Avon Park (clear view and deep sky blue version)

Wo Hop Shek () is an area in the south of

Fanling Fanling ( zh, t=粉嶺; also spelled Fan Ling or Fan Leng) is a town in the New Territories East of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District. Fanling Town is the main settlement of the Fanling area. The name Fanling i ...

, Hong Kong. It consists of villages and recently developed housing estates. The area is famous for its large public cemetery,

Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery (), in Wo Hop Shek near Fanling in Hong Kong, is the largest public cemetery in Hong Kong. The cemetery opened in 1950 in the New Territories as cemeteries began to reach capacity on Hong Kong Island. Wo Hop Shek cov ...

, on the nearby hillside. Every year, during the Ching Ming Festival and

Chung Yeung Festival The Double Ninth Festival (''Chong Yang Festival'' or ''Chung Yeung Festival'' in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; ; ''Jungyangjeol'' (Hangul: , Hanja: ), observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a ...

, many people come to visit their ancestors.

Railway

In 1950–1951, a Wo Hop Shek Branch ( 和合石支線) (in fact only a long siding) of

Kowloon–Canton Railway The Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR; ) was a railway network in Hong Kong.Legislative Council information paper CB(1)357/07-08(0 THB(T) CR 8/986/00, CB(1)1749/07-08(0/ref> It was owned and operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC ...

was built to transport bodies of

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

s killed in

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and later to cater the visitor in Ching Ming Festival and

. The whole

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

branch was built upon an

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

. It branched off south of

Fanling station Fanling () is a station on the of the Hong Kong MTR. It is next to Fanling Town Centre, and is only a short walk away from Fung Ying Seen Koon, a well-known Taoist temple. The Fanling Highway was built from 1983 to 1987 directly adjacent to ...

, at the start of the curve. The station at Wo Hop Shek was the most modern of all stations in Hong Kong at the time it was built, and instead of being a brick built structure as other stations were, it was of cement and steel. Special vehicles were built to carry the bodies. The branch was abandoned after the railway was electrified in 1983. No traces can be found now of the line, but the site of the station survives as a roundabout. The start of the branch is now marked by a red gate visible on the Fanling side of the Jockey Club Road bridge, which used to be a level crossing.

Gallant Garden

In 1996,

Gallant Garden Gallant Garden (), in Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery at Wo Hop Shek, Hong Kong, was established in November 1996 for civil servants who lost their lives on duty. In 2000, permanent earth burial was extended to both civil servants and non-civil servan ...

(or ''Ho Yuen'', in Cantonese), in

, was established for the

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

s who die of injuries during their duty. In 2000, permanent earth burial was extended to both civil servants and non-civil servants who died of exceptional bravery on duty. There is also a big Buddhist-Taoist monastery built near the cemetery. There are many shops in the villages which makes stone graves.

Housing estates

They are mostly

public housing estates Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

built after 1983, as reflected on the fact that part of the original

trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ballast a ...

of the railway branch is occupied by two of the estates. * Avon Park * Cheong Shing Court *

Dawning Views Dawning can refer to: * Dawning Information Industry Company Limited, a Chinese supercomputer manufacturer, also known as Sugon * Dawning (album) * Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized b ...

King Shing Court Wah Sum Estate () is a public housing estate in Wo Hop Shek, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Flora Plaza and Wo Hing Sports Centre. It consists of two residential buildings built in 1995. King Shing Court () is a Home Ownership Scheme ...

Wah Ming Estate Wah Ming Estate () is a mixed TPS and public housing estate in Wo Hop Shek, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Wa Mei Shan and Wo Hing Sports Centre. It consists of seven residential buildings built in 1990. The flats in the estate were ...

Wah Sum Estate Wah Sum Estate () is a public housing estate in Wo Hop Shek, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Flora Plaza and Wo Hing Sports Centre. It consists of two residential buildings built in 1995. King Shing Court () is a Home Ownership Scheme ...

Yan Shing Court Wah Ming Estate () is a mixed TPS and public housing estate in Wo Hop Shek, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Wa Mei Shan and Wo Hing Sports Centre. It consists of seven residential buildings built in 1990. The flats in the estate were ...

Yung Shing Court Wah Ming Estate () is a mixed TPS and public housing estate in Wo Hop Shek, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Wa Mei Shan and Wo Hing Sports Centre. It consists of seven residential buildings built in 1990. The flats in the estate were ...

Villages

*Ho Ka Yuen *Wo Hing Tsuen *Wo Hop Shek New Village () *Wo Hop Shek Village ()

Wo Hop Shek Village

Wo Hop Shek is a recognized village under 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 ...

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 ...

. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Wo Hop Shek Village was 48. The number of males was 21.

References

External links

Orthophoto of Wo Hop Shek in Google Map

Delineation of area of existing village Wo Hop Shek (Fanling) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
Restricted areas of Hong Kong red public minibus {{HongKong-geo-stub