Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

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 ...

. One of the most recent

new towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside

Tung Chung Bay Tung Chung Bay () is a bay west of Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, near North Lantau New Town and Hong Kong International Airport. It is also the location of Old Tung Chung Pier. The bay flows out to South China Sea channel between Chek La ...

, and along the delta and lower courses of Tung Chung River and Ma Wan Chung in the north-western coast of Lantau Island. The area was once an important defence stronghold against pirates and foreign military during the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

and the

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-speaki ...

dynasties. Developed as part of the

Airport Core Programme The Airport Core Programme was a series of infrastructure projects centred on the new Hong Kong International Airport during the early 1990s. The programme was part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy, commonly known as the Rose Gard ...

, the

North Lantau New Town North Lantau New Town is the newest of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, located on the northern coast of the Lantau Island in the New Territories. It covers Tung Chung, Tai Ho Wan, Siu Ho Wan, other p ...

is the first

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

on an outlying island of Hong Kong, with the first phases built on

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 ...

to the north, east and northeast of the original Tung Chung Town. Administratively, Tung Chung is part of Islands District.

History

Early times

Since the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

between 960 and 1279 AD, there have been people living in Tung Chung. At that time, they lived on fishing and agriculture. Crabs, fishes and crops were their main productions. This place was originally called ''Tung Sai Chung'', when Hong Kong was still a group of fishing villages. ''Tung'' means ''east'' in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, while ''Sai'' means ''west''. At that time, merchandising ships sailed east to the village and west to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Tung Sai Chung is one of five villages of Lantau that were resettled when the coastal restriction of the

Great Clearance The Great Clearance (), also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shandong ...

was lifted in 1669. The other villages are

Tai O Tai O is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai O River) merges as ...

Lo Pui O Pui O (, or ), formerly Lo Pui O (), is an area on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is a popular destination for holiday camping in Hong Kong. Visitors may also rent village houses for leisure. Located in the South Lantau, there are four main vill ...

Shek Pik Shek Pik () is an area located along the southwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. When the Shek Pik Reservoir was built, villages at Shek Pik were demolished and the villagers were relocated to other parts of Lantau Island and to Tsuen ...

and Mui Wo. Tung Chung may be a new town, but its heritage can be seen in the form of old fishing villages. They show another façade of Tung Chung, of a village before the development of the airport and the town.

New town development

In the 1990s, Tung Chung was developed as a

. This was undertaken as part of the

, a package of development and infrastructure projects surrounding the relocation of Hong Kong's international airport 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 ...

, adjacent to Tung Chung. Tung Chung New Town was intended to serve as a supporting community for the new airport. According to the information from the Hong Kong

Territory 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, geotechni ...

, Tung Chung is being developed in four phases into a new town with a target population of 250,000 people. The first phase was completed in 1994; infrastructure works was completed in January 1997 in order to tie with the subsequent completion of the first housing developments. This phase of development provided about 20,000 people in the district to support the airport at

. Phase 2 of Tung Chung development was also completed. About 350,000 square metres of land was reclaimed east of the Phase 1 development area. Roads and drainage works to serve this reclaimed land were completed in May 2000. Land formation of 270,000 m² for the remaining Phase 2 areas south of

together with the associated infrastructure were completed in February 2001. Upon completion, Phase 2 development will accommodate a population of 67,000. Reclamation works under Phase 3A development commenced in March 1999 and were completed in April 2003. About 260,000 m² of land was reclaimed north-east of Phase I development area. The reclamation will provide land for housing developments to accommodate a population of about 22,000. The remaining development in Tung Chung is planned to be implemented as Phases 3 and 4 and to be completed in a foreseeable future. Currently, Tung Chung is primarily residential, but an office block and hotel have already been completed. It is envisaged that in the future, other commercial projects will be developed in Tung Chung to support the growing population.

Cultural heritage and attractions

Tung Chung Fort

Tung Chung Fort Tung may refer to: People * Madison Tung, a U.S. Air Force Officer, wrestler, and Rhodes Scholar * Ho-Pin Tung, a dutch race car driver of Chinese descent. * Lola Tung, an actress known for her acting debut on drama series The Summer I Turned ...

was built in 1817, when the

Government was alarmed by the rampant

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Cheung Po Tsai Cheung Po Tsai (; born Cheung Po; 1783–1822) was a navy colonel of the Qing dynasty and former pirate. "Cheung Po Tsai" literally means "Cheung Po the Kid". He was known to the Portuguese Navy as ''Quan Apon Chay'' during the Battle of th ...

(though Cheung himself had been captured seven years earlier) and decided to intervene and thwart the

opium trade Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid m ...

and defend the coast from pirates. The Fort was declared a monument in 1979. There are 6 old muzzle-loading cannons (still intact), each resting on a cement base and the enclosures are made of

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 ...

blocks, measuring 70 by 80 meters. Three arched gateways, each engraved with a Chinese inscription, are spaced along the walls. Tung Chung Fort itself went through several transformations. It was first used as a police station and then as a secondary school. Now, it is the base for the Rural Committee Office and the Tung Chung Public School.

Hau Wong Temple

Hau Wong Temple Hau Wong or Hou Wang () is a title that can be translated as ''"Prince Marquis"'' or ''"Holy Marquis"''. It is not any one person's name. Hau Wong refers usually to (), a loyal and courageous general. Despite his failing health, he remained in th ...

, a tiered-roof structure built in 1765, is dedicated to

Yeung Hau Hau Wong or Hou Wang () is a title that can be translated as ''"Prince Marquis"'' or ''"Holy Marquis"''. It is not any one person's name. Hau Wong refers usually to (), a loyal and courageous general. Despite his failing health, he remained in th ...

, a loyal court official of the

who died with its last emperor. And this temple was a place for training soldiers in the Qing Dynasty. There is a stele founded in 1777, which is an important product of culture for researches about the Qing Dynasty. Recently renovated, the temple features lavish interior decorations. The temple is over 200 years old. The row of miniature human figures on the eaves looks still very real to life. On the 18th of the eighth month in the

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...

every year, there are activities such as

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

s and gatherings in the open area of the temple, to celebrate the birthday of Hau Wong. The temple is twenty minutes walking distance from the train station.

Tin Hau Temple

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: ...

is located in

Chek Lap Kok New Village 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 ...

, Wong Lung Hang Road, Tung Chung. The temple was initially built in 1823 at the north east of

. It was dismantled in 1991 because of the construction of the new airport, and was rebuilt in 1994 at its present location.Antiquities and Monuments Offices - Introduction to 1444 Historic Buildings
It is a Grade I historic building.List of Graded Historic Buildings in Hong Kong (as at 6 November 2009)

Tung Chung Battery

Tung Chung Battery Tung Chung Battery is a former artillery battery located on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Named after the eponymous district it is situated in, it was built in 1817, twenty-four years before the British took possession of Hong Kong. It was r ...

was one of the two military forts built in 1817 at the foot of the

Rocky Lion Hill ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

at Tung Chung according to the Guangdong Annals. Its remains were discovered on a hill slope facing the sea near Tung Chung pier in 1980. An L-shaped wall with a platform at the corner, probably for gun emplacements, was revealed after clearing the dense undergrowth.

Lo Hon Temple

Lo Hon Monastery, at

Shek Mun Kap Shek Mun Kap () is a village in the Tung Chung area of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Administration Shek Mun Kap is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. References External links Delineation of area of existing vill ...

. Built by lay Buddhists in 1974, it occupies the site of a grotto named Lo Hon Cavern where a hermit from

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

practiced

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

in 1926.

Ngong Ping: Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and Ngong Ping 360

Tung Chung serves as the gateway for those wishing to explore

Ngong Ping Ngong Ping () is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is ...

's Big Buddha, the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha statue; and

Po Lin Monastery Po Lin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery, located on Ngong Ping Plateau, on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The monastery was founded in 1906 by three monks visiting from Jiangsu Province on the Chinese mainland and was initially known simply as "The ...

. Ngong Ping can be reached by: * The

Ngong Ping 360 Ngong Ping 360 is a bicable gondola lift on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Intended to improve tourism to the area, the aerial lift was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before acquiring the Ngong Ping 360 brand in April 2005. It ...

cable car * Buses from Tung Chung Town Centre; plying between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping via Tung Chung Road and South Lantau Highway * Hiking trail

Nature and ecology

Tung Chung is surrounded by two large

country parks A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised cou ...

, cover an area of Lantau Island as large as Hong Kong Island: The Lantau North and Lantau South Country Parks. The presence of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s and freshwater streams in Tung Chung provides excellent ecologically valuable habitats for freshwater fish species,

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

and rare

amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

ns. However, the reclamation and other civil engineering works in Tung Chung has heavily damaged these habitats and produced irreversible damage to native wildlife and the surrounding environment.

Tung Chung Valley

Tung Chung Valley is the home of some of the steepest and most primeval mountain streams in Hong Kong. The formation of spectacular

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s is facilitated in the presence of the sheer cliffs and deep gorges in the valley. Almost all the streams in the area have their name related to ''Lung'' (the Chinese word for ''

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'') which is the Chinese mythological creature of the waters and the favorite metaphor for the towering waterfalls. As the main branch of the Tung Chung Valley, the deep-set

Wong Lung Valley Wong may refer to: Name * Wong (surname), a Chinese surname Places * Wong Chuk Hang, an area to the east of Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island * Wong Chuk Hang Estate, a public housing estate in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong * Wong Chuk Hang Road, a majo ...

is the home of the Wong Lung Stream (The Yellow Dragon). The mainstream has its source on the saddle at the east of Sunset Peak, but the stream collects water through a large network of feeder streams on both sides of the valley, including the famous Tung-Lung, Pak-Lung, Chong-Lung, and Ngo-Lung Streams, which are known collectively as "The Five Dragons of Tung Chung".

Wong Lung Waterfall

Wong Lung Waterfall is located in the

Lantau North Country Park Lantau North Country Park () is one of two rural parks on Lantau Island, Hong Kong and is located on the north side of the island. The park was designated in 1978. History Lantau North Country Park was designated on 18 August 1978. An extension ...

. It is named "Wong-Lung" since, during a heavy rainstorm, when we view from the high ground, the stream resembles a yellow dragon ready to take off for heaven when it and its feeders are flooded with torrential muddy water, with Wong-Lung as the trunk and the feeders its limbs.

Tung Lung Stream

The spectacular Tung Lung Stream includes what appear as continuous waterfalls of more than 700 feet (213 m). Tung Lung Stream is rich in varieties of rare local wild plants and animals, especially in the primeval forest at an upper stream, among them the unique Hong Kong

newt A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...

s (''Paramesotriton hongkongensis'') as well as several species of wild

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

Tung Chung Stream

Tung Chung Stream is the only known Hong Kong site for the rare

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

Acrossocheilus (Lissolichthys) wenchowensis beijiangensis ''Acrossocheilus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae, native to freshwater in China, Taiwan, Laos, and Vietnam. They are fairly small, no more than in standard length. Species There are currently 26 recognized species ...

(北江光唇魚) and one of only two sites on Lantau where the locally rare crested kingfisher, ''Megaceryle lugubris'', has been recorded.

Upper Tung Chung Valley

The upper Tung Chung Valley is an important habitat for

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, including thrushes and warblers (Hopkin, pers. comm.). Eagle owls, a species highly sensitive to any disturbance around their nesting sites, breed here (Wilson, pers. comm.). The locally rare

Hainan blue flycatcher The hainan blue flycatcher (''Cyornis hainanus'') is a bird in the family Muscicapidae. The species was first described by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in 1900. It is found in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its ...

probably breeds here (Chalmers, pers. comm.). The largest population of the reptile

tokay gecko The tokay gecko (''Gekko gecko'') is a nocturnal arboreal gecko in the genus '' Gekko'', the true geckos. It is native to Asia and some Pacific Islands. Subspecies Two subspecies are currently recognized. *''G. g. gecko'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ...

, ''Gekko gecko'', occurs in the cliffs and boulder crevices in upper Tung Chung Valley (Lau, pers. comm.). The woods in the upper Tung Chung Valley are reportedly some of the best on Lantau for rare plant species and for butterflies, including the birdwing butterfly which breeds here (Reels, pers. comm.).

Hiking trails

The

Tung O Ancient Trail The Tung O Ancient Trail () on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, was once an important passage for villagers to commute between Tung Chung and Tai O. The coastal trail starts at modern Tung Chung in the east, passes mangroves and bays and ends in the tr ...

is a hiking trail that links Tung Chung to the fishing village of

. This trail follows the north-western coast of Lantau Island; providing a view of the runway approach to Chek Lap Kok as well as a number of villages and local scenery. This, however is a strenuous four-hour trek. An easier and well-wooded walk with picnic and barbecue sites also link Shui Hau to Tung Chung Road. Turning south from Tung Chung Road, visitors can get to the Cheung Sha beaches.

Hong Kong Buddhist Youth Camp

Located on a 4,877 m² site near Tung Chung, the Buddhist Youth Camp was built in 1979 at a cost of HK$3 million, the camp is run by the

Hong Kong Buddhist Association Hong Kong Buddhist Association () is a Buddhist umbrella organisation in Hong Kong which was founded in 1945. The association has nearly ten thousands individual members including both monastic and laity, and promotes the propagation of Buddhis ...

. Facilities available at the camp include table tennis, chess, books and television, playground for basketball, badminton, archery, barbecue and a swimming pool.

Recreation

In a move to encourage green transport, on the model of most of the

, cycle tracks run throughout the town, and are widely used. Most of the private estates provides full clubhouse facilities for their residents. In October 2010, a public library opened, behind Citygate Outlets shopping center. In April 2011, a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

opened near the Ngong Ping cable car. In the future, an indoor games hall and community centre are planned for Tung Chung. Additionally, the

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...

development at

Penny's Bay Penny's Bay or Chok Ko Wan () was a bay in north-eastern Lantau Island, and had been a port since the Ming dynasty. The bay has since been reclaimed and is the site of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which consists of the Hong Kong Disneyland t ...

will provide further recreational opportunities.

Economy

Shopping and dining

Tung Chung Town Centre features a number of shops, restaurants, a cinema and entertainment facilities centered on the

Citygate Citygate () is a commercial complex at the town centre of Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It comprises a shopping centre called Citygate Outlets, an office tower, and the Novotel Citygate hotel. When it first opened for business in 2000, ...

development; as well as transportation to

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 ...

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 ...

. The Tung Chung Citygate Outlets have many factory outlets of high-end brands and other brands as well as offering huge discounts. Fu Tung Shopping Centre, Yat Tung Shopping Centre, and

are the three shopping centres in Tung Chung thus far. Further shopping malls are expected at the new developments in Caribbean Coast. Tung Chung is 12 minutes from

Tsing Yi Tsing Yi, sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the urban area of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has extended drastically by reclamation along almost all ...

and

Kwai Tsing Kwai Tsing is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It consists of two parts - Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island. Kwai Tsing is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 520,572 in 2016. The district has the third least educated resid ...

, where a much wider variety of shopping options are available. Citygate Outlets is at the heart of this new town, developed in conjunction with the Tung Chung MTR station and bus terminus, thus providing a focal point to the town. Citygate, developed in the glass and steel style of the Hong Kong International Airport, contains 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of shopping, entertainment, and food outlets spread across five floors. A square outside the mall contains a special fountain which performs a musical show regularly. Yat Tung is a newer development; the first and second phase was completed in March 2001 and May 2002 respectively. It provides supermarkets, services, and a number of eating outlets. Both Asian and Western cuisines are available at the many restaurants in Tung Chung, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, American, Thai, Japanese, and Korean. It is also possible to have a meal at a temple behind the

and at a restaurant in

which serves vegetarian food. Near the

Ngong Ping cable car Ngong Ping 360 is a bicable gondola lift on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Intended to improve tourism to the area, the aerial lift was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before acquiring the Ngong Ping 360 brand in April 2005. It ...

terminal, there are restaurants and bars offering Asian and European dishes. In Tung Chung, the prices of everyday items are generally higher than the urban areas because of the low competition of shops in Tung Chung. Some families need their seniors to use the $2 concessions for transportation to go to more urban areas like

and

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a town built on a bay in the western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite of Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged from the surrounding villages and flee ...

to buy cheaper items.

Corporate

The head offices of

Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Limited (stylised as HONGKONG AIRLINES) is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its headquarters in the Tung Chung district and its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. It was established in 2006 as a member of t ...

, and

Metrojet Limited Metrojet is a Hong Kong provider of business aviation services to users in the Asia Pacific region. Established in 1997, Metrojet pioneered business aviation services in Hong Kong and provides all-inclusive aircraft management, charter, maintena ...

are in

One Citygate Citygate () is a commercial complex at the town centre of Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It comprises a shopping centre called Citygate Outlets, an office tower, and the Novotel Citygate hotel. When it first opened for business in 2000, ...

in Tung Chung. HK Express was formerly at One Citygate.

Hotels

* Novotel Citygate is Tung Chung's first hotel. It opened early 2006. * Hong Kong Skycity Marriott Hotel, located minutes away from Tung Chung MTR station, opened in late 2008. *

Sheraton Hotel Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Cen ...

, located next to the Century Link private housing development, opened in late 2020. *

Four Points by Sheraton Four Points by Sheraton is a multinational hotel brand operated by Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and ...

, attached to the Sheraton Hotel building, opened in late 2020.

Housing

Tung Chung New Town (Phase 1) is the newly developed core living area around Tung Chung. The development is one of the ten parts of the Hong Kong Airport Core Programme. The first phase of public housing development was completed in late 1997 and can accommodate up to 15,000 people. Another 5,000 people are housed in the private housing development completed in 1998.

Private housing estates

Tung Chung Crescent is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package One together with Seaview Crescent and Citygate. It is the first private residential estate completed in Tung Chung. It is jointly developed by five local developers including Hang Lung Development Co. Ltd., Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd., New World Development Co. Ltd., Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.,

Swire Properties Swire Properties Limited () is a property developer, owner and operator of mixed-use, principally commercial properties in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Founded and headquartered in Hong Kong in 1972, Swire Properties is a major property d ...

and with the

MTR Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hon ...

. Seaview Crescent, developed by the same developers as Tung Chung Crescent, consists of four tower blocks in the same style of Tung Chung Crescent, though these face the sea and the airport at Chek Lap Kok. Coastal Skyline is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package Two. It was jointly developed by

HKR International Limited HKR International Limited (, abbreviated as HKRI) is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. The company was founded by Cha Chi-ming, a textile industrialist from Shanghai and one of the pioneers of Hong Kong's industrial boom in the 1950-70s ...

, Hong Leong Holdings Limited and Reco Tung Chung Pte Ltd. and MTR Corporation and consisting of seven residential towers of around 50 stories each, and a number of low-rise flats. Caribbean Coast is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package Three. It was jointly developed by

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, is a multinational conglomerate, based in Hong Kong. It was one of Hong Kong's leading multi-national conglomerates. The company merged with its subsidiary Hutchison Whampoa on 3 June 2015, as part of a major ...

, Hutchison Whampoa Limited and the MTR Corporation. It is about 67,900 m² with both residential and commercial buildings. The Visionary was built by Nan Fung Group, consisting of 9 buildings with 34/35 floors each, 3 duplexes, and 6 houses. It is the first estate to be built on the reclamation land of Tung Chung North-east. Century Link developed by the Sun Hung Kai Group, consisting of 2 phases and 6 towers (27 to 29 storeys) with 3 residential blocks (2 storeys). It is the second estate to be built on the reclamation land of Tung Chung North-east after the Visionary.

Public housing estates

Public (government) housing and

Home Ownership Scheme The Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) is a subsidised-sale public housing programme managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. It was instituted in the late 1970s as part of the government policy for public housing with two aims – to encourage b ...

flats also make up a sizeable part of Tung Chung. The first phase of public housing development including five homeownership blocks at Yu Tung Court and three public rental housing blocks at Fu Tung Estate comprising 2,640 homeownership and 1,664 rental units.

Yat Tung Estate Yat Tung Estate () is a public housing estate in the western part of Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is divided into Yat Tung (I) Estate and Yat Tung (II) Estate, which collectively have a population of 36,913. Yu Tai Court () is a Ho ...

is a newer integrated development consisting of twenty 40-story tower blocks towards the south of the town center, near the fishing village in

, complete with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, shopping mall, car park, and transport interchange. Ying Tung Estate was built in 2018 near Ying Tung Road, which consists of four blocks: Ying Chui House, Ying Yuet House, Ying Hei House and Ying Fuk House.

Schools

Tung Chung is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 98, which contains multiple aided schools on Lantau Island, including two in Tung Chung; no government primary schools are in this net.

Primary

* Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Primary School * HKFEW Wong Cho Bau School * Ho Yu Primary School Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen * Ling Liang Church Sau Tak Primary School * Po On Commercial Association Wan Ho Kan Primary School * Tung Chung Public School * The Salvation Army Lam Butt Chung Memorial School * Tung Chung Catholic School

Secondary

Caritas Charles Vath College Caritas Charles Vath College (), abbreviated as CCVC, is a secondary school located at Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong operated under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) of the Education Bureau. It is a secondary school sponsored by the Caritas ...

HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School is an aided secondary school in Hong Kong. Founded in September 2003, the school is fully subsidized by Government of Hong Kong. Most subjects of the school are taught in Chinese. Situated in Fu Tung Estate, Tu ...

* Ho Yu College Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen *

Ling Liang Church E Wun Secondary School Ling Liang Church E Wun Secondary School () is a co-educational Chinese-language aided high school located in Tung Chung, Islands District The Islands District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is part of the New Territories. It ...

Po Leung Kuk Mrs. Ma Kam Ming-Cheung Fook Sien College Po Leung Kuk Mrs. Ma Kam Ming-Cheung Fook Sien College () is a full-time grammar school situated in Tung Chung, Lantau, Hong Kong, beside Fu Tung Estate and Tung Chung station. Dr. Ma Kam Ming, a Po Leung Kuk The Po Leung Kuk, founded a ...

Tung Chung Catholic School Tung Chung Catholic School is a co-educational Chinese school located at Yat Tung, 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 ...

(Yat Tung) *

YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College (), abbreviated as YHKCC, is a secondary school located at Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong operated under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) of the Education Bureau. It is the first secondary school sponsore ...

Future development

The planned population for Tung Chung New Town is projected at 124,000 residents. The expansion will expand the new town to the west and east of the existing New Town. It will provide 49,400 residential flats as proposed under the P & E study. Land has been reserved at the expansion area for recreational, education and community use like sport grounds and schools, the first population intake is targeted for the early 2020s. The project will include reclaiming 130 hectares (ha) of land.

Transportation

Tung Chung is connected to the rest of Hong Kong via massive infrastructure projects. The main road link, the

North Lantau Highway North Lantau Highway is an expressway forming part of Hong Kong's Route 8, linking Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island with the rest of the territory. The road has three lanes in each direction for its entire length with ful ...

connects Tung Chung to the rest of Hong Kong via the

Tsing Ma Bridge Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong. It is the world's 16th-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after the two islands it connects, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. It has tw ...

. Public transport options include buses, trains, and ferries. The

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

is about 10 minutes of traveling time from Tung Chung. A

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

, called

, can take travelers up to the monastery in

. The

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest open-sea fixe ...

begins near Tung Chung and travel to

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...

and

Train

Tung Chung is served by the

Tung Chung line The Tung Chung line is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. A part of the Tung Chung line was built along with the Kap Shui Mun Bridge and the Tsing Ma Bridge. The line cu ...

of the MTR system.

Tung Chung station Tung Chung () is a station on the of the MTR rapid transport system in Hong Kong. As the western end of the Tung Chung line, it is also a transfer point of those wishing to use the Ngong Ping Cable Car and by bus to the rest of Lantau Island. ...

is situated in the centre of the new town. It is possible to travel to

and

conveniently in less than 30 minutes. Passengers may change to the

Tsuen Wan line The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map. There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the nor ...

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 ...

and

Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to: * Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong * Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England ** Island Line (brand) Island Line is a brand of the ...

Lai King station Lai King is an MTR rapid transit station in the suburb of Lai King in the Kwai Tsing District. The station is located above ground on a viaduct and is an interchange for the Tsuen Wan and Tung Chung lines. The Chinese name of the station u ...

Nam Cheong station Nam Cheong is a MTR interchange station located at ground level beneath West Kowloon Highway, in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong opposite the Fu Cheong Estate. It is served by the Tung Chung and Tuen Ma lines and provides cross-platform intercha ...

and

Hong Kong station Hong Kong () is a station of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong. It is the eastern terminus of the and . It is situated between Man Cheung Street and Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong Island, and sits underneath the International Financ ...

respectively. Two new MTR stations are planned for Tung Chung, namely: Tung Chung West station and Tung Chung East station.

Bus

Three bus companies serve the Tung Chung area. Two of them, Citybus Limited and Long Win Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of

Kowloon Motor Bus The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International. ...

, connect the Tung Chung New Town with outside areas. The

is connected to Tung Chung by a frequent bus service "S1" operated by the two companies. Tung Chung is also a hub for bus routes to the rest of

. Bus services operated by the

New Lantao Bus The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited, commonly known as New Lantao Bus or NLB, is a franchised bus company operating in Hong Kong. It mainly operates bus routes on Lantau Island. History NLB was formed in 1973 through the merger of three b ...

company carry residents and holiday travelers to places including Mui Wo,

and

Cheung Sha Cheung Sha () is a rural area on the south coast of Lantau Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. Along the South Lantau Road, Cheung Sha is located between Tong Fuk (to the southwest) and San Shek Wan (to the northeast). The most notable feature ...

Roads

The western part of Route 8, consisted of

Kap Shui Mun Bridge The Kap Shui Mun Bridge (KSMB) in Hong Kong, part of Lantau Link of Route 8, is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world that transports both road and railway traffic, with the upper deck used for motor vehicles and the lower deck u ...

and

, connects Tung Chung with the central business districts of Hong Kong. The new

Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link The Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (, abbreviated as TM–CLKL) is a road project in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It comprises two elements: the "Northern Connection" and the "Southern Connection". The Northern Connection comprises an undersea tu ...

connects Tung Chung with Northwestern New Territories, while the cross-border

(HZMB) connects Tung Chung with

and Mainland

Tung Chung Road Tung Chung Road () is a two disjointed-section road connecting the north and south coast of Lantau Island. Description The first section is a short road linking a former pier and Wong Nai Uk in Tung Chung. The second is a long and hilly sectio ...

, a winding mountain road, connects Lantau South with Tung Chung and the rest of Hong Kong.

Ferry

There is a scheduled ferry service from Tai O and

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

, via Tung Chung New Development Ferry Pier and Sha Lo Wan, operated by

Fortune Ferry Fortune Ferry Company Ltd is a ferry operator in Hong Kong. It is based in North Point. Routes The company operates the following ferry routes: * Tuen Mun to Tung Chung, Sha Lo Wan and Tai O * North Point to Kwun Tong and Kai Tak * Central to H ...

. There is also another ferry service from Tung Chung to

four times per day (five on Sundays and Public Holidays). This provides spectacular sea views of the North Lantau coast, home to the Chinese white dolphin.

Ngong Ping Cable Car

The

is a 5.7-km

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

that links Tung Chung and

via angled stations at Airport Island and

Nei Lak Shan Nei Lak Shan ( Chinese: 彌勒山) is the eighth highest mountain in Hong Kong. With a height of , it is situated on Lantau Island immediately north of Ngong Ping where the Buddhist Po Lin Monastery is located. An angle station of the Ngong ...

is the home of the Big Buddha and