San Po Kong () is an area in

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 largely industrial and partly residential. Administratively, it belongs to

Wong Tai Sin District Wong Tai Sin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the only landlocked district in Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon, and is the northernmost district in Kowloon. It borders the districts of Kwun Tong to its southeast, Ko ...

Location

San Po Kong is located south of

Wong Tai Sin Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist Deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 32 ...

and

Diamond Hill Diamond Hill is a hill in the east of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The name also refers to the area on or adjacent to the hill. It is surrounded by Ngau Chi Wan, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan. Its northeast is limited by the ridge. It is ...

, north of the former

Kai Tak International Airport 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 K ...

and west of Ngau Chai Wan. The area is bounded by Choi Hung Road and

Prince Edward Road East Prince Edward Road East and Prince Edward Road West are roads in Kowloon, Hong Kong, going in an east-west direction and linking Tai Kok Tsui, Mong Kok, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon City and San Po Kong (outside the retired Kai Tak Airport). The roa ...

History

Village

San Po Kong was a new village replacing the old Po Kong Village that was destroyed by the Japanese in 1943. The original village consisted of terraced housing and a small forested area along a hill. The hill was partially levelled by the Japanese during the extension of the runway at Kai Tak 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 ...

. Today the old village hill is now site of the Choi Hung Road Playground. Reminders of the old village lives on with street names and a park (Po Kong Village Road, Po Kong Village Road Park). The current San Po Kong is a post-War residential scheme with mostly public housing blocks.

Airport

In 1916, the area south of present-day San Po Kong was reclaimed by

Ho Kai Sir Kai Ho, CMG, JP, MRCS (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai, born Ho Shan-kai (), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in Colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between ...

and Au Tak for a garden estate. The reclamation was completed in two phases in 1920 and 1927. The reclaimed area became known as Kai Tak Bund. The company lacked the capital to complete the project and left part the land unused. The

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- ...

decided to buy back the land for the Royal Air Force and a future Kai Tak Aerodrome. In the late 1930s, the airport was significantly expanded to take up the whole of San Po Kong.

Clear Water Bay Road Clear Water Bay Road () is a major road from Choi Hung Interchange in Ngau Chi Wan to Clear Water Bay, Sai Kung District. It also is a route to Sai Kung Town and Tseung Kwan O via Hiram's Highway and Hang Hau Road / Ying Yip Road respecti ...

, part of the current Choi Hung Road, and a nullah were constructed around the airport. During the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce ...

, more than 20 villages surrounding San Po Kong were demolished for further expansion of the airport.

Industrial area

In 1958, the airport was shifted south, out of San Po Kong and into

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 ...

was completed at around this time. San Po Kong became an industrial area, in many high-rise buildings. The government also established the San Po Kong Factory Estate, a factory estate for small manufacturing businesses in the early 1960s.Heritage Impact Assessment on Chai Wan Factory Estate

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the Resettlement Departm ...

, April 2013. p.78 In May 1967, a labour dispute in a factory making artificial flowers ignited the

1967 riots 1967 riots may refer to: * Long, hot summer of 1967, marked by race riots and civil disorder throughout the United States ** Avondale riots of 1967, June 12–18, Cincinnati, Ohio ** Buffalo riot of 1967, June 27–July 1, Buffalo, New York ** 1 ...

, which lasted until October. During that period, public bus services were suspended, forcing workers from other areas to commute on foot. In the 1980s, many of the manufacturing businesses in San Po Kong relocated to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, and the industrial buildings were turned into offices and

godown A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, tow ...

Features

Facilities in San Po Kong include: *

Mikiki Mikiki is a shopping centre in San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties. Mikiki is directly connected to The Latitude (), a private housing estate that was also developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties. Mikiki does not ...

, a shopping mall *

Choi Hung Road Playground Choi Hung Road Playground () is located in Choi Hung Road, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin District, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The playground is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong. History Choi Hung Road Playground was ...

Rhythm Garden Rhythm Garden () is a Home Ownership Scheme and Private Sector Participation Scheme court in San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin District, Kowloon, Hong Kong, jointly developed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority and New World Development. Formerly a part of ...

, a housing estate * Ho Lap College *

Ng Wah Catholic Secondary School Ng Wah Catholic Secondary School (also referred to as NWC; ) is a boys' secondary school in San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin District, Hong Kong. Founded in 1965 by Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. History Established in 1965 as Sanpokong Catholic Colleg ...

Transport

San Po Kong is served by

Wong Tai Sin station Wong Tai Sin () is a station on the Hong Kong MTR . It is named after the Wong Tai Sin Temple, which is managed by Taoist organisation Sik Sik Yuen. Livery The station's livery is yellow to reflect the character "Wong" in Chinese (), whic ...

, Diamond Hill station and

Kai Tak station Kai Tak () is an underground MTR rapid transit station located on the Tuen Ma line, in the Kai Tak Development area of Hong Kong (near the old east apron of the former Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon City District). The station was opened on 14 Feb ...

of the MTR.

Education

San Po Kong is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 43. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Wong Tai Sin Government Primary School.

References

External links

Working Paper No. 33. Regeneration of Industrial Areas in Metro Area - A Hypothetical Case Study at San Po Kong
Planning Department, November 2003 {{Coord, 22.33547, 114.19837, display=title Areas of Hong Kong Chuk Yuen Wong Tai Sin District