To Kwa Wan () is a bay and an area of the eastern shore of

Kowloon peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collect ...

. The area is part of

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

Hong Kong, and is situated between

Hok Yuen Hok Yuen ( Chinese: 鶴園) or formerly Hok Un is a place in at the southeastern coast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. It is at the north of Hung Hom, south of Quarry Hill and east of Lo Lung Hang. History At the time of the 1911 census, the ...

Hung Hom Hung Hom () is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the area of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of Hung Ho ...

Ma Tau Wai Ma Tau Wai (, originally , historically ) is an area in the Kowloon City District, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was originally a walled village (Cantonese: ''Wai'') between present-day Argyle Street and Prince Edward Road West, east of present-d ...

and

Ma Tau Kok Ma Tau Kok Road Old apartments Ma Tau Kok () is a place north of To Kwa Wan, south-east of modern-day Ma Tau Chung and south-west of the former Kai Tak Airport (now Kai Tak Development) in Hong Kong. It was a cape in Kowloon Bay in Victoria Harbo ...

. Administratively, the area belongs to the

Kowloon City District Kowloon City District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the city of Kowloon. It had a population of 381,352 in 2001, and increased to 418,732 in 2016. The district has the third most educated residents while its res ...

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 ...

. To Kwa Wan is a mixed residential and commercial area, located to the west of the old

Kai Tak 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 Ka ...

. It comprises mostly mid-20th century residential and light industrial architecture of 10 or fewer floors, built to comply with height restrictions for the former

. Since the airport closed in 1998, new buildings are taller, often with commercial space on the ground floor, especially along major roads such a Ma Tau Wai Road. Consequently, the area has a much-valued cohesive community spirit.

To Kwa Wan station To Kwa Wan () is an underground MTR rapid transit station in Hong Kong on the . It is located beneath Ma Tau Wai Road in central To Kwa Wan, Kowloon City District. The station was built as part of the Sha Tin to Central Link (SCL) project, an ...

services this area.

History

The name 'To Kwa Wan' literally means 'Potato Bay', named for the sweet potatoes formerly grown here by local

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 ...

people. From the 19th century, a nearby granite quarry provided construction materials, including for the development of

.Neighbourhood Guide: A Sense of Community in To Kwa Wan
Zolima City Mag, 6 September 2018 At the time of the 1911 census, the population of To Kwa Wan was 1,072. The number of males was 766. After World War II, light industrial units sprang up, making products such as toys and textiles. Housing rose concurrently with factory buildings, and in the 1970s the area's public housing estates were built to relieve pressure in other crowded areas of Kowloon. Poor building standards and ageing have been highlighted by crumbling facades that have hurt or killed people in the area. The demolition of older flats has allowed developers to acquire land in To Kwa Wan to build newer and more profitable residential flats.

Green space

Alongside high-density residential and commercial zoning, there are a few green spaces in To Kwa Wan: * Hoi Sham Park – a park facing Kowloon Bay * Ko Shan Road Park * To Kwa Wan Recreation Ground With extensive

land reclamation 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 land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

in the early 1970s,

Hoi Sham Island Hoi Sham Island (), also called To Kwa Wan Island (), was an island in Kowloon Bay off the coast of To Kwa Wan, Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. It was connected to the mainland as a consequence of land reclamation, and it is now part of Hoi S ...

, formerly located in the adjacent bay, was incorporated into the

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

, becoming Hoi Sham Park.

Transportation

There only a few main roads in the area. All other roads are side streets serving local residents.

To Kwa Wan Road To Kwa Wan Road is a major thoroughfare in To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, connecting To Kwa Wan with Ma Tau Kok. See also * Grand Waterfront * To Kwa Wan station * 13 Streets The 13 Streets () is an area in Ma Tau Kok, Kowloon City ...

and Ma Tau Wai Road form a V-shaped corridor, while the

East Kowloon Corridor East Kowloon Corridor () is a highway in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is part of Route 5. It is a dual two-lane carriageway running from the exit of Kai Tak Tunnel near Sung Wong Toi Road to its ramp on Chatham Road North in Hung Hom, near where Ma Ta ...

is an elevated highway passing through the middle of To Kwa Wan. The

Kowloon City Pier Bus Terminus 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 th ...

to the north services several local bus routes.

now serves the area with the full opening of the

Tuen Ma Line The Tuen Ma line () is a rapid transit line that forms part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. Coloured brown on the map, the Tuen Ma line is in length, making it the longest line of the MTR network. It has a total of ...

as part of new

Sha Tin to Central Link The Sha Tin to Central Link (abbreviated SCL; ) is an extension of the MTR rapid transit network. It is divided into two sections. The first section, named "Tuen Ma line (Phase 1)”, runs from Tai Wai station in the New Territories to Hu ...

, in anticipation of which new development is already taking place.

Education

To Kwa Wan is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 34. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and two government schools: Farm Road Government Primary School and Ma Tau Chung Government Primary School.

References

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