on ...

; the

Ngau Tau Kok station Ngau Tau Kok () is a station on the Hong Kong MTR Kwun Tong line. It is located in the Ngau Tau Kok area of Kowloon East, between Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay stations. It was among the earliest stations in the network, being opened on 1 October ...

is located in the southern part of Ngau Tau Kok, which actually near

Kwun Tong Kwun Tong is an area in the Kwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon ...

. Both stations are on the

Kwun Tong line The Kwun Tong line is a heavy-rail rapid transit line of the MTR network in Hong Kong, coloured green on the MTR map. Starting at Whampoa in Hung Hom and ending at Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, the route has 17 stations and ...

. Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong's airport was located next door and recently part of it has been converted into a cruise terminal.